Jo Mango - vocals, guitar, kalimba, omnichord, squeezebox, other various random instruments Jim Mango - bass, vocals, chime bar, omnichord Calum Scott - harmonium, monome, laptop, shruti box, omnichord, cajon, production and engineering Alan Peacock - vocals, guitar, glock, etc.
Influences
On the CD player mostly these days are Vashti Bunyan, Joanna Newsom, Hanne Hukkelberg, Serafina Steer, Regina Spektor, Kaouding Cissoko, The Paper Hats, George Brecht, Vetiver, Adem, Alvin Lucier, Karen Dalton, Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, Gareth Dickson, Olof Arnalds, Okkervil River, Old Harp Singers of Tennessee, the list goes on and on and on and on!
“Jo Mango is uniquely gifted, as a musician and as a performer. She writes the most beautiful songs and her sense of fun in life has made this last year that I have been on the road with her a luminous one. Kind, original, musical and clever, I know Jo will go far.“
Vashti Bunyan
It’s safe to say Scottish multi-instrumentalist and singer songwriter Jo Mango has had an incredible few years. Since 2007 she has brought her unique collection of instruments and sounds to collaborations with luminaries such as Vashti Bunyan, David Byrne and Devendra Banhart in venues from the Carnegie Hall in New York to a greenhouse in Glasgow. She has co-written beautiful songs and collaborated on tours and performances with Lambchop guitarist William Tyler (aka Paper Hats), Vetiver, Adem, Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble and Richmond Fontaine to name but a few.
Her rising acclaim has rested on an unusual mix of talented multi-instrumentalism, haunting childlike vocals, exceptional lyricism and a talent for mashing unique collections of accompanying sounds – from African finger pianos to electronic autoharps mixed with traditional acoustic guitar and harmonium. Her debut album Paperclips and Sand was released in 2006 on her own label - Lo-Five Records. That year she and her band played shows across the globe beginning with a live session on USA tastemaker Nic Harcourt’s KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic radio program, continuing with concerts in LA, New York, Australia, a sell-out show in Tokyo followed by numerous appearances at South By South West in Austin, Texas. She appeared on MTV Australia and Scottish Television in session on BBC2’s Rapal as well as performing live on BBC Radio 2 (as Good Morning Sunday’s featured artist), the BBC World Service and BBC Radio Scotland..
On returning home in 2007, Jo’s first single My Lung was voted by BBC Radio 2 listeners as Single of the Week on the Radcliffe and Maconie show. Gigs followed into 2008 and tours with Vashti Bunyan in whose band Jo is a mainstay.
Since then, Jo has been working on what is to be a really stunning second album (to be finished in late 2009). Producing this nu-folk gem is Adem Ilhan (Fridge and Adem)
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I hope all is well with you. I've finally made it back to Ireland and am enjoying the bird life in my garden. I was playing you in my friends shop today and a group of girls from the states were in asking who you were and where they could find your music, thought you'd like to hear that.
Also I noticed that calum's myspace page is called calm -- another seriously strange connection we have, those are my initials and I have been using calm for my business name ... we three must be tapping into the same thought and inspiration pool.
I should get down to editing the botanics stuff soon, so will send you the file for a preview.
If you have a moment check out my website www.catleemarr.co.uk -- still needs a bit of work but it's getting there.
Hope all is well and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Hey, the reason i asked if youre gig was later last night was that i had rehearsals for a musical i am going to be in which is guys and dolls and rehearsals did not finish till ten and by the time i got to the gig it would have been over :( Come to another open mic night soon ;) I hope to see you very soon at a gig, mondays and fridays and sunday evenings are good ;) Hope all is well with you jo
See you soon baboon as someone once said to me :) Love n hugs lindaxxxx
AWWW i thought you had forgotten me, it has been a while and you were with your friends and talking to them and i wasn't wanting to interrupt!!!!! next time i will be all smiles and HEY HELLO!!!!! Did you not hear my woops everytime you went on stage!!!!!!!!! Next time i will give a hug too!!!!! there were lots of hugs going around that night too!!!!!! What time are you playing in stereo?? I hope i can make it if it is not too early in the evening!!! Hope all is well in jo's world
How lovely it was to see you at sleazy's tonight, i was sitting with jules the norwegie at the same table as you and did wonder if you remembered me :) What a beautiful version of aye fond kiss you did!!!!! So poignant you could hear a pin drop :) I also loved your songwriting story all about the starlings, reminded me why I love your music. Hope to see you soon, live :)
It was really nice to meet you too! And I loved your little tales of seasponges and moths! :D Really very rather nice! Hope to see you play again soon! :D You going to see Ben play tonight?
