The Bros. Landreth had just come off stage at Higher Eggbeer in Cheriton Bishop (you can read the live review HERE), they had been swamped in a sea of well-wishers keen to purchase their CD's and have a picture taken with them. Once the madness had died down, I asked David Landreth (Bass Guitar/backing vocals) if we could have a chat, being the true gent that he is, he agreed, we took refuge behind the bar, pulled up a couple of barrels and got comfy....

 

 

David, this wasn’t the first gig of the 2016 UK tour dates that you’re doing?

No, we did Glasgow, Sheffield, Leicester and here, so this was our 4th show. 

Did you understand what people were saying in Glasgow?

We did, their accents are so thick but we had a great time in Scotland, great people!

Do you find that you get a different reaction from the audiences depending on where you play in the UK?

I think the whole trip so far has been great and I’ve just come off stage and I’m high, high on the experience i should add! This whole experience of coming to the UK has shown us so much love, we’ve travelled the world and I don’t think that we get as warm of a reception anywhere else like we do in the UK, so far, every date on the UK leg of the tour has been a room PACKED full of people, even on a Monday night, people are willing to come out and listen to a band from Canada on a night that isn’t the weekend, it’s so great.

 

I was chatting to Joey earlier on this evening and we discussed how a Monday night audience can be so different to a Friday or Saturday night one….

Yeah, we have been totally blown away by the reception we have received, we really did have no idea what to expect, we did have an inkling that the shows were going to be good as Bob Harris has been playing us a lot over the past few months on his BBC show

Bob is a legend, he is so passionate about music and he goes to great lengths to promote a lot of acts outside the UK so to bring them into the cars and homes of people in the UK, such a pioneer of new music! I met Bob a couple of years ago at a presentation he did all about Country music and it was a joy to be in the room and just listen to him speak, such a talented person who loves nothing more than working with and promoting musicians and bands. 

He’s a tastemaker…I’ll put this comment down on tape, any success that we have in the UK, I personally put it all down to the work that Bob Harris has done for us!

I'm sure he'd be pleased to hear that!

 

You have a few more dates in the UK prior to a couple in the States prior to jetting off to Australia, which other dates on this leg of the tour are you most looking forward to?

We’re really excited to see how London turns out, we’re playing at The Garage, we played at The Borderline before and this was the same approach, we didn’t know what to expect and BOOM, we took to the stage and the place was rammed. The UK has shown us a LOT of love and for that, we are so appreciative! I’m curious to see how Brighton is, we’ve heard that it’s like a big hippie refuge on the edge of the sea….

You'll have a great time in Brighton, check out The Lanes, loads of coffee bars and boutique style shops selling loads of vintage goods....

Looking forward to it already!

 

I chat to a lot of bands and if they’re from the UK, I always ask whether they see a difference in the audiences from the North to the South, I am often told that the North tend to be a little more raucous and ready to let their hair down easier whereas the South can sometimes seem very reserved and guarded, do you get this in Canada?

Not so much, there are so many factors in an audience, where you play, when you play, just so many variables there, we approach every show with no expectations and see what happens. You can have a real quiet intimate show one night and that can be incredibly satisfying, other times, you can let your hair down and rock out and everyone just goes nuts. We’ve played the same city like 10 times and had 10 totally different experiences every time, you just don’t know what you’re gonna get!

Your music does bring many feelings into the music, you’re all up on the stage rocking out, then Joey does a track by himself, then you lot join him again for backing vocals, it’s a really mixed bag

We get a lot out of it and we love playing with the dynamics….

 

I read on your Facebook page that you attended the Cayamo Cruise, please would you tell us a little more about this event?

Well, first and foremost, it’s one of the best music festivals for roots and Americana music and it just happens to be on a boat….that’s the best I can do to explain what it’s all about! It was intimate, you were standing shoulder to shoulder with bands, crew, roadies, all the walls come down, you’re seeing your heroes dressed in board shorts and ripped T-Shirts with their kids, the people were amazing, the music was out of this world and you were in a tropical paradise! You were picked up in Miami and I think it docked twice, once in St Martin and the British Virgin Islands, it really was a great event, you get to see everyone the morning after the night before with hangovers and sunburn, it really was fun! 

So, musical heroes on the cruise, who did you meet and what did you talk about?

I met a LOT of people, I was so happy to simply be eating dinner in the same room as Buddy Miller and John Hyatt, Steve Earle was EVERYWHERE, Jason Isobel was all over the place, it was so nice to just be there. Joey and and our guitarist hung out with Chris Stapleton (Leigh Coleman covered one of his songs earlier), it was great to see them as human beings, we’re all just people, when you don’t have a guitar in your hands, we all look like a bunch of goofy tourists wearing stupid shirts and flip flops.

 

So, after the couple of US dates, you’re off to Australia, having never played there before, how do you think you’ll go down?

We’re playing the Byron Bay Blues festival and the lineup is so stacked, Alan Stone, Jason Isobel etc. It’s a 5 day festival, again, we have no idea what to expect, all I know is that it's one of the BEST festivals in the world so we’re really excited about it.

Do you surf?

Not tried it yet….willing to give it a go though!

 

You’re accustomed to playing pretty large scale festivals, can we expect to see you during the UK festival season this summer?

I’m not sure that we have anything in the books so far, probably too soon to confirm, there’s always discussions going on and we’ll be sure to find out soon enough where we’re headed out to!

 

Lastly, please give me the name of an act/band that we should be checking out?

Such a tough question…..I think you should definitely check out our pal Donovan Woods, he’s an incredible songwriter, he’s just launched a new record which is wonderful, he’s just started to put some air behind the sails of his solo career, he’s been in the game for a while but he’s so special, he’s from Ontario.

We have an ‘Introducing’ section on our site where we chat to bands from all over the world and we had a spate recently where all we seemed to be getting was bands from Toronto, is there a really big scene there?

Oh yeah, that is one massive hub of new music, I’m not surprised you’re getting quality stuff from there, we probably know most of them too! Where we’re from has a strong scene but Toronto is the BIG one!

Similar to London?

Sure, it’s the biggest place in Canada and there is so much going on there!

 

You’re off to Bristol soon?

Yep, it’s the next show

I love Bristol, it’s an amazing place for music and fashion, a real laid back attitude that really comes across in the music and the atmosphere. If you like your art, you should see if you can find the BANKSY painting on the side of a wall in Bristol, it’s on the main street

I’ll be sure to check it out….

 

 

We'd like to thank David for his time after the show to chat to us and wish them the very best for the remainder of the tour dates left to play, if they do book any UK festivals, you should definitely seek these guys out, they put on one hell of a live show and the music is so accessible, you can't help but fall in love with it....

 

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