Sunday, 29 May 2011

Wilko wings his way back

Dr Feelgood legend Wilko Johnson makes a welcome return to the Trades Club on Saturday promising another dose of high octane R'n'B.

Wilko is one of Britain's most influential guitarists and his seminal work in the Feelgoods was recently celebrated in the award winning documentary Oil City Confidential.

He has also recently been standing in with the Blockheads and he brings the equally legendary Norman Watt Roy from that band on bass, plus jazz drummer Dylan - son of Steve - Howe on the skins.

The weekend kicks off on Thursday with the best, most entertaining, wholesome, intelligent and thoroughly good natured quiz on the planet. The quizzers are the cleanest, most saintly people on Earth who never resort to checking answers on their Smartphones. Oh, and there's a range of gorgeous homemade curries on offer.

The Beat-Herder Festival has become one of the Britain's most popular festivals with loads of Hebenites taking the short trip over the Pennines to party.

On Friday their newest stage, The Perfumed Garden, invites you to a pre-festival party with resident selectors Earthdoctor (Dragon Collective), John Tree (Fusion Fridays, Dogs in Space) and Red Tin Dave (OBE, Dogs in Space) on the decks. The will be joined by special guest and Trades regular Annie (Country Club, Trailer Trash).

All proceeds will be going towards tent decor at the festival and Perfumed gardeners can expect eclectic beats, grooves and shimmys from all five corners of the planet.

Another packed weekend draws to a close on Sunday with fingerstyle guitar wizard Walter Strauss making the long journey from Rawlins, Wyoming.

Walter was born out there in the big open, and was seduced to look to the vast spaces of the American West for his musical inspiration. Walter's music evokes far reaches of the globe working with musicians from West Africa to Australia and Finland, to masterfully weaves threads of world music, American roots, and jazz into a brand uniquely his own.

"Wilko is a regular visitors to the Trades and he never lets us down, always producing the goods to sell out crowds," Trades Club spokesperson Paul Clarke told the Hebden Bridge Web.

"Beat-Hearder is hugely popular with Hebden festival fans and we wanted do our bit to support them by hosting a fundraiser for the Perfumed Garden crew.

"Walter Strauss is an artist we have tracking for ages because his fusion of different styles is a perfect fir forour audience, plus he is nearly a good a guitarist as Wilko."