And the following lovely people on record and sometimes live:
Julia Higgins- Voice, violin; Philippa Buxton - Voice; Hannah Rhodes - Voice; Ellen Fallowfield- Cello; Samantha A Fox - Harp, voice; Joe Bennett - Violin, falsetto; Lucy Minford - Voice; Laura Mattison - Violin; Hannah Marsden - Accordion;
Influences
The sea, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Kathryn Williams, The Beatles, mountains, Nick Drake, herbal tea, Dory Previn, Harold Arlen, long journeys on public transport, KD Lang, Miss Davies and the owl that flew into the window during music, Messiaen, Yogi tea, Erin Mckeown, dancing, Gillian Welch, Jolie Holland, Regina Spektor, Jeanette Winterson,birds, newspaper cuttings. My family. My Pals. Matters of the mind. Matters of the heart. Love - 'a serious mental disease'.
Sounds Like
'a sophisticated mix of folk, jazz, pop and rustica' The INDEPENDENT
'Sophisticated mix of folk, jazz, pop and rustica with intelligent lyrics’ The INDEPENDENT, Bluebird review, Dec 2005
‘Strikingly original’ UNCUT, ‘Bluebird’ review, Dec 2005
‘KTB has honeyed rivers and mothering embraces for a voice. KTB has a mournful-joyful tunefulness rising so effortlessly from violin, cello and bongos that it seems more natural than breathing.’ Plan B Magazine, review of KTB Collective Truck Festival performance, September 2006
KTB (aka Katy Bennett) has been writing songs about elephants, vegetarianism and unrequited love since the age of 12. She released her critically acclaimed debut album ‘All Calm In Dreamland’ in 2002 [‘Gentle acoustics from the Nick Drake school… literate songs’ UNCUT, Jan 2003] and, later that same year, was a finalist at the BBC Young Folk Awards. .
Her second album, ‘Bluebird’, was recorded in and around a portacabin studio on a farm in rural Oxfordshire between the summer of 2004 and the spring of 2005 with her brother Joe (of the band Goldrush) producing. Its beautiful, heart-wrenching eleven and a half songs deal with those universal emotions of love, loss, despair, friendship and hope.
Under the influence of such great writers and interpreters of songs as Dory Previn, Patsy Cline, Gillian Welch, Kathryn Williams and Jolie Holland, Katy sings and plays guitar and piano in a country/jazz/folk/oddball pop style (if you feel the need to pigeon-hole), while her sparse arrangements are subtly augmented by guitars, bongos, cello, violin and the occasional bass and drum kit.
Katy has toured the UK extensively over the past few years, including support slots with Karine Polwart, Eliza Carthy, Erin Mckeown, Vashti Bunyan, Jim Moray, and KT Tunstall and 2 co-headline tours with Canadians Gabe & Ruth Minnikin (ex-The Guthries) and Rachael Dadd (of Whalebone Polly). Katy’s festival appearances have included Truck, Priddy, Oxford, Salisbury Live and South by Southwest 2004 in Austin, Texas.
She performs solo, as a duo (with guitarist Phill Ward) and with her band, The KTB Collective (ranging in size from three to sixteen depending on the occasion). Katy also leads music and singing workshops for children and adults in and around Birmingham as well as at festivals all over the UK (including Green Man and Stainsby)
In 2006, KTB’s professional singing career took a fruitful albeit unexpected detour when she was engaged by the RSC to sing (in Sicilian) for their production of Romeo & Juliet in Stratford-Upon-Avon as part of The Complete Works’ Festival season. So who knows what’s to come for the versatile Miss KTB
For bookings, contact Edmund Bennett: edmund.bennett@googlemail.com
Register your interest now at www.topoftheox.co.uk to compete in the first UK song contest of it's kind. Win a huge record deal, tour, management, merchandise, perform at a world class venue and become a household name. www.topoftheox.co.uk supported by Marshall, StarNow, SAE, Turan Audio and many more key industry names.
+Playing alongside ASH / SUPERGRASS /DAMO SUZUKI (CAN) / VIEUX FARKA TOURE / THE CANDYSKINS /RED LIGHT COMPANY / WINTERSLEEP / FANFARLO / HJALTALIN / ERRORS / YACHT / DJ FOOD & DK / TOTAL SCIENCE / T.E.E.D./WILD BEASTS / A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS / GRAMMATICS /THE JOY FORMIDABLE / THE XCERTS / PULLED APART BY HORSES/ BROKEN RECORDS / MARK OLSON & GARY LOURIS / PETE MOLINARI
plus...
and so i watch you from afar/ calories/ chew lips/ colour/ danny and the champions of the world/ data select party / detroit social club/ dive dive/ dusty & the dreaming spires/ house of brothers/ skylarkin/ sportsday megaphone / the candyskins/ the elysian quartet/ the ghost of a thousand / the relationships/ the xx/ this town needs guns/ thomas truax/ treetop flyers/ truckers of husk/ we were promised jet packs/white belt yellow tag
We're lucky enough to have KTB playing at our festival, on the 15/16/17th May – the whole event is powered by renewable energy and hopes to show people how to live a more sustainable lifestyle – featuring composting loo's, peddle powered and solar stages and these great artists -
KARINE POLWART, SPIERS & BODEN, THE WEEK THAT WAS, MEIC STEVENS, PO' GIRL, JIM MORAY, DANNY THE CHAMP, CO PILGRIM, JALI FILY CISSHOKO, STORNOWAY and many more
Eh up! Glad you like the track.. looking forward to the new album! Are you around in Brum next Saturday? Im there for a gig in the afternoon and have quite a few hours to kill after a very early sound check.. would be good to catch up over a cuppa! x
I know this isn’t a personalised flyer, or message :( .. but we do thank you for being our friend in such turbulent times.. do keep in touch and we’ll make the friendship stronger. The Follys
Hey guys I've just uploaded some new songs on my myspace...
What do you suggest in terms of production? This is work in progress...it's mostly live with us all playing together and we need to fanny around with it a bit... we would value your expert opinion... before we get around to finishing them...
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