The Lone-star collective known as The Texas Gentlemen will visit the UK for a showcase AmericanaFest gig at London's Oslo on January 31st as part of a short UK tour. The band are toured in support of their well received and wonderfully eclectic 'TX Jelly' album. The guys are much in demand as a backing band for a host of artists including Shakey Graves, Joe Ely and Kris Kristofferson so great things are expected as they're sure to cover all the roots bases. More about the band and those dates follow:
Heralded as a remarkable live band, debut album TX Jelly was widely praised on its release via New West Records in late 2017, with Uncut making it Americana Album of the Month and 4* reviews in Mojo, RNR Magazine, Country Music Magazine and CMP. The Sunday Times described the album as “The perfect soundtrack for an imaginary drive across the Lone-star state”, Acoustic Magazine stated “There’s nothing they can’t pull off” and Classic Rock, tipping the band in a ‘High Hopes’ feature, concluded “And special it certainly is.”
The Lone Star-bred collective is an ever-evolving cast of characters based around the core quintet of Beau Bedford, Nik Lee, Daniel Creamer, Matt McDonald, and Ryan Ake. They take their cues from some of the most iconic acts of the past -- the quicksilver brilliance of The Wrecking Crew, The Muscle Shoals Swampers, Booker T. and The M.G.’s, and Bob Dylan’s one-time backers The Band are the most obvious examples.
Bedford originally assembled The Texas Gentlemen as an all-purpose backing band and they quickly became the go-to group of players for an eclectic array of artists including Leon Bridges, Nikki Lane, Shakey Graves, Matthew Logan Vasquez of Delta Spirit, Jack Ingram, Terry Allen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ray Benson, Joe Ely (who described them as “the best backing band I have ever played with. Seriously.”) and many more. Last year, their performance with Kris Kristofferson was one of the “most exciting sets” at the Newport Folk Festival (Rolling Stone). Kristofferson so enjoyed collaborating with the band that he enlisted them for a series of critically acclaimed Texas concerts.
TX Jelly was cut live in four days at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and was produced by band leader and organist Beau Bedford. The 11-song set was paired down from 28 songs recorded in the 96-hour time span spent at FAME and moves between contemplative and raucous, touching on blues, soul, folk, country, rock, and gospel.
“We set up our own version of Rock ‘n’ Roll Summer camp and invited our friends down to FAME studios. We figured at worst, we would have a great time as friends hanging out in one of the most historic studios in America. There was so much mojo once we turned all of the gear on - sounds just started popping out of the speakers, and the songwriters couldn’t help but feed off the energy. TX Jelly is the fruition of years of kinship and a deep hunger by our collective group for American roots music”
Weds 31 Jan LONDON UK AmericanaFest showcase at Oslo
Fri 2 Feb BRISTOL Thelka
Sat 3 Feb BRIGHTON Patterns
Mon 5 Feb GLASGOW Oran Mor
Tues 6 Feb MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
Weds 7 Feb LONDON Bush Hall
TICKETS ON-SALE: https://www.metropolismusic.com/artists/the-texas-gentlemen/
Glasgow: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/36005387E69144B9