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The Grey Lady Music Lounge, Wednesday 8th August 2012

Headline Act: The Breretons

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Formed in 2010, Kent based folk/country artists The Breretons are set to emerge on the London music scene this year with a string of live dates and a debut album scheduled for release in the Autumn. Born from the ashes of London based rock outfit The Original Sinners, the brother/sister duo Marc and Charlotte are returning to their folk roots, playing heartfelt story telling songs of rare poetic quality. Their haunting harmony vocals are accompanied by Alex Metcalfe (piano), Kirsty Mangan (violin), Jim Cox (drums) and Pete Clements (bass).

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Rocket Lovers

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JUICED UP ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, VAMPIRIC LATINO LOVE SONGS and ALTERNATIVE MUSINGS.

Rocket Lovers are a newly formed raw and dirty combo led by Steve Spall (The Violet Jive) on Guitar/Vocals, featuring Nilz O’Hara (Ross and the Wrongens) on Double Bass /Vocals and Stu Wallinger (The Diarys) on Drums. Expect grungy surf guitar vibrations, fiery Latin montunos, wicked wordplay and heartfelt rose scented musings with dreamy melodies. No mad promo or ‘making it’ desires just yet; simply getting back to creating good music and enjoying some hot rodded shivers and shakes.

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Quietly Spoken Gentlemen

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Quietly Spoken Gentleman is a blending of music and influences and are made up of Ian Prior and Ralph Martyn. Ian has been playing, performing and recording music for many years now and has an ear and a liking for the acoustic side of music. His extensive collection of instruments include guitars, mandolins, a dobro, banjo, cigarbox slide, the list goes on! He has also spent many a year recording and producing music both for personal projects and also in a professional capacity.

Ralph's first musical love was playing the drums but his talents spread way beyond that now. Always fascinated by electronic sounds, samples and loops Ralph has spent a lifetime experimenting and pushing the boundaries. During our live sets Ralph plays cahon and mandolin and sings the lead vocals. On the recordings a variety of weird keyboards, guitars and percussion have found their way onto Ian's apple mac and subsequently our album.

Ian and Ralph started playing music together around 3 years ago and found instantly that their disparate styles fitted like a key in a lock. Ideas came very easily since our collaboration and we have written well over 100 songs in this short period. Our sound takes elements from the traditional deep roots of English and Irish Folk, Delta blues, rock and space age electronic sounds with a smattering of natural harmonies. Put simply we like to call it Folktronica.

Quietly Spoken Gentleman are: not shouting, singing to themselves, feeling excited, so moody, your new favourite thing, have synesthesia, a walk in the dark, lost the map, found themselves, lost the plot, forgot where the treasure's hidden, dance 'round the fire, blue and orange, folky and angry, a gift horse.

Quietly Spoken Gentleman (QSG - for those in a hurry) are currently performing live with the help of our good friend Andy Brunt (acoustic & electric guitars) who has been playing music with Ralph on and off for decades. Andy is a welcome and talented addition to any performance and takes us to new heights. We are playing songs from our latest QSG release called: "Ghost Song" along with other live material, both original and a few carefully chosen covers played with a QSG slant on them of course.

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Ben Jones and The Rifle Volunteers

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Ben Jones and The Rifle Volunteers formed in 2011 out of the embers of Kent band, The Lovedays. Ben found himself with a plethora of new songs, but no band with which to execute these new pop nuggets, so went ahead and recorded two solo albums, "Echobox" and "Kaleidoscope". Though rich in arrangements, with no gunslingers to play the songs live with, the head scratching and pacing up and down began. A chance meeting with Jonathan Llewellyn-Hurst changed everything for the better. With a mandate from him to go forth and form a band with him on drums was the catalyst needed to put into place the new outfit.

Completed by Josh Roots on Piano, John Bowles on guitar, Craig Ferguson on bass and Maxine Kerr on second vocal and guitar, The Rifle Volunteers, so named after a pub in Maidstone, are coming to electrify your soul with their own quirky brand of power pop and Rock 'n' Roll. Taking influence from sources as lauded as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Who and less obvious as Gilbert O' Sullivan, Weather Report and Bruce Hornsby, The Rifle Volunteers aim to create a musical melting pot to have you tapping your feet and feeling the sentiment.

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