Experimental song and storytelling trio Harp & a Monkey have announced a new single to promote their forthcoming spring and summer tour – and we have a video premiere!
The song ‘Bendigo’ is based on the remarkable life of the Victorian bare-knuckle boxing champion William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson.
Martin Purdy, the Lancashire trio’s singer and a nationally acclaimed historian and storyteller, explained: “When we were looking for inspirational stories for our fourth album, The Victorians, we couldn’t ignore Bendigo.
“This is a life story made for cinema, but we’ve done our best to capture the essence of it in song. For narrative inspiration, we drew on a poem written by one of Bendigo’s biggest fans – the author of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle – and used the traditional song ‘A Beggin I Will Go’ as a musical reference point”
Born into poverty in Nottingham, William Thompson went on to become the Victorian Champion Prize Fighter of All England, with some fights lasting a staggering 92 rounds. He got the nickname ‘Bendigo’ as a mix of his Baptismal name Abednego and his reputation for weaving and bending in the ring.
On retirement, he won several All England Fishing Awards and, while fighting alcoholism, saved three people from drowning in the River Trent. During a spell in prison he ‘found’ God, and would later attract crowds of thousands after becoming a Methodist preacher.
For those familiar with the multi-instrumentalists Harp & a Monkey, it will come as no surprise to see them taking on such an ambitious and intriguing theme – in fact, their latest album is brimming with them. From wife auctions to naked live-savers and evolutionary moths, The Victorians is a record full of musical and narrative surprises.
You can hear them performed live, as well as songs from their award-winning back catalogue, on their forthcoming spring and summer tour. New dates are being added all the time on the band’s website, but here is a starting point…
The Victorians was a Featured Album of the Month on Folk Radio (read our review here).
Harp and a Monkey Tour Dates
March
7th: Ordsall Parish Hall, Retford, Nottinghamshire
13th: Hemingby Village Hall, Lincolnshire
14th: The Palace, Ibstock, Leicestershire
15th: Feckenham Village Hall, Worcestershire
18th: The Willows Folk Club, Preston, Lancs
April
5th: Glenfarg Folk Feast, Perth and Kinross, Scotland
17th: The Song Loft, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes
25th: Folkroom presents: Toy Museum, Brighton
May
2nd: Thornton Hough Hall, Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside
8th: Lindow Hall, Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria
9th: Holmfirth Festival of Folk, Yorkshire
15th: Silvester Horne Institute, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
23rd: Sixpenny Handley Hall, East Dorset
June
12th: The Met, Bury, Greater Manchester
20th: Cloudspotting Festival, Forest of Bowland, Lancs
26th: The Greystones, Sheffield, South Yorks
July
9th: Reeth Memorial Hall, Richmond, North Yorks
14th: Dartford Folk Club, Kent
18th: Newsham Village Hall, Stockon-on-Tees, Durham
21st: St Neot’s Folk Club, Cambridge
More information via http://www.harpandamonkey.com/