Bellowhead
Encyclopedia
Bellowhead are an English
contemporary folk
band originally brought together by John Spiers
and Jon Boden
. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties
, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences. The band includes percussion and a four-piece brass section, and is particularly renowned for its energetic live performances. Bellowhead's musicians play more than 20 instruments between them; with six members providing vocals.
while the duo were in a traffic jam on tour. The longer they sat in traffic, the more friends they thought to invite to join resulting in an initial ten-piece band. Before they had time to rehearse, the band were invited to play the first Oxford Folk Festival in April 2004, and were an instant success on their debut.
As a result, they independently released a five-track EP
, classified as English World Music, entitled E.P.Onymous, which generated very positive reviews. The following year, after only four gigs, the band won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
for Best Live Act 2005 for their live performances at festivals around Britain, including Cambridge Folk Festival
and Womad Reading. In 2006 Gideon Juckes joined the band, primarily playing the tuba, and they released their first full-length album, Burlesque
, featuring material from the Napoleonic Wars
, the American minstrel movement and sea-shanties from Brazil . They also appeared alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers
, Keane and Thom Yorke
on the BBC music programme Later... with Jools Holland, winning praise from Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis
. In the 2007 Folk Awards they won Best Group and Best Live Act, the following year they won Best Live Act once more.
Towards the end of 2007 they became Artists in Residence at the Southbank Centre, making their inaugural appearance with a Christmas Revels event. This was the first of many events there, including a nautically themed New Year's Eve
party to celebrate 2009/10 with a silent disco
and an ABBA
themed céilidh
. Going into 2011 the band once again hosted a New Year's Eve party, this time with a circus theme.
In 2008 Bellowhead released their second album Matachin and performed at the Proms
which was broadcast live on BBC Four
and BBC Radio 3
. Sam Sweeney
joined the band on fiddles and bagpipes following the departure of Giles Lewin
. The following year in August the band were approached about recording music for a 20th anniversary episode of The Simpsons
.
Bellowhead were named Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2010 for an unparalleled fourth time; during this year Ed Neuhauser replaced Gideon Juckes on helicon
and sousaphone
. On 4 October in the same year, Bellowhead released their third studio album, Hedonism, which had been recorded in Abbey Road Studios
. The album was produced by John Leckie. In honour of the new album, the band developed a new ale
named after the album. Several band members were involved with brewing process. They finished out the year performing on Jools' Annual Hootenanny as well as hosting a circus themed event at the Southbank Centre.
Bellowhead also perform the theme tune on the new The Archers
spin-off, Ambridge Extra
.
In May of 2011, at the 02 academy in Bournemouth, the band recorded their new live DVD, Hedonism Live
, which will be released in late November.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
contemporary folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
band originally brought together by John Spiers
John Spiers
John Spiers is an English melodeon, concertina and bandonion player.-Career:He plays with the duo Spiers and Boden and the band Bellowhead, and used to be a part of Eliza Carthy's old band The Ratcatchers.-Personal life:...
and Jon Boden
Jon Boden
Jon Boden is an multi-instrumental musician and English folk singer.-Career:Boden plays fiddle as part of the duo Spiers and Boden, the band Bellowhead and up until 2007, Eliza Carthy's band The Ratcatchers. In 2009 he toured with his new backing band The Remnant Kings. He has also written a...
. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties
Sea shanty
A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...
, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences. The band includes percussion and a four-piece brass section, and is particularly renowned for its energetic live performances. Bellowhead's musicians play more than 20 instruments between them; with six members providing vocals.
History
The idea for the band came to Spiers and BodenSpiers and Boden
Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.-Biography:...
while the duo were in a traffic jam on tour. The longer they sat in traffic, the more friends they thought to invite to join resulting in an initial ten-piece band. Before they had time to rehearse, the band were invited to play the first Oxford Folk Festival in April 2004, and were an instant success on their debut.
As a result, they independently released a five-track EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, classified as English World Music, entitled E.P.Onymous, which generated very positive reviews. The following year, after only four gigs, the band won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
for Best Live Act 2005 for their live performances at festivals around Britain, including Cambridge Folk Festival
Cambridge Folk Festival
The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is renowned for its eclectic mix of music and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It occurs...
and Womad Reading. In 2006 Gideon Juckes joined the band, primarily playing the tuba, and they released their first full-length album, Burlesque
Burlesque (album)
- Personnel :* Jon Boden - lead vocals , fiddle, tambourine* John Spiers - melodeon, anglo-concertina, backing vocals* Benji Kirkpatrick - guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, banjo, backing vocals* Andy Mellon - trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals...
, featuring material from the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the American minstrel movement and sea-shanties from Brazil . They also appeared alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, Keane and Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
on the BBC music programme Later... with Jools Holland, winning praise from Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis is an American vocalist/lyricist, and occasional actor best known as the lead vocalist of the Grammy-winning American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother before moving, shortly before his 12th birthday, to Hollywood,...
. In the 2007 Folk Awards they won Best Group and Best Live Act, the following year they won Best Live Act once more.
Towards the end of 2007 they became Artists in Residence at the Southbank Centre, making their inaugural appearance with a Christmas Revels event. This was the first of many events there, including a nautically themed New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
party to celebrate 2009/10 with a silent disco
Silent disco
Silent disco has become a common name for a disco where people dance to music listened to on wireless headphones. Rather than using a speaker system, music is broadcast via an FM-transmitter with the signal being picked up by wireless headphone receivers worn by the participants. Those without the...
and an ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
themed céilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
. Going into 2011 the band once again hosted a New Year's Eve party, this time with a circus theme.
In 2008 Bellowhead released their second album Matachin and performed at the Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
which was broadcast live on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
and BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
. Sam Sweeney
Sam Sweeney
Sam Sweeney is a multi-instrumental English folk musician.-Career:Sam has been playing fiddle since he was six, he now plays and teaches fiddle. Since 2002 Sweeney has been at the forefront of East Midlands-based folk band Kerfuffle, playing fiddle, viola, and cajon, and singing...
joined the band on fiddles and bagpipes following the departure of Giles Lewin
Giles Lewin
Giles Lewin is a British violinist and bagpiper.He was born in Essex in 1960 or slightly earlier. Aged nine, he sang the female lead in Mozart's "Bastien et Bastienne". At Cambridge University he acquired a love of Irish traditional music. His admiration for William Lawes led him to join a group...
. The following year in August the band were approached about recording music for a 20th anniversary episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
.
Bellowhead were named Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2010 for an unparalleled fourth time; during this year Ed Neuhauser replaced Gideon Juckes on helicon
Helicon (musical instrument)
The helicon is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Most are BB basses, but they also commonly exist in EE, F, and tenor sizes, as well as other types to a lesser extent....
and sousaphone
Sousaphone
The sousaphone is a type of tuba that is widely employed in marching bands. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried...
. On 4 October in the same year, Bellowhead released their third studio album, Hedonism, which had been recorded in Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
. The album was produced by John Leckie. In honour of the new album, the band developed a new ale
Ale
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
named after the album. Several band members were involved with brewing process. They finished out the year performing on Jools' Annual Hootenanny as well as hosting a circus themed event at the Southbank Centre.
Bellowhead also perform the theme tune on the new The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
spin-off, Ambridge Extra
Ambridge Extra
Ambridge Extra is an extension of the long-running radio drama The Archers. It began in 2011 and will run for at least two series. The show features a number of new or previously silent and minor characters from the main series, in particular focussing on younger characters...
.
In May of 2011, at the 02 academy in Bournemouth, the band recorded their new live DVD, Hedonism Live
Hedonism Live
Hedonism Live is the second live DVD by folk band Bellowhead. It was recorded in May of 2011 at the O2 Academy in Bournemouth.- Track listing :# Yarmouth Town# A-Begging I Will Go# Trip To Bucharest# Amsterdam...
, which will be released in late November.
Band members
Current members
- Jon BodenJon BodenJon Boden is an multi-instrumental musician and English folk singer.-Career:Boden plays fiddle as part of the duo Spiers and Boden, the band Bellowhead and up until 2007, Eliza Carthy's band The Ratcatchers. In 2009 he toured with his new backing band The Remnant Kings. He has also written a...
- lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, shaky egg, thunder tube, kazooKazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
, whistle - John SpiersJohn SpiersJohn Spiers is an English melodeon, concertina and bandonion player.-Career:He plays with the duo Spiers and Boden and the band Bellowhead, and used to be a part of Eliza Carthy's old band The Ratcatchers.-Personal life:...
- melodeonsDiatonic button accordionA diatonic button accordion or melodeon is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys...
, anglo concertina, kazoo, vocals, tambourine - Benji Kirkpatrick - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bouzoukiBouzoukiThe bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, tenor banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, vocals, kazoo - Rachael McShane - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, fiddle, kazoo, vocals - Paul Sartin - fiddle, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, slide whistleSlide whistleA slide whistle is a wind instrument consisting of a fipple like a recorder's and a tube with a piston in it. Thus it has an air reed like some woodwinds, but varies the pitch with a slide. The construction is rather like a bicycle pump...
, kazoo, vocals - Sam SweeneySam SweeneySam Sweeney is a multi-instrumental English folk musician.-Career:Sam has been playing fiddle since he was six, he now plays and teaches fiddle. Since 2002 Sweeney has been at the forefront of East Midlands-based folk band Kerfuffle, playing fiddle, viola, and cajon, and singing...
(2008–present) - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, bagpipesBagpipesBagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, kazoo, vocals, whistle - Pete Flood - percussion (including frying panFrying panA frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab handle opposite the main handle...
, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, knives and forks, clockwork toys, megaphoneMegaphoneA megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
scratching, stomp boxStomp boxthumb|Puck'n Stompa by PetermanA stomp box or stompbox is a simple percussion instrument consisting of a small wooden box placed under the foot, which is tapped or stamped on rhythmically to produce a sound similar to that of a bass drum. A stomp box allows a performer such as a singer or guitar...
, coal scuttleCoal scuttleA coal scuttle, sometimes spelled coalscuttle and also called a hod, is a bucket-like container for holding a small, intermediate supply of coal convenient to an indoor coal-fired stove or heater. It is usually made of metal and shaped like a vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with the open top...
, party blowers, broomsticks, ratchetRatchet (instrument)A ratchet, also called a noisemaker , is an orchestral musical instrument played by percussionists. Operating on the principle of the ratchet device, a gearwheel and a stiff board is mounted on a handle, which can be freely rotated...
, Casio VL-tone, shakers and tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
) - Ed Neuhauser (2010–present) - sousaphoneSousaphoneThe sousaphone is a type of tuba that is widely employed in marching bands. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried...
, heliconHelicon (musical instrument)The helicon is a brass musical instrument in the tuba family. Most are BB basses, but they also commonly exist in EE, F, and tenor sizes, as well as other types to a lesser extent....
, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the... - Brendan Kelly - saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - Justin Thurgur - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Andy Mellon - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
Former members
- Giles LewinGiles LewinGiles Lewin is a British violinist and bagpiper.He was born in Essex in 1960 or slightly earlier. Aged nine, he sang the female lead in Mozart's "Bastien et Bastienne". At Cambridge University he acquired a love of Irish traditional music. His admiration for William Lawes led him to join a group...
(2004–2008) - fiddle, bagpipes - Gideon Juckes (2006–2010) - sousaphone, helicon, tuba
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK |
|||
| 2006 | Burlesque Burlesque (album) - Personnel :* Jon Boden - lead vocals , fiddle, tambourine* John Spiers - melodeon, anglo-concertina, backing vocals* Benji Kirkpatrick - guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, banjo, backing vocals* Andy Mellon - trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals...
|
- | |
| 2008 | Matachin Matachin (album) Matachin is the second album by Bellowhead, released on 22 September 2008. Its title refers, to 'An old dance with swords, masks and bucklers; a sword dance' that may have influenced the Cotswold Morris dance... |
73 | |
| 2010 | Hedonism Hedonism (album) -Track listing:Bonus track - Personnel :*Jon Boden - lead vocals , fiddle, saw*Benji Kirkpatrick - guitar, bouzouki, mandolin*John Spiers - melodeon, anglo-concertina*Andy Mellon - trumpet*Justin Thurgur - trombone... |
57 |
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Silver |
Other works
- Live at Shepherds Bush EmpireLive at Shepherds Bush Empire (Bellowhead DVD)Live at Shepherds Bush Empire is a live DVD by folk band Bellowhead, recorded in 2007 on the Burlesque tour and released in 2009.The DVD features Bellowhead's tour diary as well as Bellowhead talking about themselves and the formation of the band....
(2009) - UmbrellowheadUmbrellowhead (album)Umbrellowhead is a collection of songs from other bands that the eleven members of Bellowhead also play in as well as some solo material from the individual artists. The album opens with one Bellowhead song unavailable on their studio albums.- Track listing :...
(2009) - Hedonism LiveHedonism LiveHedonism Live is the second live DVD by folk band Bellowhead. It was recorded in May of 2011 at the O2 Academy in Bournemouth.- Track listing :# Yarmouth Town# A-Begging I Will Go# Trip To Bucharest# Amsterdam...
(DVD) (November, 2011)