The Bad Shepherds: “The First Farewell Tour”

Adrian Edmondson’s folk-punk outfit The Bad Shepherds are set to hit the road again this autumn.

Though this tour by no means the end of The Bad Shepherds, they will be taking an extended sabbatical throughout 2012. With no firm plans in place for future tours these gigs are the first chance to say farewell.

Conceptually borne out of Adrian’s accidental (drunken) mandolin purchase and a subsequent backstage jam at a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band gig, the idea came to fruition when Adrian somehow convinced 2 of the most talented folk performers on the circuit (virtuoso uilleann pipes player Troy Donockley and twice All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Andy Dinan) to join him in and form a ewe-nique band fusing punk songs with folk instrumentation.

The Bad Shepherds have been enthusiastically received by gig and festival audiences (of a folk, punk or agnostic persuasions) across the UK and Europe. Efestivals declared, “Joe Strummer would heartily approve of the way the original ethics of punk have returned to its roots”.

The Bad Shepherds have released 2 albums; Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Metheral and 2010’s By Hook Or By Crook. They were nominated for Best Live Act at the 2010 BBC Radio Folk Awards (where they also performed).

Tour Support comes from the Samantha Crain; Rolling Stone said “She writes folk music, but she belts out notes like she’s singing R&B. Her rich alto seems to have no bottom, and the sound of it against her bare guitar is enough to raise gooseflesh. Crain inverts folk music and leavens it with other elements, placing square emphasis on her singular pipes.”

Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby. A special treat in London only: Author of Bad Shepherds favorite “I’d Go The Whole Wide World; Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby are a two-piece rock and roll group who have individually been making distinctive and original music for decades: he a British iconoclast and wild-card survivor of the early Stiff Records, she as a long-standing heroine of the New York pop scene.

The Bad Shepherds “The First Farewell” Tour details

October 2011
Thu 27 Southampton The Brook 023 8055 5366
Fri 28 Bristol The Fleece 0117 929 9008
Sat 29 Liskeard Carnglaze Cavern 01579 320 251
Sun 30 Exeter Phoenix 01392 667 080

November 2011
Thu 3 Birmingham Town Hall 0121 780 3333
Fri 4 Gloucester Gloucester Guildhall 01452 503 050
Sat 5 The Platform Morecambe 01524 582803
Sun 6 Hereford Courtyard Theatre 01432 340 555

Wed 9 Colchester Arts Centre 01206 500 900
Thu 10 Norwich The Waterfront 01603 508 050
Fri 11 Corn Exchange Stamford 01780 766 455
Sat 12 Derby Derby Theatre 01332 255 800
Sun 13 Harpenden Public Halls 01582 767 525

Thu 17 Manchester Band on the Wall 0845 2 500 500
Fri 18 Leeds Leeds Varieties 0113 243 0808
Sat 19 Gateshead The Sage 0191 443 4661
Sun 20 Hull Hull Truck 01482 323 638

Wed 23 Brighton Komedia 0845 293 8480
Thu 24 Farnham Maltings 01252 745 444
Fri 25 Folkstone The Quarterhouse 01303 858 500
Sat 26 London Union Chapel 0844 477 1000

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