Little
Mammoths are a London-based Rock’n’Roll Bar Band formed in 2014, that
continue charging down the vein of The Hold Steady, Drive-by Truckers
and Wilco.
Comprised
of Matt Owens (ex-Noah & The Whale) and some of his oldest friends,
Olly Cox on bass and James Besley on drums, now neatly rounded off by
renowned pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte, this band have the sort of
chemistry most can only dream of.
Their debut album ‘Phantom Dreams’ was recently released on vinyl in the Spring of 2017, featuring
a set of raucous songs about nightly lock-ins the band were privy to
over three years of touring the West Coast of Ireland and The Scottish
Highlands. Their raw energy prompted Texan legend Ray Wylie Hubbard to
declare: “If your ears dig gnawing on the gritty sounds from a young,
dirty, cool rock band, I just found Little Mammoths who satisfy the
craving…”
The
quartet’s constant gigging and tireless work ethic often result in
straight sets in excess of four hours, and has seen their road-hardened
material performed to ecstatic crowds alongside Mumford & Sons, Fat
White Family and Bahamas and at international festivals including
Wilderness, Loopallu and The Clonakilty Guitar Festival.
Little
Mammoths will release their eagerly anticipated second album ‘Cargo for
The Road’ this summer, with pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte now
firmly in the fold and backed by a 3-piece horn section. The band are
set promote the record through 2017 with extensive touring around
Europe, and a full UK festival run, including Glastonbury.
Dates
kick off with a pre-Glastonbury warm up at Michael Eavis’ favourite
watering hole the Pilton Working Men’s Club on April 29th
where Little Mammoths have been booked to play an astonishing 8 hour set
which will take their entire repertoire of, not only, their own
material from both albums, but also covers by everyone from Radiohead
and Foo Fighters, to Townes Van Zant and Wilco. As a bonus, all the
proceeds will be going towards raising money for WaterAid in this epic
Glastonbury launch party.
Singer/guitarist Matt explains the long sets becoming the norm, “As
we started to tour in a lot of far out places across Ireland and
Scotland, you’d get paid, fed and put up if you could play for three
hours, as you were the only band the venue needed to book that night.
Initially it was born out of necessity, but we found it to be a great
driving force to write more music and it's when we started really
improving as a band, learning all our favourite songs we couldn’t yet
play. We’d be driving from gig to gig listening to music, a track would
come on we all loved and we’d say to each other, “we should get this one
on up for tonight,”
so we did. We still do it now. We’ve now got a set list that’s well
over 100 songs, and it’s always great to look down at the setlist and
see if it’s not yours, the next song is instead one of your favourite
songs of all time.”
He
further recounts about these groundbreaking mammoth sets which have
given them the reputation as being dubbed ‘The Hardest Working Band in
Rock’n’Roll’ out on the West Coast of Ireland, “What’s great is you
when see all the regulars come in the afternoon, unsuspecting at the
start of the set, have to eventually leave cos they said they’d be home
for dinner, and then you see them sneak back in later out that evening
to watch you encore for a few more hours. Then there are those that just
stay for the duration and you’re literally watching them have an eight
hour session right in front of you. I just can’t wait ‘til we’ve got 8
hours of all ‘Mammoths originals, but we’re working on that….”
Be
sure to catch Little Mammoths on tour and pick up a copy of the new
record ‘Cargo For The Road’ upon its release at Glastonbury Festival on
June 23rd.
littlemammoths.com
facebook.com/littllittlemammoths.com
No comments:
Post a Comment