The Sweet Lowdown have announced their first UK tour in support of their acclaimed current album May.
The Sweet Lowdown have locked down an essential magical essence in their music combining great songwriting and gorgeous three-part harmonies with an old-time groove that’s just too irresistable so now’s your chance to catch this award-winning acoustic roots trio from Victoria, Canada.
Drawn together by a mutual passion for old-time music, hard-driving bluegrass, sweet harmonies and well-wrought songs, The Sweet Lowdown – Amanda Blied (guitar), Shanti Bremer (banjo) and Miriam Sonstenes (fiddle) – pays homage to its musical roots while simultaneously breaking new ground. Each member contributes to the band’s original repertoire and each has a unique vocal flair as well as impressive instrumental chops.
These are well evident on The Sweet Lowdown’s latest award-winning album May, produced by Adrian Dolan (The Bills, Ruth Moody). The album features 10 original compositions and two traditional songs that demonstrate a wide range of influences, including Irish and Indian music. It follows on the heels of the band’s highly praised self-titled 2011 album, which received a nomination for “Album of the Year” by the Vancouver Island Music Awards.
Winners of the 2013 “Island Roots Album of the Year” (Vancouver Island Music Awards) for May, the band also received a Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination in 2013 for Vocal Group of the Year.
The past three years has seen the band traveling around Canada to share their music and teach their craft, from as far afield as Haida Gwaii (Edge of the World Music Festival), to Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island, Lunenburg Folk Harbor Festival), and northern Saskatchewan (Northern Lights Bluegrass and Old Tyme Camp and Festival). Their first US tour in October 2012 took them to LA, Iowa City and Chicago and in 2014 they’re looking forward to their first tour of the UK.
UK Tour
APRIL
16 – Sarratt, Herts, The Cock Inn
17 – London, Green Note, Camden
18 – Chagford, Devon, Ring O’ Bells
19 – Calstock, Cornwall, The Old Chapel
20 – Bath, The Bell NB. Lunchtime Show
20 – Bristol, Kingsdown Wine Vaults
21 – Worth Matravers, nr. Swanage, The Square & Compass
22 – Birmingham, Kitchen Garden Café
23 – Towersey, Oxfordshire, The Three Horseshoes
24 – Winchester, The Railway
25 – Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, SpArC Theatre
26 – Langholm, Dumfries & Galloway, The Buccleuch Centre
27 – Stranraer, The Grapes
28 – Liverpool, The Caledonia
29 – Nottingham, Malt Cross
30 – Menai Bridge, Anglesey, The Victoria Hotel
MAY
01 – Newcastle, The Cluny 2
02 – Wath-Upon-Dearne, South Yorks; Wath Festival