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http://www.stickinthewheel.com/

http://stickinthewheel.bandcamp.com/

Format: 300 edition 7” in hand printed sleeves.
Release date: Feb 23rd 2015

Stick in the Wheel are a raw and uncompromising London folk band. This Spring, they release a limited custom-sleeved 7" and download in collaboration with Static Caravan Recordings. Headed by Nicola Kearey (vocals) and Ian Carter (dobro and production), they have recruited seasoned folk singer Fran Kempster (harmony vocals), Si Foote (percussion), and Joolie Wood (fiddle) to create a record that is utterly real, a large and intentional step away from overblown folk floweriness, back to the fundamental essence of storytelling through song, by the people for the people.

Brought up in the thriving culture of working class London and cutting their teeth at the forefront of the early grime/dubstep scene (Ian has produced beats/music for artists such as GhostPoet, Wiley and Context), they now bring those influences and attitudes to their traditional music.

Common Ground is hard and rhythmical, driven by Ian's cyclical guitar and underpinned by Si's relentless beat. Nicola's lead vocal and Fran's harmony tell the story of the gradual enclosure of our common land, the constant erosion of people's rights, and how we are complicit in our own suppression. It was recorded, arranged and produced by the band's Ian Carter, in a Basildon warehouse amongst palettes and cardboard boxes in a stolen night in October 2014.

Hasp is a song about a horse. This sparse and deliberate track describes the horse's seemingly endless work-bound tethered existence "we're bred for work thats never done"; a metaphor for a life that sees liberty as a fleeting notion that must be grasped at the first opportunity. It was recorded live at dusk in the Tudor oak-panelled dining room of Sutton House in Homerton, shortly before a concert.

Recently nominated for Best Emerging Act (Horizon Award) and Best Traditional Track (Bedlam) for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2015, and with live sessions on BBC6Music (Tom Robinson), Xfm (John Kennedy), national/regional airplay, plus festivals and gigs packing out 2014 and 2015, SITW speak plainly and with purpose, as much at home in the underground music scene as with the trad folk scene.

As with previous releases, Common Ground/Hasp also comes as a special Bandcamp-only collector's edition, limited to 15 items. Each pack contains a circular medieval lead token, an individual metal-detected find retrieved from Essex ground, and a lock of horse's hair, nestled in a hand-stamped black card drawer.

Stick in the Wheel have a string of live dates to support the release:

15 Feb 2015 The Gladstone Arms, London
22 Feb 2015 Nest Collective @ Vault Festival, London
28 Feb 2015 Silencio, Watford
8 Mar 2015 Come down and Meet the Folks ,London
5 Apr 2015 The Sail Loft Folk Club ,Horndon-on-the-Hill, Essex
10 Apr 2015 The Goose is Out, The Old Nun’s Head, London
16 Apr 2015 New Roots at The Harrison, London

Praise for Stick in the Wheel:

fRoots Album of the Year 2014 (Editor's Chioice) for Bones EP

“Written, performed and recorded in living rooms and kitchens the music is as authentic as it comes, at times brutally honest and grabbing.” FACT magazine

“Inspriationally abrasive” The Guardian

"A real discovery" Tom Robinson, BBC6Music

"The hottest new folk band for ages" Ian Anderson, Editor, fRoots magazine

"...like nothing else I've heard..." Tamsin Rosewell, Radio Warwickshire

"The trouble with most folk music is that it’s perpetrated by foppish men on stools with fringes and cut-glass accents whispering about flowers. This, on the other hand, is snarled out by Liam Gallagher’s cockney sister complete with lyrics about men beating each other up in pubs." Fresh On The Net

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