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ONE STRING LOOSE
Kumquat
As OSL's debut album says, "it was a long time coming but we finally made it" - and this follow-up represents the soaring heights of achievement for the Newport area's young ambassadors. Honed to razor-sharp musical skills and awareness by sessions at the Irish Club, Scott Mckeon (fiddle, banjo), Joe Brady (whistle), Jack Stewart (guitar, bodhran), Baz Barwick (bass, octave mandolin) and drummer Mike Griffiths have created an exhilarating, exhausting and dazzling gem.
The love and respect OSL have for their tradition still stands and is evolving by leaps and bounds. Joe, Baz, Jack and Scott have contributed greatly by writing original material, and it's a fiery, compulsive, confident, swaggering feast.
Mick Tems - Taplas Magazine
One String Loose - High-energy fast-paced foot-stomping tunes with funky bass, driving guitar and some tasty beats. One String Loose sound like they’ve been guided by the ghost of Martyn Bennett. This is acid croft par excellence you’ll never stop your feet from moving.
- Fatea Magazine
ONE STRING LOOSE
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Kumquat
(OWN LABEL) www.onestringloose.com
There’s much to enjoy on this second studio album from the young, South Wales based folk-fusionists. Having existed in various incarnations since 2003, One String Loose currently boast a five piece line-up comprising front man, fiddle and banjo player Scott McKeon together with outstanding whistle player Joe Brady, guitarist Jack Stewart, bassist Matthew “Baz” Barwick and new boy Mike Griffiths on drums whose arrival in 2008 has added another dimension to the overall sound and has helped them to realise their ambition of creating a contemporary, roots based dance music. With Kumquat that ambition is pretty much accomplished as they confidently work their way through a collection of a few well chosen traditional numbers interspersed with their own original compositions that show them to be both compositionally inventive and musically adventurous. Instrumental throughout, the bands use of traditional themes and largely acoustic instruments to create their distinctive driving sound brings to mind those other serial experimenters Shooglenifty and the Peatbog Fairies, and as with those bands, it’s to their credit that they’ve managed to achieve that goal without losing sight of their musical roots. The future’s bright. The future’s Kumquat.
Dave Haslam
- Rock N' Reel Magazine
Discography
Just A Wee Jobbie - 2004 (EP)
Makin' Monkeys Funky - 2006
Kumquat - 2009
Photos
Bio
Since 2003, Welsh Folk-fusion band One String Loose have been exciting audiences around the UK and Europe with their complex, dynamic arrangements of traditional and self penned tunes, performed with jawdropping virtuosity and infectious joie de vivre. Their innovative style of folk – fusion has been captivating all manner of people: fellow musicians, casual listeners, purists, grandmothers, teenagers and gyrating hippies.
One String Loose have always recognised that their style of music is deeply rooted in dance, and have sought to contemporise it with grooving rhythmic patterns from the bass and drums, intricate accompaniment from the guitar and foot stomping melodies from the fiddle and whistle. As a consequence, a gig that doesn’t get at least a substantial part of their audience up and shaking has now become a rarity.
Front man, fiddler and banjo renaissance man Scott has a natural, self-deprecating humour which creates that relaxed, inclusive atmosphere that is the hallmark of any really great live band, and the craic between Scott McKeon and fellow band mates Joe Brady, Jack Stewart, Baz Barwick and Mike Griffiths draw the audience further into the weird and wonderful world of One String Loose.
The year 2008 has been exceptional for One String Loose, seeing them reach the finals of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards, followed with a polished performance at the highly prestigious Glastonbury Festival on the Avalon Stage, and international performances in Poland and France. More recently the band have released their second studio album “KUMQUAT” and have been touring it in 2009, a year in which they hope to further make their mark upon the wider circuit of their genre.
UK GIGS INCLUDE:
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, ROYAL ALBERT HALL, BBC RADIO 2 YOUNG FOLK AWARD FINALS, ST DAVID'S HALL CARDIFF, GWYL PONTARDAWE FESTIVAL, WYCHWOOD FESTIVAL, TWO RIVERS FOLK FESTIVAL, CHIPPENHAM FOLK FESTIVAL, WORKHOUSE FESTIVAL, SAUL FOLK ON THE WATER, CWLWM CELTAIDD - THE CELTIC FESTIVAL OF WALES, SHEPLEY SPRING FESTIVAL, SWANAGE FOLK FESTIVAL, THE BIG CHEESE FESTIVAL, DEVIL’S BRIDGE.
INTERNATIONAL GIGS INCLUDE:
CELTICA COURMAYEUR (Val D’Aosta, Italy), ZAMEK FESTIVAL (Bedzin, Poland), TARVISIUM CELTICA (Treviso Venice, Italy), FESTIVAL INTERCELTIQUE DE LORIENT (Lorient, France)
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