Acts revealed for the Summerisle Stage, Acoustic Village and across the site
With only a couple of months to go until Wickerman opens its gates, Scotland’s most eclectic music festival is welcoming some exciting new additions to its weekend line up. Britpop indie rock band Shed Seven join the Friday night
Summerisle Stage bill. The chart-topping five-piece will delve into their extensive back catalogue and perform tracks from their four best selling studio albums. Their electrifying live performance is set to be a definite hit with the UK’s friendliest festival crowd. Also contributing to Friday’s main stage mix will be American rock group Augustines. Their life affirming live shows have filled the hearts and minds of many across the UK since they brought their anthemic indie-rock to Great Britain in 2011.
Joining them will be London-based folk act Skinny Lister, whose lively sets are fuelled by their infectious camaraderie on stage, and Sheffield band The Hosts, who expertly fuse retro and modern sounds. Punk group LIFE will create a Summerisle storm on the Saturday with their punchy guitar hooks and poetic pop lyrics.
Turning up the heat on the much loved Acoustic Village will be the esteemed Roddy Woomble, who will headline Friday night along with his band. The front man of Scottish rock band Idlewild, his reflective storytelling and evocative sound has secured his reputation as one of Britain’s finest contemporary folk artists. Also playing on the Friday will be John Smith, an award winning acoustic guitar player whose vocals have brought crowds to pin-drop silence followed by a rapturous applause. Lauded local folk hero Emily Smith makes her debut appearance at Wickerman this year and is certain to beguile the audience. The Acoustic Village line up is further enhanced with the addition of hotly tipped Australian’s The Mae Trio, the North East’s songbird and sometime member of Dermot O’Leary’s Choir of Angels Bridie Jackson and The Arbour, rising folk star Sorren Maclean, former Squeeze member Nick Harper and Glasgow’s nine piece ska collective Esperanza.
The legendary Scooter Tent bill will be enhanced by west coast ska veterans Skarsoles. The original and lively six-piece are pros on the British ska scene and promise to get Wicker fans jumping.
As a special treat for festival goers, walkabout band Blowjangles will return to the festival to entertain fans with impromptu ska, reggae & jazz performances over the weekend at various locations, participation is compulsory. Up at the Ho Down Wendy House, Glasgow’s foot stomping Inishowen Ceilidh band will ensure that festival goers feet don’t stay idle as they return to their festival residence since 2009. Joining them this year are country blues band Full Tonne Kidd.
As is now customary, the festival fun kicks off on Thursday night with the Greenman Inn Opening Party. Celebrations will commence with the ever popular ceilidh band, rhythmnreel and DJ Jason Dupuy. Get ready to scream like they did in the 60s as one of the UK’s most sought after authentic Beatles tribute shows, Them Beatles join the party in 2014.
Festival Coordinator Helen Chalmers commented: “With only a couple of months to go it is brilliant to reveal such a great range of acts. The Festival is always evolving and aims to showcase some of the best artists, whether they are new on the scene or established performers. We can’t wait for our fans to enjoy our 2014 line up”.
Friday 25th & Saturday 26th July 2014 / www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk
East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dundrennan, Dumfries & Galloway
Tickets can be purchased from
http://wickerman.skiddletickets.com/
Artist Information
Shed Seven
Shed Seven are an English Indie Rock band from York and were one of the groups which contributed to the Britpop music scene that evolved during the 1990s. They belong to the post-Smiths wave of UK musicians such as The Sundays and Marion, with a sound relying heavily on complex guitar arpeggios often in a minor key, and wailing vocals. At the height of their popularity between 1994 and 1999 they had fifteen Top 40 singles.
Augustines
Augustines (formerly We Are Augustines) is an American indie rock group originally based in Brooklyn, New York and now Seattle, Washington consisting of guitarist Billy McCarthy, multi-instrumentalist Eric Sanderson and drummer Rob Allen. Augustines are known for intense shows and heavy interaction with the audience.
Skinny Lister
Skinny Lister is not your average English folk group. Fronted by Dan Heptinstall and Lorna Thomas; a vocalist with a lusty cackle and flirtatious presence, alongside her brother Maxwell and guitarist Andy ‘Slim’ Black. Skinny Lister hail from across England with a hula thrown in from the shores of Hawaii in the form of double bass player, Michael Camino.
The Hosts
Five-piece hailing from Sheffield, describe themselves as retro but with a modern twist and their sound as melodramatic alternative pop Music.
LIFE
The band’s punchy guitar hooks and pop-poem lyrics have already garnered them praise from Steve Lamacq and NME Radar. The quartet from Hull love all things related to pop culture which is reminiscent in their DIY Punk sound.
Roddy Woomble
Roddy is a Scottish singer, songwriter and writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of indie rock band Idlewild, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. In 2006, Woomble released his debut solo album, My Secret is My Silence, and released two subsequent albums, The Impossible Song & Other Songs and Listen to Keep, in 2011 and 2013, respectively
John Smith
John Smith is from Devon who has quietly become one of the most exciting voices on the new British folk scene. Touring relentlessly as headliner and support act, he has opened shows for John Martyn, David Gray and Jools Holland. John plays the steel-string acoustic guitar, sometimes with a slide, sometimes on his lap, sometimes de-tuning his guitar mid-song. He was named Young Acoustic Guitarist of the Year in 2003 and hasn’t stopped to look back.
Emily Smith
Is one of the leading singers on the contemporary Scottish folk scene. Her powerful, clear vocals have gained her award winning, worldwide recognition. As a songwriter she has been likened to “a Scottish Joni Mitchell”, but as a passionate collector she is equally adept at presenting fresh and evocative interpretations of traditional songs.
The Mae Trio
The Mae Trio are a Melbourne-based band of three young musicians fast making a name for themselves in the Australian music scene. Maggie Rigby (banjo, ukulele, guitar, marimba and vocals) Elsie Rigby (fiddle, ukulele and vocals) and Anita Hillman (cello, bass and vocals) started playing music together in 2011. All three members of the trio write their own songs and these are tastefully arranged to suit the group’s diverse instrumental talents and love of three part vocal harmony. The Mae Trio were the recipients of the 2013 Folk Alliance Youth Award at the National Folk Festival.
Bridie Jackson and The Arbour
A four-piece contemporary folk/acoustic band based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Their debut album, Bitter Lullabies, was released in January 2012. The band has since received play on BBC Radio One, Radio Two, Radio Three and Radio 6 Music and has also featured live in session on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends show with Clive Anderson, BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and on Dermot O’Leary’s show on BBC Radio 2. In June 2013 they were named The Guardian’s New Band Up North.
Sorren Maclean
A singer songwriter from Mull who has worked with and supported respected artists such as Roddy Woomble, Michael Marra, James Yorkston and the late Martyn Bennett.
Nick Harper
Is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the son of English folk musician Roy Harper and a past member of the English New Wave band Squeeze. Harper has received critical and popular acclaim as a live performer, especially for his acoustic guitar playing. His unique style of playing has also been called “nothing short of genius”.
The Skarsoles
The Skarsoles are Ska veterans from Scotland’s West Coast, the original and lively six-piece are pros on the Ska scene and will always get a festival crowd jumping.
Blowjangles
Blowjangles are the best walkabout festival band in the UK. They are a multi age, multi cultural, multi talented group of 14 who play sax, sousaphone, trumpet, drums and percussion.
Inishowen
Inishowen are a dynamic six piece group, well known on the Scottish and Irish Ceilidh/ Traditional music scene. In the past 15 years, Inishowen have gone from strength to strength, picking up the accolade of “World Ceilidh Band Champions” at the Rothesay music festival along the way.
Full Tonne Kidd
Country Blues Band from Bellshill near Glasgow. This year Full Tonne Kidd signed a recording agreement with PDR Records.
rhythmnreel
A 6-9 piece Celtic Rock/Traditional Scottish & Covers band based in the Highlands since 1992. Music Scotland describe the band as having “Fantastic arrangements and enough energy to power a village”.
DJ Jason Dupuy
Jason Dupuy is a well established club DJ with such a variety of music experience from working in so many well known clubswith different music policies from 70’s and 80’s, to RnB and Hip Hop, to Funky House and Electro, to Commercial Pop and Chart. Jason is armed with the right music for any event and has the valuable experience to back it up.
Them Beatles
Them Beatles give audiences the opportunity to ‘clap their hands and rattle their jewellery’ to one of the UK’s most sought after authentic Beatles tribute shows. With their unparalleled attention to detail, both musically and visually, Them Beatles have been hailed as the next best thing to seeing the original Fab Four.
