Billy Lee & The Swamp Critters
with: The Woo Town Hillbillies
Tuesday 20 June 2017
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
£5 on the door
“The Swamp Critters are a sterling example of what happens when you freely share your passion with the world at large. And it’s beautiful to know that you don’t have to travel 2,000 miles to experience top-shelf Cajun–Zydeco music these days.”–by Jon Kanis, Troubador Magzine, December 2015
Raised in the Cajun Triangle, CA, Billy Lee and the Swamp Critters presents Gulf Coast Music – A gumbo of Cajun/Zydeco & Texas Swing. We get folks up and dancing to bring in good times.
Billy Lee Corwin / Accordion, Vocals
Bob Pruitt / Guitar & Vocals
Roger Daschle / Bass & Vocals
Sandra Stram / Fiddle & Vocals
Gary Nieves / Drums & Vocals
The Woo Town Hillbillies are a collective of musicians playing fun-fuelled tunes from bluegrass to jug band music along with their own compositions. Fun, energy, hoe-downs, jigs and reels…all plentiful when you see The Woo Town Hillbillies. This collective of musicians/pranksters really love what they do and it shows.
You can expect high-flying bluegrass with tumbling banjo, mandolin and harmonica breaks, and joyous reels and jigs, all mixed with a smattering of beautiful heartfelt tunes, accompanied by harmonies. All the musicians are versatile, composing their own songs and using pulsating rhythms on washboard, ukulele and guitar to drive this catchy fun-fueled band.
The WTHB were formed after a challenge at a live gig in Malvern Worcestershire…founding member Simon Othen & former member Andy Lindsay were at a gig in Malverns Recon music club commenting on how they could headline the Blues night gig no problem when they were overheard by the owner who jumped in and said “good,’cause you’re headlining it next month”.
Simon & Andy accepted the challenge and being well known musicians on the local scene got on to their phones & called Paul Smith (Double Bass) & Luke Wúrmli (Harmonica, Banjo, Guitar) and put together ‘Luke Warm & the Cold Fronts’ for the show, where they performed a Hillbilly-blues set that got the first encores ever seen at the blues night.
They enjoyed it so much they decided to carry on! Sadly Andy couldn’t commit to the project as he was too busy with his other band Journeyman, so Luke took over the reins this is when they reformed and became “The Woo Town Hillbillies”.
Soon to join were Emmy Lou Quan on 8 string ukuele and banjolele, and Goose Goldberg on washboard, harmonica and a host of different percussion, along with other guest members who have dropped in over the last 18 months.
The band are going from strength to strength, updating the set constantly and in the last year and a half have played numerous gigs, festivals, a tour of Guernsey and two Dutch tours, and released their debut album ‘Hayfever’.
Influences include Old Crow Medicine show, Townes van Zandt, Flatt & Scruggs, Steve Earle, Albert Lee, Bluegrass, Jug band music (Memphis Jug band, Gus Cannon) Blues, Country,Willie Nelson & o so many more………….
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