Cropredy Convention News (Viewing page 1 of 55 )

Never one to rest on her laurels, Joan remains fresh, vibrant and current; no more so than when live, on stage, where music comes to life. With every tour you are guaranteed a fantastic mix of magical old favourites plus brand new songs to fall in love with.

Joan is as happy to play Love and Affection, Willow, Drop The Pilot and Me, Myself I, as the audience is to hear them. She is equally happy and proud of how her audiences embrace hearing new and exciting compositions, like Into The Blues (debuted at No. 1 in the US Blues chart 2007) and This Charming Life (debuted at No. 1 in Amazon download chart 2010).

During her long and illustrious career Joan has been successful in all musical genres, Pop, Blues, Folk, Reggae, and Jazz. Her audience, newly attracted or long term fans are as loyal to her as she is faithful to them.

The 2012 appearances will see Joan performing Love and Affection amongst many other firm favourites, and also showcase songs from her brand new CD due for release in time for the tour.

Joan is recognised as one of the World's leading singer, songwriter and guitarists and we are delighted to welcome her to the Cropredy Festival.

Find out more on Joan's facebook page or website.

Richard's songs have been covered by many artists such as Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello and Robert Plant and have earned him an Ivor Novello Award for songwriting. His unique guitar playing has earned him a spot in the Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 20 Guitarists of All Time.

In 2010 he served as curator of London's Meltdown Festival at the South Bank Centre. 2011 saw Richard named an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) and a recipient of a Doctorate Hinoris Causa from the University of Aberdeen.

"The OBE will further restore Richard Thompson's status at the top table of British musical heroes as a folk revolutionary, one of the world's greatest guitarists, a must-see performer and one of the finest songwriters this country has ever produced." - Spectator.

With Pearse Doherty, the bassist since the start of the Irish tour, in his last year in Science in Galway University and Davy working as a fitter and the father of three young boys, the youngest awaiting holy water and a name, things were not pure and simple.

The philosophy adopted was - 'Let's not end up looking back in twenty years time telling
people in a pub what we could have done wan time' That decided, Pearse's mother smuggled his good bass down from Donegal (his father didn't know he was in a band) and Pearse packed his science books with the rest of his gear so he could do some study along the way(!!!) Davy asked for six weeks off work and was promptly told by his boss that if he
took six weeks off he could have every week afterwards off as well. Davy courageously chose to take the six weeks and flew over to London a couple of days later than the rest of the band. Christopher having now been christened, for the start of an epic escapade.Mike fulfilled his tour-time offer and produced the band's first single, 'N17', which features the then
Waterboys' saxophonist, and now Saw Doctors' bass player, Anthony Thistlethwaite, in the outro; it was a feat of indescribable dimensions how a man could play a sax so well after being in the pub all day.

The single got on the radio a handful of times and a second single was to be released to fulfill the two-record deal with Solid Records. With Philip Tennant, whom they had met through Mike and who had engineered ‘N17', now on the producer's perch, they went to the haunted Loco Studios in Wales and put down three tracks - 'It Won't Be Tonight', 'I Useta Lover' and ‘Sing A Powerful Song'. After debates, theories and shit-talk, it was eventually
decided that 'I Useta Lover' would be the second release from The Saw Doctors. They plugged away at gigs around Ireland and scored an early afternoon slot at the coming-of-age Irish festival of its time, Féile, in Thurles, in County Tipperary,in the August of 1990.

The Welsh ghost must have brought them luck for that Sunday evening they learnt that 'I Useta Lover' had somehow entered the Irish single charts from where it slowly climbed, taking seven weeks to reach the Number One spot and remaining on top for the following nine weeks.

The Saw Doctors were now known the length and breath of the country and beyond.Things got fast. A Channel 4, Steve Lock directed, documentary, 'Sing A Powerful Song', was shot in Manchester and at their homecoming gig in the Gaelic Football Stadium in Tuam, and it aired in both Britain and Ireland. They made their first trip to The United States in 1991, a journey they have made almost eighty times since.

With four studio albums in their record shop section, ‘If This Is Rock And Roll I Want My Old Job Back', ‘All The Way From Tuam', 'Same Oul' Town' and‘Songs From Sun Street', The Saw Doctors went where no band had ever gone before and bravely entered the new millennium.

Upheaval in the line-up saw long-time drummer John Donnelly and long-time bassist Pearse Doherty move on, joined shortly afterwards by keyboardist Derek Murray and the team-sheet took a while to settle again, with first Jim Higgins and then Fran Breen occupying the drumstool and Kevin Duffy pressing the black and white keys. For a number of tours a brass section with Danny Healy on trumpet and Richie Buckley on sax augmented the show, as well as the addition of Mouse McHugh on backing vocals. They released their sixth studio album, 'The Cure', recorded in Cuan Studios in Spiddal, near Galway and werepresented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Awards of 2008, with the line-up of Davy Carton, Leo Moran, Anthony Thistlethwaite,Kevin Duffy and Éimhín Cradock.

In 2008 they filmed a documentary, "Clare Island to Cape Cod', the centerpiece being their, by then, eagerly anticipated annual August appearance at the Melody Tent in Hyannis, MA revolving on the stage, surrounded in 360° by banks of loud and sweaty Summertime fans.

With their distinctive version of 'About You Now', The Sugababes' hit, a chance cover from the 'Rockin' Roulette' section of The Podge and Rodge Show on Ireland's national TV station, RTÉ, The Saw Doctors scored an Irish Number One in October 2008, their first Number One since 'Hay Wrap', seventeen years previous.

Over the following year and a half this squad recorded the band's seventh studio album - ‘The Further Adventures Of The Saw Doctors' which is probably their most consistent collection of songs to date, barely making it into the ‘record shops' before the concept of analbum, and the outlets that sell them, veer dangerously close to becoming obsolete.

The end of 2011 brought another surprise hit for the band - having included a verse and chorus of 'Downtown' in the show-closing 'Hay Wrap', the band noticed that, like 'About You Now', 'Downtown' captured the imagination of the audience, making it a potential contender for the Christmas single. On a long-shot, producer Phillip Tennant got in touch with Petula Clark's manager and a recording session was arranged in London where the old 60's classic was re-vamped and recorded - 'The Saw Doctors featuring 'Petula Clark'! The lively duet made it to number 2 in the Irish singles Christmas chart and actually made it to number 1 in the i-tunes section of the count.

The beginning of January 2012 saw Éimhin passing on the drumsticks to Mayo man, Rickie O'Neill, the first green and red blooded member in the annals of the team; Éimhin and Rickie had been working together towards the end of 2011 on making the transition as smooth as possible, and smooth it was - Rickie already having put in storming performances at The Glasgow Barrowland and The Manchester Apollo amongst other shows on the December leg of the British and Irish tours. Loved and revered by their loyal fans, many of whom have been recruited by already fan friends, or friends of friends of fans, if you know what I mean, and often reviled by haughty urban-based media style council as being too rural (Tuam!), painting pictures that the begrudgers believe, from their lofty perspective, don't exist in the real world,
The Saw Doctors continue with a resilience and an effervescent energy that has them lined-up for a six week coast to coast adventure across North America this Spring.

In their own words.....
'Born into a repressed, catholic, conservative, small-town,agrarian, angst-ridden and showband infested society we're trying to preserve the positive elements of our
background and marry them to the sounds which have culturally invaded our milieu through TV, radio, 45's, fast food restaurants, 24 hour petrol stations and electric blankets'