Interview and feature in R2 magazine

Earlier this year, the excellent R2 magazine gave our Liberation album a glowing 4* review, saying it was "a consciousness-raising collection" of "exceptional songs". This month, they have kindly featured an interview with us. You can check it out below.

Video for Change Up - Hiatus feat. Smoke Feathers

Here is the video for Change Up, the lead track from a new EP by Hiatus featuring Smoke Feathers. The track is one of three on the EP. You can download B side Flickering here for free and another track, Book Of Prayer, will follow shortly. Please share the video and free music with your friends and family. The promo was directed by the very talented Ed Spencer with help from Rosemary Hill. Big thanks also to colourist Chris Teeder and graphics expert James Smith. Stay tuned for more from the Hiatus/Smoke Feathers stable.

Live footage from our Holland tour with Thomas Dybdahl

You may remember in March, Paul and I embarked on a four-date tour with Thomas Dybdahl in the Netherlands. We had a great time, made a lot of new friends and played in amazing, sold-out venues. We chose a couple of tracks from some of the live footage of the tour to post up on our YouTube page. Liberation Theology, the lead track from our critically-acclaimed album Liberation, from the packed out show in Amsterdam at the incredible De Duif and a brand new song called Old Glory from the Den Bosch gig. Hope you enjoy them.

Interview on Radio Cardiff with Rhys Phillips

On Easter Monday morning, cycling through the rain, I got a call from Radio Cardiff DJ Rhys Phillips. Rhys played Liberation Theology and South America from our album, Liberation, and we did an interview about the band, the songs and what we've been up to over the last few months. You can listen back to it by clicking here and fast forwarding on the player to about one hour 30 minutes into the show.

Thank you for a wonderful album launch!

Big love and many thanks to everyone who came to the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen last night to help celebrate the launch of our critically-acclaimed album Liberation. We were honestly blown away to see so many friendly faces, old and new, in the crowd and the vibe was just amazing. We felt blessed to have such great support and hope you all enjoyed the night as much as we did. It was a great honour to have Cyrus Shahrad (Hiatus) back on keys for the show - our first gig as a four piece since last summer. Cyrus and I have been working on a Hiatus featuring Smoke Feathers release, which is due very soon. You can download the B side to our Change Up EP here. Stay tuned for more news on that release. Much respect to Will Rees and Joe Kelpie from Pull Up The Roots for staging the launch night in Hoxton. Will, who is now putting on some of the finest and most intimate folk and roots shows in London, gave me some of my first gigs in this city back in the day so it was a really great privilege to be able to bring it full circle. A huge shout out also to the wonderful Gary Nock who opened the night for us with his beautiful, lilting songs and to the mighty John Blood & The Highlys for producing another knock out set - they are a truly mesmerising band that you need to see. John also crept on stage to help us out with We Will Maintain. Please check those two acts out if you haven't heard them yet - they both have music up on iTunes. If you missed the show and want to come and see us play another time, here is a list of upcoming gigs:

Roots & Culture
Friday, April 27 - w/John Blood & The Highlys, Charlie Wright's, Old Street, London

Driftwood Sessions

Wednesday, May 2 - The Elgin, Notting Hill, London

Bristol Folk Festival
Saturday, May 5 - Colston Hall, Bristol

Festeaval
Sunday, May 6 - Woodbridge, Suffolk

Lakefest
Saturday, May 19 - Near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

Entertainment Focus: Liberation is a "remarkable first record"

Entertainment Focus editor Pip Ellwood has given our debut album Liberation a cracking four-star review this weekend, ahead of our album launch on Tuesday, saying it is a "remarkable first record" and an album "that not only engages but affects you". You can read the full article by clicking here. Our album launch is on Tuesday, April 10 at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. We are on stage at 9.30pm, with support from John Blood & The Highlys and Gary Nock.

Maverick runs Smoke Feathers interview in May/June issue

Last month, I did a really enjoyable interview with Nick Dent-Robinson from Maverick, Britain's leading independent country and roots music magazine. The article features in the May/June edition which is available in stores now. Maverick also gave our album Liberation a great 4* review this year. Big thanks to Nick and the Maverick crew for all their support in the run up to our album launch at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on Tuesday, April 10.

Chris Hawkins says Liberation Theology is "absolute class", plugs our album launch

For those of you who may have missed it this morning, BBC 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins played Liberation Theology again on his early show, saying the tune was "very special" and "absolute class". Chris also very kindly plugged the night we are holding at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on Tuesday, April 10 to celebrate the launch of our critically-acclaimed album, Liberation. You can listen back by heading to about 25 minutes into the show via this link. We'd like to say a huge thank you to Chris for all the support ahead of the launch. You can buy Liberation Theology and the rest of our album from iTunes by clicking on this link. Tickets for the album launch, with support from the excellent John Blood & The Highlys and Gary Nock, can be bought here.

Another Chris Hawkins play on 6 Music

BBC 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins will be playing Smoke Feathers on his show tomorrow morning (Tuesday, April 3). Last week, Chris played Liberation Theology, the lead track from our critically-acclaimed album Liberation. Big love to Chris for supporting our music. You can tune in to his show between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. on 6 Music by clicking here. Don't forget we have our album launch at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on April 10. You can buy tickets in advance by clicking here and you can buy our Liberation by clicking here.

Gary Nock joins line up for Liberation launch

We are delighted to announce that the fantastic singer-songwriter Gary Nock will be joining us at our album launch, opening the night on Tuesday, April 10 at London's Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. You will have probably heard Gary's sound on last year's Mars TV advert, which used his wonderful track Make It Better. You can buy Gary's album here and tickets for the Liberation album launch are available from Ticket Web, We Got Tickets and See Tickets. 

Chris Hawkins plays Liberation Theology

Thanks so much to BBC DJ Chris Hawkins, who played Liberation Theology on his 6 Music show today and called the track "intelligent, grown up and soulful". We played Chris's Wagon night in February and it's been great to have him supporting our music this year. Listen back to the show here. Liberation Theology, the first track on our critically-acclaimed debut album, comes on at 13 minutes. You can buy the song and the album on iTunes here.

Cyrus Shahrad on keys again at LP launch

We are going to be lucky enough to welcome back Cyrus Shahrad into the band line up for the Liberation album launch on April 10 at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. This will be the first show we have played as a four piece since last summer and it will be great to have Cyrus back on keys for the event - our biggest UK gig of the year so far. Cyrus - who has been throwing himself fully into producing magical electronica as Hiatus - has been there since the start of the band, played on all the tracks on our album and he is also contributing to the new recordings we are working on. Tickets for the night can be bought in advance from We Got Tickets, TicketWeb and See Tickets.

Flickering on Tom Robinson's 6 Music show

Big thanks to Mark from the excellent Mahogany Blog for playing Flickering - the new Hiatus track featuring Smoke Feathers - on Tom Robinson's 6 Music show last night. You can listen back by forwarding to the 52nd minute of the show via this link. Mark called the track an "inspired work" that "left us hungry for more". Flickering is the first track to see daylight from a three-track EP that I have had the privilege to work on with our old friend Hiatus. It is available for free download here. Stay tuned for more details on the forthcoming EP release and the video for the lead track, Change Up.

John Blood to support at Liberation launch

We are very pleased to announce that one of the finest independent Afrobeat-reggae-soul collectives in the UK - John Blood & The Highlys  - will be supporting us at the Liberation Album Launch at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on Tuesday, April 10. John, who starred on our Caribbean tour in November, and his mindblowing band The Highlys have just released a wonderful 8-track EP called These Times, which we highly recommend you check out before the night. More surprises to come... Tickets for the show can be bought in advance from Ticket Web, We Got Tickets and See Tickets.

Session on Janice Long Presents goes live

The three live tracks and interview we recorded with BBC Radio 2 DJ Janice Long for her Janice Long Presents web station are now live, so please check them out by clicking here. We recorded three songs - South America, We Will Maintain and Liberation Theology from our critically-acclaimed debut album Liberation - and talked with Janice about the band and the inspiration behind some of the tracks. Janice has been a great champion for Smoke Feathers in recent months, giving us some of our first major radio play and coming down to gigs when she can, so we'd like to say a big thank you to her for asking us to be involved in the launch of this new venture. Don't forget we have our album launch at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on Tuesday, April 10.

Free track from Hiatus feat. Smoke Feathers

One of the most enjoyable musical experiences I've had for a long time has been working with my old friend Cyrus Shahrad on a collaborative EP for his Hiatus electronica project. Here's a free download of B-side Flickering to give you a taste of what's to come. We are in the process of shooting a video for the lead track Change Up  and a third track, Book of Prayer - with lyrics and melody from yours truly alongside trademark Hiatus musical production magic - also features on the release. We hope you like what you hear.

LP launch at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen - April 10

We are holding an album launch party for our Liberation LP at the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen near Old Street on Tuesday, April 10. We are planning a few surprises for the launch, which is being co-hosted by our old friends Pull Up The Roots, purveyors of the finest intimate gigs in London. So grab an early ticket and we'll keep you updated on the details as we go. It's going to be a very big show for us, so we'd really appreciate your support by sharing this post with your friends and coming down on the night to celebrate with us. The album has got a great reception so far with some glowing reviews from Uncut, R2 and Maverick and we'd like to thank everyone who has bought it already. You can buy the album on iTunes here and we will be selling CDs at the launch. Tickets for the show can be ordered in advance for six pounds from TicketWeb, We Got Tickets and See Tickets.

Uncut gives Liberation a great 7/10 review

Uncut's Terry Staunton says there are "shades of Jackson Browne and Paul Simon" in a "vivid series of folk-tinged portraits" on our debut album Liberation, in a cracking 7/10 review in the April edition. Big love to Terry for covering the release of the album. We've had some really positive feedback about the record so far and hope you are enjoying it. If you haven't got a copy yet, Liberation is available on iTunes here and at any of our upcoming gigs.

Supporting Thomas Dybdahl in Holland

We are very excited to announce we will be supporting the exceptional Norwegian singer-songwriter Thomas Dybdahl on the Netherlands leg of his European tour. We are playing four dates with Thomas - Rotterdam, Den Bosch, Ottersum and Amsterdam - between March 8-11. The Rotterdam and Amsterdam shows are already sold out but apparently there are a few tickets available for the Den Bosch and Ottersum shows, so grab one now before they go if you are in the area. It's our first trip to the Netherlands to play and it's a real privilege to be asked to be part of these shows which mark the tenth anniversary of Thomas' debut album, That Great October Sound.

Thursday, March 8 - LantarenVenster, Rotterdam
Friday, March 9 - Perron 3, Den Bosch
Saturday, March 10 - Roepaen Monastery, Ottersum
Sunday, March 11 - De Duif, Amsterdam

Liberation LP now for sale on iTunes

After getting a lot of requests from friends, family and fans - and some great reviews and coverage - over the last couple of months, we have decided to make the Liberation album available in digital format ahead of its scheduled and official CD release date. The album has been awarded three 4* reviews so far and we hope you like what you hear. For those of you who have been following us since day one, thank you for sticking with us and we really hope it's been worth the wait. The album consists of 11 songs and was produced by ourselves and the exceptionally patient and creative Chris D'Adda at his vintage Vale Studios in the wilds of Worcestershire. You can buy Liberation from iTunes by clicking here. Please share this with as many people as you can to help spread the word. We promise the next one won't take so long.