Jack and Charlie study together at the Birmingham Conservatoire and are in their fourth year on the Bmus course. They started playing together as a duo just before easter in 07 and meet regularly in the bathroom of their house in Birmingham for late night practice sessions! They are also both members of the Birmingham Conservatoire Folk Ensemble run by Joe Broughton, and will be playing with the band when they tour in May and June.
Influences
Paul Simon, Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, Leonard Cohen, Kirsty McGee and Matt Martin, Martin Newnham, Rosy Doonan and Ben Murray, Seth Lakeman, LAU, Martha Tilston, Nancy Kerr and James Fagin, Kris Drever, Boo Hewerdine.
Sounds Like
Fingerpick guitar and fiddle, songs and tunes about the places we go and the people we meet on the way.
Jack and Charlie have just recorded and released their first album "LIGHT UP ALL THE BEACONS" on Fellside Records! Just drop them a message if you'd like to get hold of a copy, they'll be bringing lots with them to gigs and festivals in the future, or you could check out www.fellside.com for a wee sound clip and to order it.
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To contact Jack and Charlie or to join our mailing list, please send an email to: jackmcneillandcharlieheys@hotmail.co.uk...
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Jack and Charlie met at college and began playing as a duo in the easter of 07. Charlie has played in several folk bands including Sonas and Rubber Chicken, and plays fiddle in her dad's band back in Hampshire. Jack who is from Cumbria has supported artists such as Kirsty McGee and Matt Martin, Po' Girl and The Wailin' Jennies, played the emerging music slot on the main stage at Brampton Live summer 06. As a duo they played Ireby folk festival 07, and 08 on the main stage ahead of The Wailin' Jennies and The Paperboys, Warwick Folk Festival 07 and 08, supported Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy at the Red Lion folk club in Birmingham where they'll be supporting Spiers and Boden this September. As well as playing their own sets at several folk clubs across the uk. Jack and Charlie were also finalists in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2008. Jack Recorded his first album 'Before I'm Home' last summer and the duo recorded a new album in easter 2008 called "Light Up All The Beacons" which has just been released on Fellside Records.
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"Emotionally-charged, intelligent lyrics, a deftly melodic guitar style and empathic fiddle accompaniment"- BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards Final.
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"...The brisk yet note perfect tale of love lost, ‘Butterfly Lost’, the deftness of touch he brings to the material, the melodic immediacy of ‘Swallows (Singing Through A Wall)’ and the urgency of ‘The Train’ suggests a young writer and performer destined for bigger things.” Review of 'Before I'm Home''- Rock ‘n’ Reel magazine, July/August 2007
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"Entirely compelling and captivating, at times magical...This is excellent contemporary acoustic music with evident roots associations but clear originality and character and inspiring musicianship" Kevin Ward, Shire Folk
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"uncompromising, a trifle elusive, even daunting-paradoxically, it's actually these qualities that make it so exciting" David Kidman, Properganda
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"Folk musicians who don't play traditional material... the playing is of the very highest standard... delivered with commitment and passion... gloriously upbeat... beautifully atmospheric''- Dave Haslam, Rock 'n' Reel
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"Undeniably impressively talanted ... this album will turn out to be rather a grower." David Kidman- fRoots.
Hi Jack & Charlie We'd be overjoyed if you would come and see us at the Hare and Hounds this Friday 3 July. Admission is £5 or free to MySpace friends of Moseley Folk (www.myspace.com/moseleyfolk)
"Absolutely wonderful. I cannot recommend highly enough catching them live if you get the chance." - Folk and Roots Online The Kittiwakes are Kate Denny on vocals and violin, Chris Harrison on accordion and Jill Cumberbatch on violin, mandolin, and guitar. Their debut album ‘Lofoten Calling’ is being released by Midwich Records, and is original music based around the people, landscape, folklore and history of the Lofoten Islands, - an area above the Arctic Circle in Norway. The music is song based, and influenced by traditional British Isles and Norwegian folk music. The band have supported established artists such as FAUSTUS, KATHRYN WILLIAMS, and TIM VAN EYKEN, and are fast developing a following in their own right.
LIVE AT ORANGE STREET MUSIC CLUB CANTERBURY WEDS 24TH JUNE £5 admission Tel: 01227 760801 8.00pm
Please join us for our DEBUT GIG on 12th June at The Cross, Moseley, Birmingham. From 8pm. Only £6 on the door with support from Jack McNeill and Charlie Heys.
Just wanted to say fantastic gig, I was annoyed I didn't catch you're solo set but great set with the Old Dance School anyway, see you soon all the best Lx
This years festival is headlined by Billy Bragg (Friday), Seth Lakeman (Sunday) and Peatbog Faeries (Saturday) with many more top artists also performing incl the award winning The Demon Barbers.
Hi there Jack McNeill and Charlie Heys, its so very nice to meet your acquaitance, and thanking you muchly for being my (our) friend.
I hope you enjoyed our tunes - I thought you might do judging by the stuff you seem to be into like - if you fancy a couple of our mp3s for you ipod/nonbrandedmp3 player then just ping me your email address back for our mailing list (info about gigs and the like) OR just click here on these here words and I'll sort that out for you, probably in the next couple of days, quite busy.
Forgive the indulgence but I've just worked out how to do this so i'm gonna put it in here - its a video of us playing one of the songs we would send to you live @ Bull and Gate last month just to show you what it may be like, hope thats ok :)
Our next gig isnt for a while but will probably be at Metro on Tottenhem Court Road - (so not really that close to you if I'm being honest ha ha :), but who knows - you may be on holiday, or finding out what its like to visit somewhere with 10 million people in about a square mile :)
Hey guys, hope you've been having a good summer. Just popped to your page to say I need your album when we get back to college. Can't believe I didn't get one before summer; that was stupid! x
Hello! The Old Dance School here. Just stopping by to thank you for your friendship and to let you know about our lovely, brand new website and our debut studio album Based On A True Story. It's just been released and is available right now - stop by theolddanceschool. com to pick up your copy, hear preview tracks and much more.
"...If you haven't heard how great they are yet, you will. "
- Joe Broughton [The Albion Band, Folk Ensemble, Dempsey/Broughton, Feast of Fiddles]
