Brother & Bones

I had the pleasure of witnessing Brother and Bones live in an underground setting at the Great Escape festival in Brighton. (Read my review here.) I stumbled upon the Cornwall-based five-piece completely by accident. What a glorious accident it was. Little did I know I would be witness to one of the most exciting, vibrant and engaging performances I had ever seen. Since then I’ve been obsessed, but it’s difficult to be obsessed with a band when there are less than 10 videos of their songs online. So when frontman of Brother and Bones Richard Thomas supported Ben Howard on his UK tour at Lincoln Tokyo, there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to meet the man.

The Brother and Bones frontman was in a good mood from the start: “We’ve been quite overwhelmed by the response of people in places we’ve never been to. I mean I’ve never been to Margate, but a ton of people turned up! Enough people turned up to sing the songs so that was great! Since then I’ve gone onto this tour with Ben Howard, which was been amazing and a bit of a different experience; I mean we’re going round Europe and I’m not playing with the band, I’m on my own on stage.”

You wouldn’t notice that he was a novice playing alone though: his banter onstage is cool, calm and collected and with an entire room of people staring at him thinking, “who is this guy? We came for Ben Howard!”, he manages to evoke a huge reaction from the crowd with his set. The songs are delivered with passion, huge amounts of it; from a vantage point in the audience; you can tell that Richard believes in these songs. At the end of his short set, it seems his solo stint could pay dividends for the band, in the fact that Brother and Bones’s album, which was on sale downstairs, sold out after the gig. Now with the tour over, I asked Richard what Brother and Bones’ plans are for the next year.

“We released a single last month, and we’ve been touring around that, but the plan is to start getting the skeleton of an album together. Demos have been started and me and the band have spoken to some producers, so it’s a bit of an ongoing process.”

So the future definitely looks busy for the band. It’s obvious though from Richard’s sheer love of this music that big things are ahead for him and his band. The tunes are phenomenal and feel like they are more suited to stadium settings then basements, their live show is powerful and can captivate anyone, all that’s needed now is a bit of luck, or maybe them getting featured on Radio1. Whatever the future holds, this band is worth a listen to. Ignore them if you dare. - There Goes The Fear

f you are being touted as one of the most exciting new live bands around, it can be hard to match the hype. For Brother & Bones, it seems that is proving less tricky than for some. Tonight it is just lead singer Rich Thomas and his guitar as the first support act for Ben Howard. Therefore the Scala isn’t yet full and many of those already inside are far more interested in chatting about their work day or signing into facebook on their mobile.

It is at this sort of occasion that sympathy for bands and singers is at its most, because if it was me on that stage I would expect more respect. Still, Thomas seems used to this lifelong irritation of mine. Without his full band around him, you might imagine Thomas might feel more vulnerable, but it doesn’t seem so. He even handles a dodgy guitar peddle moment with relaxed aplomb.

Gifted with a rock voice that sounds right out of the 1970s, Thomas starts quietly but slowly builds a momentum over the six tracks played. Generating the drum beats by hitting his acoustic guitar and stamping his foot, Here Comes The Storm displays a fantastic vocal range and suddenly many of those chattering away in the background are transfixed by the stage. Then they are rewarded with a fine rendition of the single from earlier this year, the excellent Don’t Forget To Pray.

Excluded strangely is the forthcoming single Hold Me Like the Sun, which is a shame, as it would have been interesting to hear an acoustic take on the impressive harmonies and heavy rhythm and guitar. Based on this solo performance it is hard to know whether Brother & Bones justify their hype but watching Rich Thomas tonight, it makes me want to find out.
- Music News

After a storming first 12 months, Brother & Bones close 2011 regarded as one of the most exciting live bands in the UK. Hold Me Like The Sun and B-Side Show Me Love is produced and mixed by Ian Grimble (Manic Street Preachers/Travis/Everything But The Girl ) As the first full release the tracks are a true celebration of the bands standalone sound.

Hold Me Like The Sun will be released on November 14th .

Brother & Bones have been described as ‘Powerful, uplifting and impeccably performed’. The live show is a powerhouse of performance with a rarely seen weight coming from a band fronted with an acoustic guitar. The 5 piece set-up also features 2 drummers, giving the ability to deliver a ferocious dynamic at times, as well as providing the subtleties that make for a truly world class performance.

Brother & Bones are the nucleus of a body of musicians, artists, photographers and filmmakers hailing predominantly from the South West around St. Ives, Cornwall.

Recent winners of the South West Live music awards, the band have played over 80 shows to date in 2011 including, The Great Escape, The Eden sessions, Hop Farm, Beach break Live, Relentless Boardmasters, Leollapalooza and supports include Tribes, Paulo Nutini and are touring throughout the autumn with Ben Howard.

Autumn Tour Dates including Ben Howard Support are as follows:

2 October, Cardiff Uni Freshers Ball, CARDIFF
5 October, Cafe De Le Danse, PARIS w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
8 October, British GT Siverstone Race Track, TOWCESTER
17 October, UCL Freshers Ball, LONDON
21 October, St Ives Guildhall, CORNWALL
26th October, Scala, LONDON w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
27th October, Scala, LONDON w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
4 November, Craufurd arms, MILTON KEYNES
8 November, Mama Stones, EXETER
9 November, Wednesday Night Live @ Pop, SOUTHAMPTON
10 November , Westcoast Bar, MARGATE
14 November, The Macbeth, LONDON
15th November, Dry Bar, MANCHESTER
16th November, A Nation of Shopkeepers, LEEDS
17th November, Boileroom, GUILDFORD
18th November, Cherries, BRIDGWATER
19th November, Wight Rock Bar, ISLE OF WHITE (Acoustic)
24th November, The FLapper, BIRMINGHAM
25th November, Moles, BATH
26 November 2011, Blaa, OSLO w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
27 November, Pumpehuset, COPENHAGEN, w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
28 November, Franz Club, BERLIN w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
29 November, Luxor, COLOGNE w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
1st December, De Zwerver, OSTENDE w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
2nd December, Doornrosije, NIJMEGEN w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
3rd December, Ab Box, BRUSSELS w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
6th December, Rescue Rooms, NOTTINGHAM, w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
7th December, Junction, CAMBRIDGE , w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
8th December, Tokyo, LINCOLN, w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
9th December, Sin City, SWANSEA, w/ Ben Howard (Acoustic)
28th December, Notting Hill Arts Club, LONDON

For more info, please visit:

www.brotherandbones.co.uk
www.vimeo.com/brotherandbones
www.facebook.com/brotherandbones
www.myspace.com/brotherandbones
www.youtube.com/brotherandbones
- Entertainment Focus

Now I do like to support a bit of local talent, and when they’re this good a recommendation comes so easy. So in a music industry led by artists who like to do controversial things - wear meat dresses or need a nod from Louis Walsh and stint in ‘boot camp’ to get noticed; it’s incredibly refreshing to find a band who are genuinely talented, raw so in their passion and gain their popularity by word of mouth and live gigs.
Without restricting them to the folk genre, this is more high energy stuff, an earthy drum met by the husky aggression of lead singer Richard Thomas. An incredible force when playing live, the same vigour is showcased in this track. Percussion, sliding guitar, foot-stomping - Brother & Bones are a musical army to be reckoned with.
It makes you want to stamp, sing and with this particular track, shout it from a rugged cliff top in deepest Cornwall as it reaches it a heart-pounding crescendo end. No less, a rewarding breath of fresh air. - Blue Monday Music

After the acoustic openings to the day, things kicked up a notch with the tight and heavy rock of trio Black Circles before things took a turn for the jaw-dropping. Now, I see a lot of new bands but rarely has one hit me with such force and such energy that I am literally stopped in my tracks. Even when they were setting up the stage, you could tell that Brother And Bones were either going to be absolutely astounding or totally terrible – they were the former and then some. This London based 5-piece started out like Mumford & Sons with balls but soon transformed on stage to have the groove of Pearl Jam and the swagger of Reef. The trouble with writing about Brother and Bones is that they are genuinely so unique and so special that comparing them to other bands is a fairly redundant exercise. My advice to you would be to catch them live as soon as possible and stand as close to the front as possible to get the full force of the B&B experience square in the face. - Ltd State

It’s 1:30 in the afternoon, and the weather outside is screaming, “don’t go to that smelly underground venue!” Go to the beach, sit on the pier with an ice cream, watch another street gig, anything but go underground! No, I say: the show must go on!

What a decision that was, for one of the best bands I was able to see at this year’s Great Escape. Beneath Komedia, Cornwall based five-piece Brother and Bones were about to begin their set to a crowd of sweaty music patrons. The atmosphere is one of going into the unknown; here stands a band where there has been quite a bit of buzz about them but not really anyone knows what they sound like.

Well, they were about to find out that a band fronted by an acoustic guitar can be as formidable as anything around. Opener ‘Here Comes the Storm’ is a slow building roarer of a track and already the crowd are on tenterhooks. That’s only the start if it though, then the stomping began. My, could they make a noise with their feet, imagine Mumford and Sons‘ ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ on steroids and played at 11, then you are probably about halfway to realising the noise these boys made.

The dual percussion attack coupled with their epic bass grooves made for some seriously exciting tracks populating the middle of their set, including personal favourite ‘Back to Shore’ and ‘Skin and Bone.’ Brother and Bones are a band difficult to pin down. Their West Country roots point them towards a more folky feeling, but they simply rock too hard to be pinned down as a country act. The sound like a mix as the festival curators say between Mumford and Sons and The Dead Weather. While I agree, I also want to add that well, I think these boys could be better and bigger than both.

Live songs like new single ‘Don’t Forget to Pray’ have massive hooks that would appeal to the masses however with a paltry 4,000+ views on YouTube, I ask myself, will their name get out there? I for one hope so. Gigs like this are hard to find they come around once every few years, where you find a band you instantly fall in love with and you can’t stop playing their songs. This was one of those gigs for me, so I implore you, if you do anything this year apart from avoiding the rapture, watch this band. - There Goes The Fear

If the opening song of a gig says something about the band, Brother & Bones couldn't have said it better than with their album track Here Comes The Storm. They haven't been around for long, but the band are already making a name for themselves on the underground indie scene with their unique blend of indie rock and folk.

The intimate confines of the stage at The Spice Of Life in Soho make the perfect setting for the indie rock band with the arena sized soul. Not only do Brother & Bones fill the room with their downright electric stage presence, they rock the space as if it were Wembley Stadium. The five-piece set up allows each musician a true artistic focus on their role in the performance, from the drum beats as precise as a musical hitman to the heartbreak vocals of lead singer Rich.

Brother & Bones' talent as musicians shines through in their ability to glide effortlessly between genres; Skin And Bones, a slow, hauntingly melodic folk-inspired tune, is dramatically offset by the following rock n roll Good For You, where bassist Si gets up close and personal with the crowd without missing a perfectly-timed beat. With a set list that pushes the boundaries of song-craft from blues to folk to indie rock, it's easy to see that the hype around Brother & Bones is well-deserved; molten-hot guitar melodies run parallel to hypnotic bass beats, as devastatingly pure vocals rise over the swell of the songs' flow.

Brother & Bones are releasing a new, as yet untitled EP in June 2011, and if tonight is anything to go by, we'd better get ready for another storm. - Ilikemusic