Mary Epworth on Vocals, Oscar Schmidt OS45CE Electric Autoharp, Rhythm guitar, and wooden spoons.
Will Twynham synths/vox/keys/guitar/twinklies live, and almost everything else in the studio.
Horse on Guitar, Banjo and Vox.
The Gord (on loan from The Outdoor Types) on Bass and vox.
The mighty Rich Norris on Drums.
The Suessmilch horns join us whenever we're all in the same country.
Influences
I love....vintage pop, folk, psych and country. van dyke parks, the beach boys, gene clark, the shangri-las, Dee Christopholus, Wimple Winch, american spring, bobbie gentry, dillard and clark, linda perhacs, judee sill, elyse, the seeds, julie london, emitt rhodes, the nazz, todd rundgren, romanyi rota, kalyi yag, vera bila and kale, hank williams, aphrodite's child, lesley gore, forest, shirley collins, dolly collins, the monkees, mike nesmith, devo, zz top, urge overkill, dennis wilson, gram parsons, will oldham, shudder to think, Michael J Sheehy, Saint Silas Intercession, pearls before swine, incredible string band, the left banke, adapter adapter, the nightcrawlers, brigitte bardot, serge gainsbourg, lee hazlewood, pilots of japan, the free design, the grateful dead, taraif de hadouks, pilots of japan, the sweeney, making planets, alan tyler, sumahama, lou christie, margo guryan, love, neil young, plush, sea and cake, sam prekop, archer prewitt, emily barker, forest, nick drake, the blossom toes, the byrds, moby grape, skip spence, tom waits, leonard cohen, vashti bunyan, patsy cline, devo, six finger satellite, sufjan stevens, mark eric, the penny arkade, maitreya kali, the pretty things, judy henske and jerry yester, ramases and selket, allen toussaint
"So exuberant in its ragged glory that you would be very hard-hearted indeed if you weren't moved to smile, to join its rutted rolling procession, its pilgrimage, its parade of smashing cymbals, shivering violins, clamorous voices and a horn section just roused from sleep, but game for the journey to Rome, to Damascus, Samarra, Mecca or simply the end of a cobbled London street."
shakeyourfist.blogspot.com
"Those much loving of Men An Tol, Mellow Candle and indeed the Owl Service / Hobby Horse collective will find much to swoon about here, featuring a wind weaving cortege of banjos, wooden spoons and other strangely archaic instruments ’the Saddle Song’ is a beguilingly bracing slice of ramshackle woodland rustics, a pagan procession if you like festooned with a deep south funereal march like guile that’s been strangely relocated to the wiles of Wicker Man land. Described by Mary herself as a ’pub shanty’ this crafted relic from a forgotten musical heritage combines enchantment, mystery and a sweetly alluring charm of timeless reverie which if you happen to pass up on will result in you self administering repeat arse kicking routines from here till the next winter solstice. You have been warned."
Losingtoday.com
"A swooning oompah of a song. Fiddles flurry, backing vocals waltz and it's all wrapped into a compact two minutes. Get a flagon of ale and get stuck in to it.":
Lee Puddefoot- Artrocker
"‘The Saddle Song’ is a gutsy, everything-playing sea shanty that - like Zach Condon’s Beirut project - takes traditional elements of folk and gives them an invigorating kick up the arse."
Soundsxp.com
"Mary looks and sounds as though she could raise the spirit of the earth all by herself - what a voice!"
SoftlySoftly @ Albert * Pearl, 118 Upper St, Islington - 3 DecemberLovely new venue - next month on first THURSDAY!!!And a music session in the bar room too! Bring instruments and join in!
Hi Mary, thanks for the kind words. I really love what you're doing and really looking forward to 11th! Really looking forward to your album too. (Probably too many 'Really's in one sentence. My apologies...) Maria x
Thank YOU, it would be wonderful to work with your music!! I haven't met with my troupe mates since discovering Black Doe- but I really love it. I'll be sure to send you a video link and happily promote your music. Neylan
Hey there. Just wanted to let you know that our new album, 'The Strange Cargo Cult of The Bottletop Millionaires' is out now and available to buy from cd baby or to download from i-tunes and amazon.com. Be well. Love, the Bottletops x
