Pistol Pete Wearn

Pistol Pete Wearn & the Wildwood Flowers launch their first EP at this hometown gig with support from singer-songwriter Dan Hartland. Ticket cost includes a drink at the bar* PISTOL PETE WEARN & THE WILDWOOD FLOWERS The wildwood flower sweet but rough-hewn, beautiful and homely gave country music royalty the Carter Family their biggest hit, and the English county town of Stafford the name of one of its leafiest districts. Fusing Appalachia with home-grown folk, then, is what Pistol Pete Wearn and the Wildwood Flowers were named to do. After two solo albums and five years of touring with just his guitar and a stompbox for company, Moonshine Magazine's Solo Blues Artist of the Year Pistol Pete Wearn has resolved to travel some country roads. Meeting like-minded rail-riders at open mics and community music workshops, he has built a trio that fits its storied moniker precisely. A new project for Wearn, the trio showcases a gentler, more thoughtful side of his songwriting, which has been featured on BBC 6 Music and gathered numerous accolades (music as true as it gets Blues Blast Magazine). With a sound filled out by fellow Staffordians Olly Parry on fiddle and BBC Introducing favourite Helena Francesca on backing vocals and autoharp, Wearn's latest material draws on folkier roots to reflect on the wider world. Coming off of my 2018 European tour, a new project in which I could express some more personal feelings and thoughts away from the rawer, bluesier sound I'd been playing made a lot of sense, remarked Wearn. DAN HARTLAND Dan Hartland's songwriting has been described as absolutely gorgeous by BBC Introducing, delicately lovely by Americana UK and as offering a fine balance between heartache and joy by Maverick magazine. He has most recently supported the likes of Americana and folk luminaries Mark Olson, Kim Richey and Lisbee Stainton and has earned a unique reputation as both a dynamic performer and thoughtful songsmith. Gathering folk and roots influences from both sides of the Atlantic, and adding a knowing pop sensibility to his melodies and hooks, Dan puts feeling at the heart of every song. With a keen eye for character and a subtle turn of phrase, onstage Dan's kinetic guitar picking and witty storytelling cut through the usual tropes of the lonesome troubador, situating the sensitivity of his songs within often wry, quirky contexts. His second full-length album, Great Novels, takes Dan's rootsy live sound and embellishes it with subtle synths and spacious arrangements. The record was produced by Midlands-based singer-songwriter Chris Tye (he's ACE! Jo Whiley) and features an intimate group of select musicians. Gentle and insistent, subtle and lush, Great Novels features eleven slices of Hartland's trademark literate songwriting, all united by themes of community and communion. *T&Cs apply. Further details available from venue.