Latest news from Waking the Witch

April 2008

LITTLE PIECE OF ENGLAND ' (WITCH RECORDS) – the new solo CD from Patsy Matheson

Release date 10th October 2008

Patsy's solo CD 'Little Piece of England' will be released in October 2008, and will be available through all the usual retail outlets. The CD, produced by Sam Bartholomew, brings a more up close, guitar based Patsy that has been heard on the Waking the Witch recordings. Recorded using mainly two very beaten up, very old and very beautiful American acoustic guitars, with a touch of banjo, her trademark mandolin and the occasional bit of percussion and electric guitar thrown in, the album consists of ten newly written compositions. Unlike her previous solo recordings ('Daddy's Gone Crazy' 1991, 'With My Boots On' 1996, 'Breathe Me '1997), Patsy is refusing to multi track her own vocals for harmonies (‘after working with the girls, it would seem really strange to sing along with myself', she says, ‘I love the different textures provided by different people's voices'), so this time, there will be harmonies on the album, but they will be male voices, as opposed to female ones!  

Patsy will be touring from October throughout the Winter to support the release of the CD. Gig details will be released in June.

FAREWELL TOUR NEWS

Waking the Witch have now completed our final tour and are sorry to announce that we have officially disbanded. We send our thanks, love and best wishes to everyone who has come to the gigs, bought our CDs, promoted our gigs, carried our gear, put us up, mixed our sound, bought us drinks, written reviews, played us on their radio programmes, pinched our posters and generally supported us over the last  five years. What a completely excellent time we have had!

After so many requests not to split up, we have not written off the idea of reforming at some stage in the distant future, but, certainly for the time being, Bex is going to be looking after her new baby son, Jools and Rach are spending time with their families, and Pats is working on her solo CD, which will be released in October of this year.

All three of our CDs, ('Like Everybody' PARAMIJO-01 2003, 'Hands & Bridges' WITCH-01 2005, 'Boys from the Abattoir' WITCH-02 2007 and the DVD 'Waking the Witch Live 2007') are still available through the following online stores – HMV, AMAZON, PLAY etc, (although there are only very limited numbers of 'Like Everybody' left now)  

We will continue to send regular emails to those of you who have requested ongoing news of the band. If you would like to join our emailing list, please write to info@wakingthewitch.co.uk.

March 2008

FORTHCOMING RADIO 2 APPEARANCE WITH BOB HARRIS

The girls are delighted to announce that they will be appearing as guests of Bob Harris on his BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 29th March. Bob will be talking to Patsy, Rach, Jools and Bex and they will be playing songs live from both the "Boys from the Abattoir" and "Hands & Bridges" albums.

Bex and Pats are also on Paul Franks drive time show on BBC West Mids - wednesday 19th March, sometime after 6pm.

Excellent reviews and previews of our farewell Tour shows are coming in thick and fast – click on the links below to sample what the press are saying:

www.harrogateadvertiser.net

www.thecourier.co.uk

www.thestar.co.uk

icperthshire.icnetwork.co.uk/perthshireadvertiser

www.folkandroots.co.uk

Mark Seaman's interview with Bex and Pats goes out Sunday 30th March on BBC Radio Wiltshire. Mark's prog starts at 2pm and those outside the area can listen live via www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/local_radio and use "Listen Again".

The girls were also live on air with John Rockley at BBC Radio Gloucester. Also on Radio Gloucester, the very wonderful Johnny Coppin played a track on his Sunday afternoon folk show on March 9th, and mentioned the forthcoming gigs in the area (this is available on listen again on the BBC website, so please do tune in and catch his show).

January 2008

WAKING THE WITCH on the RADIO!

Listen out for the following Waking the Witch radio appearances:

CLASSIC ROCK SOCIETY and CAMBRIDGE & BEYOND / FATEA Awards!

On Saturday 12th January, for the second year running, "Waking the Witch" was presented with the Classic Rock Society UK award for "Folk/Roots Performer of the Year" and "Boys from the Abattoir" was voted runner up for Best Album 2007!

Have a look at HMV  www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=281;1;-1;-1&sku=606661  for CD details.

And if that wasn't enough, our very own Becky Mills was voted runner up in the C.R.S Folk/Roots Performer of the Year category too! We'd like to say a huge thank you to all the members of the Classic Rock Society (U.K) who voted for us!  

In a separate poll, the Cambridge & Beyond/Fatea awards "Boys from the Abattoir" also scored second runner up in the category ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2007 http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/awards2007.html

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It has just been announced that Claire Hamill (former Wishbone Ash member who's songs have been covered by Eva Cassidy amongst others) will be supporting us at the Memorial Hall, Battle on 16th February. See www.blackhorsemusicfestival.org.uk/docs/wtw_concert.pdf for more info.

Also, due to overwhelming demand for tickets for the show at the Frazer Theatre in Knaresborough on Saturday 23rd February (now sold out), we have just added in an additional date the following night on Sunday 24th February. Tickets are now available from 01423 550519.

November:

FAREWELL TOUR

Waking the Witch have just announced that after next set of gigs in the Spring is completed, the band will be splitting up. The girls have decided that, after five years on the road, the time is now right to disband. Since 2003, they have had a fantastic time and are really proud of what they have achieved, but they all feel that it is time to pursue other things and spend more time with their families. The Spring shows will be the last time to catch the band live.

The dates are (please see the GIGS page for more info, contact details etc...)

LEAP YEAR WEEKEND OF WTW MUSIC IN SCOTLAND

As part of our final tour, we have been invited to do two consecutive nights at the Glenfarg Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland on Friday 29th February and Saturday 1st March. If you fancy a weekend away in beautiful surroundings, enjoying the company of four charming witches (!), then please contact David at www.mundellmusic.com for tickets and information.

WAKING THE WITCH LIVE DVD NOW AVAILABLE

To celebrate the success of the Boys from the Abattoir tour, a DVD of our live performance at the world famous City Varieties in Leeds has just been released. On stage we were joined by the wonderful Jon Short (bass) and Mick Bedford (drums), who also played on both Boys from the Abattoir and Like Everybody CDs. Other guests were Fluff (strings) and Jon Burr (harmonica) – both of whom also can be heard on Boys from the Abattoir. The DVD also features a bonus interview with us, filmed at the Grove Inn in Leeds . The DVD costs £14.99 – please contact info@wakingthewitch.co.uk for details.

Click here to view an excerpt from the DVD on YouTube

WAKING THE WITCH featured in the current GEAR magazine.

GEAR magazine featuring Waking The Witch

The current edition of "Gear" (the UKs largest circulating free music magazine), which is available in all good music stores, is running a  major feature on Waking the Witch.

September:

Click here for a really nice review of a duo Bex & Pats gig.

Bex & Pats autumn tour dates are:

Sat 1st September – Leeds , The Grove 0113 2439254
Wed 5th September – Spalding, South Holland Centre www.spaldingfolkclub.co.uk
Wed 3rd October – Swindon , The White Horse www.focsle.org.uk/SCoFF/whitehorse
Fri 5th October – Barton upon Humber , The Ropewalk www.carnivalinn.co.uk
Fri 26th October – Nr Saltburn, The Station, Loftus 01287 640373
Saturday 17th November – Leeds , The Grove 0113 2439254
Wed 21st November – Alford, Half Moon www.alfordacoustic.co.uk
Fri 30th November – Birmingham, Cotteridge, Tower of Song www.towerofsong.co.uk

August:

Saturday 11th August 2007 at 8.00pm “Waking the Witch in Concert” live from Onchan, Isle of Man.

We're thrilled to announce that this really special evening performance is being broadcast live on the World Wide Web. If you'd like to find out more about how to log in and view the show all the details are on www.2poor2tour.com

It promises to be such a fab evening and we'd like to share it with as many people as possible so if you do know anyone who'd like to see us, please let them know about this one!

June:

It has just been announced that Waking the Witch are doing a special one off performance to help raise money to refurbish the Village Hall in the beautiful North Yorkshire village of  Newton-upon-Rawcliffe, (4 miles outside Pickering). This will take place on Saturday 7th July at 8pm. There are excellent camping facilities available just over the road from the Village Hall at the Mucky Duck pub (01751 472505). The Village Hall is not licensed, so we're all taking our own wine… don't forget your glass and corkscrew!

Tickets are £10 and are available by calling 01751 477012

May:

Following our rave review in Guitar Techniques magazine, Waking the Witch have been asked to endorse Vintage Guitars. Bex and Pats visited the showroom in Garforth, Yorkshire to try them out - see photo below. The band will be featured in the next edition of GEAR magazine, which is distributed to music shops throughout the UK.

Waking the Witch endorse Vintage Guitars
Bex and Pats endorsing Vintage Guitars - photo by Gary Barlow, Vintage Guitars, JHS Distribution

We were really pleased to see that a picture of us taken in Patsy's kitchen has been used to promote the Black Horse Festival, nr Battle, Hastings, that takes place at the end of the month. Here's a sneak preview of the design on the T shirts that will be available at the Festival… see you there.


(click on poster and T shirt design to see larger versions)

April:

The ‘Boys from the Abattoir' tour has continued through April, but we managed to find time to nip off to Scarborough at 6am one morning to do a photo shoot with world-class rock photographer Sarah Photogirl, aka Photo Witch.  Here's the results (click on each photo to view enlargement in a separate window)…

www.sarahphotogirl.com
www.myspace.com/sarahphotogirl
www.flickr.com/photos/sarahphotogirl/
www.youtube.com/sarahphotogirl

The new DVD ‘Waking the Witch LIVE' is nearly finished, and we have been in the studio mixing down the final bits of audio with Dave Creffield (who also produced the CD,  Boys from the Abattoir). We're dead pleased with how it's sounding, and will make an announcement as soon as it's available. Watch this space.

We were really pleased that the album has been featured this month in the Best Sellers Folk section of HMV – and positive reviews have continued to come in thick and fast – see reviews page for the latest from Rock n Reel and Guitar and Bass Magazine…

March:

The new CD  continues to receive glowing reviews, and radio play throughout the UK.

Radio 2's Bob Harris played 'Spring Song' on his Saturday night Radio 2 show. It's been great to see so many press interviews published, especially this lively one that the girls did for the online magazine, Get Ready to Rock:

http://www.getreadytorock.com/rising_stars/waking_the_witch.htm

Live shows continue throughout the UK, (see gigs page) and the girls are pleased to announce Summer festival appearances at the Black Horse Festival in Battle near Hastings, on Saturday 26th May, Marlborough Jazz Festival on 13th and 14th July, Thornborough Festival on 15th July, Song 07 Fest on 29th July and the Rhythm festival on Saturday 4th August.

February:

February 5th brought the release of the new CD, 'Boys from the Abattoir' . Rave reviews are coming in thick and fast - see reviews page - and the girls are really pleased to have been featured on so many radio shows. In particular, it was great to hear Mike Harding praise the album , when he played the title track, 'Jenny Thornton and the Boys from the Abattoir' on his Radio 2 Folk Show, and the same track has been playlisted by Radio Caroline.

The CD is available from all online retail outlets, including HMV and Amazon, or you can download it from our own download store.

The tour is going fantastically - with sell out performances throughout the UK. It's been great to meet so many people out on the road, and we welcome everyone who has written in to join the mailing list. The live DVD of the City Varieties show is well on the way to completion, and we'll let you know as soon as it's available to purchase.

January 2007:

Radio Appearances:

For those of you in the Midlands, we're really pleased to let you know that Nonny James of BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester will be featuring six tracks from new album on her Folk & Blues Show on Thursday 11th January. Still in the Midlands, there will be an interview with Paul Franks on his drive time show on Monday 15th , when he'll be chatting to Pats and Bex and playing the new single ‘Rock n Roll'.

We will be appearing on BBC Radio York as guests of Adam Tomlinson's afternoon show on Thursday 18th January. As well as picking some of our favourite tracks by other artists, we'll be playing and singing tracks from our own new CD, ‘Boys from the Abattoir'.

Don't worry if you miss any of the BBC shows – they'll be available to listen to for a further 7 days on the BBC local radio websites.

If you're in or around Bradford, we'll be live on Tim Moon's brilliant folk show on BCB Radio on Monday 22nd January at around 8pm, and on Tuesday 23rd Jan, we'll be guests of Russell Walker on BBC Radio Leeds at around 10.30pm, and if you're in the Eastern Counties, we'll be chatting to Sue Marchant on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire during her evening show on Tuesday 23rd January at around 8.15pm.

And for those of you in Wiltshire, we're at BBC Radio Swindon on the afternoon of Thursday 1st Feb, to tie in with our show that evening at the Swindon Arts Centre, and the following day, Friday 2nd Feb, we'll be at BBC Radio Nottingham live at around 3.15pm, as part of their ‘Loose Women' feature!

New Year News:

It has just be announced that Waking the Witch were the runners up in the Fatea /Cambridge and Beyond Magazine Favourite Band of the Year award 2006. The award was won by Show of Hands (cool!). We'd like to say a big thankyyyyyyyyyou to all of the Fatea team for their support throughout 2006. Please see www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/awards.html for details of the other Award catagories.

December 2006:

Waking the Witch have been awarded a prestigious BOTY Award by the Classic Rock Society. The band were voted Acoustic Roots Performer of the Year 2006, and were presented with the award by Carl Palmer (of Emerson Lake & Palmer) at a special awards ceremony in Rotherham on Saturday 9th December. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the members of the Classic Rock Society who voted for us, and from whom we have received so much support and encouragement – see www.classicrocksociety.co.uk

Waking the Witch receive the Classic Rock Society Acoustic Roots Performer of the Year 2006 award. l-r Carl Palmer, Jools, Bex, Rach, Pats, Martin Hudson (CRS)
l-r: Carl Palmer (ELP, Asia), Jools, Bex, Rach, Pats, Martin Hudson (CRS)

We are delighted to announce that outstanding singer songwriter Jon Redfern will be our guest for some of the shows on the ‘Boys from the Abattoir' tour. Jon, who will open the evening at Leeds City Varieties, Birmingham Mac Theatre, Windsor Arts Centre and Leicester Musician, has a songwriting style that stems from the personal and acoustic tradition of John Martyn and Nick Drake. He was invited on the tour following his superb performance at the New Roscoe in Leeds in December. See   http://www.myspace.com/jonredfern

You can also catch Jon in session live on BBC Radio 2 on Jan 6th (with Bob Harris) and Feb 1st (with Janice Long).

November 2006:

It is now confirmed that a DVD will be made of the show at Leeds City Varieties on 25 th January 2006. Every member of the audience will be personally mentioned in writing on the DVD itself. The show, which will celebrate the release of the new CD ‘Boys from the Abattoir' will feature Waking the Witch and guest musicians from the CD.

October 2006:

Dates have just been announced for the Boys from the Abattoir UK tour, to start in Leeds at the City Varieties Theatre on Thursday 25 th January. Please see gigs page for your nearest show.

September 2006:

The new CD ' Boys from the Abattoir ' is currently being recorded at HD1 studios in Huddersfield . Produced by DAVE CREFFIELD ( Kaiser Chiefs/Embrace/Eddie Reader ), the new CD feature brings a grittier, more urban Waking the Witch than has been heard before - still featuring the four girls trademark voices and acoustic guitars, but this time backed up throughout by a powerful rhythm section and, on the gothic indie folk anthem, 'Me Leaving Me' , the distinctive, stirring guitar playing of BRUCE WATSON ( Big Country ).

The CD also features FLUFF (Incredible String Band) strings , MICK BEDFORD (Tasmin Archer) drums , JOHN SHORT (Deep Sky Divers) bass, JAMES GOODWIN (Flook) percussion, JON BURR (The Bluebirds) harmonica and DAVE BOWIE (Burden of Paradise) double bass. It will be available through HMV, Amazon and Play.com from Feb 1 st 2007.

August 2006:

LATEST NEWS: New CD 'Boys from the Abattoir' to be released Feb 1st 2007. Spring tour starting on Jan 27th to coincide with the release. Dates to be released in September.