Folk music in Bedford, it seems, is a bit like waiting for a bus. So, two gigs for fans of the unplugged turn up next week.
The Will Pound Band play the Place Theatre, Bradgate Road on Wednesday 4th in the latest of their monthly folk nights. Still in his twenties, the eponymous Will is a Harmonica player of international renown. His tunes come originally from a folky place but latterly are balanced with blues and jazz. No huffing and puffing here, the lad knows his onions. He’s playing with his band, which includes fiddle, guitar and a double bass player who is half of Nizlopi. Will took up the harmonica at 10 following two operations on his heart, as a way to build up the strength of his lungs.
Doors open at 8. Tickets £12 adv/£14 door
The following night, Thursday 5th , Southern Tenant Folk Union play The Ent Shed on Castle Road to promote their latest ‘The Chuck Norris Project’. Based in Edinburgh, the band have roots in both the UK and US. The idea behind the album was born when head honcho Pat McGarvey saw Mr Norris speaking up for American Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and declaring a vote for Obama would lead to ‘a thousand years of darkness’.
Each track takes the name of a Norris movie as the starting point, only to go on to examine political themes more constructively. Skip forward a couple of years and from this audacious conceit the band have made an accomplished album. An electronic version will be available later in the year and it’s not hard to see how the music will work on a different dancefloor.
Doors open at 7.30. Tickets are £12
Buy Tickets here (includes a booking fee)
