The Huers - Latest News
The Huers are calling!
The Huers are Phil Caffrey and Ian Cleverdon; they perform their own material and some classic and not so well known covers to folk and festival audiences around the UK.
The story goes back 20 years when Phil and Ian met while on a course when they worked for the same organisation. The lunchtime discussions soon turned round to their love of music, much to the boredom of everyone else on the course! Soon after that they decided to cut their live performance teeth by forming a band, Picture This, with local vocalist and musician Ron Dougan. After a successful 18 months, Ron moved away from The North West, leaving Phil and Ian pursuing their own musical ventures.
Phil (far left) & Ian (next to Phil) in their Picture This days. Just look at all that hair!
Phil worked on many projects, including writing a musical and productions for schools. He ran music workshops for local school children; his ability to turn his hand to any instrument (guitar, keyboards, whistle, drums…I could go on! Ed.) was a boon to helping schools produce their own CDs with his backing and production, and raised lots of funds in the process. Throughout this period, Phil honed his writing and production skills and was active on the Liverpool acoustic scene, both solo and in collaboration with Manchester songwriter Malcolm Woodall.
Ian worked on various musical projects in recording studios such as Amazon in Liverpool and Cresta Sound in Oldham from which he learnt the craft of recording and a whole raft of other techniques, not least making the ubiquitous cheese-on-toast and mug of tea at lunchtime - rock and roll! He released his first cassette album in 1995, Approaching Alpha, to national critical acclaim and raising funds for the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Trust. He co-founded folk-rock band Odd At Ease in 1998, who have released two albums and performed at many folk festivals, including Middlewich and Broadstairs, and supporting the likes of Show Of Hands, The Phil Beer Band and Cave. Ian has also released two solo albums and in 2008 released an electronic chill-out album with his old schoolmate Haydn Jones under the name Simplexity.
So how were The Huers born? Phil and Ian met up again at an Acoustic event in Lancashire in 2008, collaborated on a few tunes they both knew, and decided that this was too good a musical chemistry to waste. The combination of Phil’s superb vocals and songwriting, with Ian’s multi-instrumental textures and songs gives The Huers a distinctive sound that has delighted audiences locally. Both can lead a song, sing soaring close harmony, and provide any number of instrumental backings making their live performance a delight and full of surprises. Here’s what you can expect to see:
Phil Caffrey: vocals, Taylor acoustic guitar, David Oddy cello-mandolin, zaphoon, whistles, harmonica, cajon
Ian Cleverdon: vocals, acoustic guitar, cello-mandolin, mandolin (all made by David Oddy), Ozark tenor guitar, ukelele, McNally stick
Watch this space for news on where you can see more of The Huers.
Boo Hewerdine, who wrote the fantastic Bell Book & Candle, has given us his kind permission to record and place on our site this beautiful song. Thanks Boo.
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