Grateful Fred’s have been pioneering Americana and Roots music in Formby, Southport and Liverpool since 2010 and during that time have presented some of the best US, Canadian and World artists.
On the first Wednesday of every month, join the Fredhead’s at The Atkinson for a wonderful night of live acoustic music.
The Club Night
State Of The Union
“Beautiful, classy playing and great songs” – Acoustic Magazine
“Americana at its finest!” – fRoots
Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams aka: “State of the Union”, create a magical, stripped back and enthralling musical atmosphere with two guitars and two voices. Their performances are consistently brilliant, equal parts emotive and entertaining.
The two formed their collaboration in 2011 and created two albums in rapid succession, State of the Union and Snake Oil. Subsequent tours took them around the UK, to Ireland and Portugal, including a 14-date stint playing theatres with Eddi Reader and an appearance on The Andrew Marr Show (BBC 1), plus 4-star reviews in Q and R2. The songs State of the Union create are equal parts wit, whimsy and pathos. Both have an impeccable sense of rhythm and melodic beauty. Their sound is huge, two guitars and two voices exceeding the sum of the parts.
They interweave melodies and harmonies, nimble picking and full-tilt chording. It’s rich and expertly executed. And both love the craft of writing. State of the Union is now working on its fourth album to be released early in 2023 on Reveal Records.
Boo Hewerdine is perhaps best known from his years fronting much loved English rock band The Bible but he has since enjoyed a solo career spanning over two decades and written thousands of published songs including those for Eddi Reader, Sia, Chris Difford, Kris Drever and KD Lang. His most recent album “Understudy” came out in Summer 2022.
Brooks Williams is an Americana singer-songwriter-guitarist based in the UK, in 2020 he celebrated 30 years touring and recording with tours in both the USA and the UK, as well as collaborations with Rab Noakes, Sloan Wainwright and Hans Theessink. His new album with Dan Walsh “Fortune by Design,” was released in Summer 2022 alongside his new album with Aaron Catlow “Ready for the Times”.
This will be their first UK tour in some time and is sure to be a great night.
Granfalloon
Granfalloon was conceived in 2017 when songwriter and producer Lomax recorded the debut album, Down There For Dancing, with lo-fi drum machines, an Omnichord, and a guitar.
The second album, RGB, was released in 2019. Lomax began working with a full band, weaving his oddball elements into dreamy songs and cinematic soundscapes. The album’s singles were championed by BBC Introducing and 6 Music.
In 2020-2021 Lomax began to find more reward in playing acoustic instruments with other human beings and Positive Songs, the third Granfalloon album saw a move away from electronics towards a more organic sound.
Lomax has previously released two albums with “Johnny 5th Wheel & The Cowards” described as “a work of genius” by Whisperin’ & Hollerin’ and “one of the finest folk-pop records of the year” by God Is In The TV.
Both albums were critically acclaimed in many blogs and listed in several as top albums of the year.
“My kind of artist” – Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music
“Granfalloon – what’s not to love about that?!” – Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music
“His songwriting style is absolutely crazy. I love it so much.” – Will Wolstenholme, BBC Introducing
Opening the evening will be:
Vision Thing
Vision Thing were due to play at Grateful Fred’s in October of 2022 but had to withdraw for personal reasons so it’s great to have the band back on schedule.
Vision Thing are a five-piece band with members from across North West England, featuring female and male vocals, acoustic guitar, violin and bass, and with the addition of harmonium and occasional second guitar, they produce a warm and engaging sound, described by FATEA Magazine as: “the most incredibly harmonious and beautiful music, simultaneously lowering the heartbeat yet stimulating lyrically.”
Quite a testimonial!
Their most recent full-length release, “Morning’s Coming”, recorded during and released after two years of lockdowns and uncertainty, was enthusiastically received by the folk music radio and press community and described as, “their strongest set yet of texture-based songs that compel the listener to engage. Their music seeps into your soul, it calms, it lifts and encourages. In this day and age… that’s priceless”.
Having recently played at Wigan Diggers Festival and been featured and interviewed on the Mike Sweeney show on BBC Radio Manchester, they are working on their forthcoming album, the third with the current lineup, all produced by John Kettle of Tansads and Merry Hell.
“Vision Thing are a brilliant band – they created a beautiful, relaxed, atmosphere that got the day off to a great start.” – Bob Kettle : Merry Hell & Diggers Music Festival Organiser
Refund Policy
Line-ups are correct at time of purchase but may be subject to change. Customers will not be notified of any changes to the line-up and no ticket exchanges will be offered for changes to the line-up.