Stornoway
Following the announcement that Stornoway are to join Joan Armatrading and Bellowhead at this year’s Towersey Festival (28-31 August 2015), the Oxford band have spoken about their appearance.
“It’s our only Oxford show over the summer and the first time we’ve played the festival,” says main songwriter Brian Briggs. “It’s a bit of a legendary festival, so we’re really excited to get to play it at long last.
“We’re on the same night as Bellowhead, who are, of course, another ‘local act’. We’ve played with them in the past and they are great.
“I’ve never been to Towersey before but I’ve heard about it many times. Hopefully, I’ll take the whole family as we have a couple of toddlers and we hear the festival is really family-friendly. We should have local fans coming and we’ll get some friends down too I’m sure – it’ll be great.”
Their appearance follows the release of the band’s third full studio album, Bonxie (out 13 April 2015 via Cooking Vinyl). Named after the great skua (Stercorarius skua), a large powerful seabird also known as the bonxie, the collection features songs inspired by nature and the outdoors.
“Overall, the record’s pop, but in disguise. The songs seem to quite quickly connect with people,” says Brian.
Debuting in 2010 with the 100,000 selling Beachcomber’s Windowsill, the band – Brian, Jonathan Ouin, Oli Steadman and Rob Steadman – have previously opted to record themselves. However, for Bonxie, the band enlisted the skills of famed producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters, Twin Atlantic).
Says Brian: “We’d got quite used to doing things our way. That’d been good fun. But this time we wanted a step up from our comfort zones and having Gil there made us question our decisions, see things from a fresh perspective. The result is a more simpler, fresher sound, and we wanted to do something less dense, less layered. It’s still poppy … but it in an outdoorsy way.”
Stornoway play Towersey Festival, near Thame, Oxfordshire, on Saturday 29 August 2015, with Bellowhead, John Smith, Phil Beer, Lisbee Stainton and many more. Day Tickets are £40 (adult), £28 (youth), £18 (child), under 5s free. Full Weekend festival tickets are available from £120 (adult), £110 (conc), £84 (youth), £55 (child), with under 5s free. For tickets and more line-up details, call 01629 827016 or see: towerseyfestival.com
LISTINGS
Friday 28 August to Monday 31 August 2015
Towersey Festival
The Thame Showground, Kingsey Road, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 3JL
Tickets:
Tier 1: SOLD OUT
Tier 2: SOLD OUT
Tier 3: Adult £120; Conc £110; Youth £84; Child £55; U5 free.
Tier 4: Adult £135; Conc £110; Youth £95; Child £55; U5 free.
Day Tickets from £30 (Adult); £21 (Youth); £14 (Child); U5 free.
Camping £25 per Adult and Youth.
No booking fees.
Car Parking: Free.
Bookings: 01629 827016
Web: www.towerseyfestival.com
Twitter: @towerseyfesti
Facebook: Towerseyfestival
NB: Concession = students, Job Seekers and those 60+. Proof of status must be shown on ticket collection. Youth = 12-17 yrs inclusive. Child = 5 -11 yrs inclusive. Under 5 = FREE. Car Parking free (space permitting).
Towersey and Thame Residents: Special price full festival tickets are available to residents of Thame and Towersey. Please call 01629 827016 for discount details. This offer is only available by phone.
DAY-BY-DAY LISTINGS (selected)
Friday 28 August 2015
The Treacherous Orchestra
The Spooky Men’s Chorale
Kim Churchill
The Dovetail Trio
Saturday 29 August 2015
Bellowhead
Stornoway
John Smith
Phil Beer
Lisbee Stainton
Blackbeard’s Tea Party
Rob Heron and The Tea Pad Orchestra
Van Susans
Sunday 30 August 2015
Joan Armatrading
Show Of Hands
Sally Barker
The Travelling Band
Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr
Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin
Tom Figgins
Kizzy Crawford
Monday 31 August 2015
Birmingham Conservatoire Folk Ensemble
Keston Cobblers Club
Chris While and Julie Matthews
Roy Bailey
Mishca Macpherson
Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar
Luke Daniels
Anxo Lorenzo
See festival website for full day-by-day listings.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
LINKS:
Stornoway: www.stornoway.eu
cookingvinyl.com/artists/stornoway/
Bonxie album stream
MEDIA IMAGES:
Stornoway – press image 1 | Stornoway – press image 2 (Bonxie)
Download selected festival artist images: Towersey Festival 2015 – Media Assets
For Stornoway interview requests, contact: six07press.com
For all Towersey Festival related requests and queries, contact us:
Four Four Eight 