UPDATE: Sadly due to recording commitments, Flight Brigade will no longer be able to appear at Heptonstall Festival this year. We hope to welcome them to the festival in the future, and look forward to hearing their new material!
If you haven’t already heard, the Heptonstall Festival is returning in 2014 on Saturday 20th September. The organisers are keen to build on the fantastic event of last year and aim to bring you first class live music from the local scene and further afield. The music will kick of in the old church ruin at around midday after the much anticipated parade extravaganza.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be announcing some of the amazing music you’ll be able to enjoy for free at the event this year, and to kick things off, here’s the first announcement:
Flight Brigade.
Flight Brigade to play at Heptonstall Festival 2014
With ‘glorious folk-tinged stadium anthems’ (Record of The day), Flight Brigade is the coming together of two families. Ollie Baines (lead singer) grew up in Ohio on a farm before eventually ending up back in the UK in Hampshire, where he first met fellow band member (and also now his wife) Miriam when they were kids. Her sister Dorry plays violin and joins Miriam in harmonies, the girls having been steeped in the 70′s British folk scene, thanks to their musician parents who supported the likes of Paul Simon, John Martyn and toured with Roxy Music.
Having supported Grouplove, Dry The River, Stornoway, King Charles and Seth Lakeman, Flight Brigade also won two live competitions to play main stages at Hop Farm and Blissfields festivals. Alongside live sessions for BBC Radio 2, BBC Introducing, TOMS & Lee Cooper the band’s EP has been played on national radio in Canada (CBC Radio 2) as well as BBC 6 in the UK (Steve Lamacq & Tom Robinson) and Bob Harris (BBC Radio 2). The band were also commissioned to compose the music for an ITV documentary about Syria and Haiti as well as the International World Cup campaign for Unicef. They are currently finishing their debut album, co-produced by Gavin Monaghan (Kings of Leon, The Editors). Recently (June 28th 2014) Flight Brigade’s new single Siren’s was Vimeo Staff Picks gaining over 100000 views in its first week.
These guys are superb musicians, and it’s not just us that think so, check out these reviews:
‘Accomplished and assured, this is real music for people who know quality on the very first listen’ Record of The Day
‘Astonishing’ Janice Long, BBC Radio 2
‘It really really is good…I will definitely be playing them again’ Bob Harris, Radio 2
‘Not sugary sweet or a product of the times, theirs is a rare talent’. God is in the TV
‘With transcendent compositions, they demonstrate a firm grip on the skill of song-writing’ Indie Bands Blog
‘They have a ‘knack for crafting a tune. It is music which manages to feel delicate whilst at the same time still packing a punch…. it immediately demands and holds your attention.’ The Mixtape Shed
‘Full of youth, hope and nostalgia for a time they shouldn’t be able to remember. It’s an infectious mix’. Tom Allen CBC Radio 2 (Canada)
‘It was one of those conversations, talking about music, when someone says, check this lot out, and you discover something you think is wonderful. They’re coming to play a live session for us on the show’ Janice Long BBC Radio 2
‘Brilliant’ Phil Jackson, BBC Introducing, The South
‘Graduation Day is the kind of song that, if the world were fair, would achieve ubiquitous status and end up all over everything’ Single Review, Music Reload UK
Heptonstall Parish Website 