THE JAMES BROTHERS PLAY THREE DATES IN DUMFRIESSHIRE AS PART OF UK TOUR
Friday 8th Nov - Applegarth Village Hall (call 01576 610228)
Saturday 9th Nov - New Cample Farm, Thornhill (call 01848 332325)
Friday 15th Nov - Beeswing Village Hall (call 01387 760263)
THE JAMES BROTHERS:
The James Brothers are not really outlaws, neither are they brothers and only one of them is called James.
They
come from the lands down under – Australia and New Zealand to be
precise; lands in which the traditional songs and tunes of the British
Isles have evolved their own unique characteristics, like musical
marsupials. And it’s these songs and tunes, and several of their own
making, that The James Brothers have united to play.
The James Brother who is called James is Sydney-born James Fagan - best known as one half of Nancy Kerr & James Fagan (musically and maritally), but also spotted playing guitar and bouzouki in The Cara Dillon Band, the live circus that is Bellowhead and with his parents and sister as The Fagans, where his folk career began (in a decade which has only just become fashionable).
The James Brother who isn’t called James is Jamie McClennan - a Kiwi who found himself in a duo with Scotland’s BBC-award-winning Emily Smith (whom he also married) having chosen not to follow his first bandmates to Ireland, where they formed the much celebrated Gráda. Jamie has been sighted on fiddle, whistle and guitar next to the likes of The Waifs, Beth Nielson Chapman, Brian Finnegan and John McCusker. He also likes to run barefoot, but that’s his own business.
While both men are quick to point out that their work with their wives is still the primary passion, The James Brothers allows them to be centre stage - playing the music of their roots and telling jokes without fear of being told off.
Performing sets fuelled by flat white coffee (the pair bonded over their shared taste in the Southern Hemisphere’s rival to the latte) that combine the virtuosity for which they’re renowned and the gusto and spontaneity of a pub session.
For Fagan and McClennan this is about bringing their distinct Antipodean-steeped folk to a new audience, with songs and tunes brought to life by a fraternal bond between two very silly, but captivatingly gifted musicians.
The James Brother who is called James is Sydney-born James Fagan - best known as one half of Nancy Kerr & James Fagan (musically and maritally), but also spotted playing guitar and bouzouki in The Cara Dillon Band, the live circus that is Bellowhead and with his parents and sister as The Fagans, where his folk career began (in a decade which has only just become fashionable).
The James Brother who isn’t called James is Jamie McClennan - a Kiwi who found himself in a duo with Scotland’s BBC-award-winning Emily Smith (whom he also married) having chosen not to follow his first bandmates to Ireland, where they formed the much celebrated Gráda. Jamie has been sighted on fiddle, whistle and guitar next to the likes of The Waifs, Beth Nielson Chapman, Brian Finnegan and John McCusker. He also likes to run barefoot, but that’s his own business.
While both men are quick to point out that their work with their wives is still the primary passion, The James Brothers allows them to be centre stage - playing the music of their roots and telling jokes without fear of being told off.
Performing sets fuelled by flat white coffee (the pair bonded over their shared taste in the Southern Hemisphere’s rival to the latte) that combine the virtuosity for which they’re renowned and the gusto and spontaneity of a pub session.
For Fagan and McClennan this is about bringing their distinct Antipodean-steeped folk to a new audience, with songs and tunes brought to life by a fraternal bond between two very silly, but captivatingly gifted musicians.
And that’s The James Brothers. “Two men. Two Voices. Two Instruments... No Sheilas”.
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