After touring extensively round at least two hundred UK villages, including a hugely successful autumn tour for Artsreach, Hank Wangford and his old compadre Brad Breath, aka Andy Roberts, now return to the Artsreach circuit on their extended ‘No Hall Too Small’ tour.
Join Hank and Brad as they trawl the dark underbelly of country music finding “laughter within the misery of life”. They will be your guides with original songs and specially chosen obscure Country classics, yodelling and a rope trick or two from Brad, laughter and tears from Hank. They are both passionate about Country music and seek to take the flame to non-believers…
Hank has spread the word with his two groundbreaking television series, ‘Big Big Country’ and ‘The A to Z of C&W’ and his books ‘Lost Cowboys’ and ‘Hank Wangford Vol 3: The Middle Years’. If Daniel O’Donnell is the brightly scrubbed face of British country music then Hank Wangford is its guilty conscience, its dark and troubled grubby soul. His derailment onto the path of country music came from performing with Gram Parsons, ex-Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, in the seventies. This was at a time when Hank was a doctor, and many of his patients were from the world of rock music and the alternative world, including The Grateful Dead, The Who and the Rolling Stones. Since then, Hank has picked at the miserable underbelly of country music for 28 years, inspiring others like Billy Bragg, The The, Alabama 3 and other alternative country musicians.
Andy Roberts’ musical pedigree is equally impressive. Apart from fronting the groundbreaking Liverpool Scene and an extremely productive solo career, Andy has played with Roy Harper, Pink Floyd, Richard Thompson, Maddy Prior and many more. He has written film scores, themes for TV series, backed Billy Connolly and continues to create musical backdrops for Roger McGough’s poetry.
Together Hank and his old musical buddy and saddlepal Brad Breath revisit the rural arts touring round village halls that Hank loves so much. “Big and small we love them all!” he says, “Misery and melody, raw emotion and open ribcages will continue to be our trademark whatever form we take”.
Don’t miss them performing at:
Winfrith Village Hall Fri 18 February, 7:30pm 01305 852117
Evershot Village Hall Sat 19 February, 8:30pm 01935 83471
