Acclaimed bluegrass and roots band The Slocan Ramblers return to the UK this September for tour dates long delayed by the pandemic. The Canadian quartet has garnered a solid UK fanbase over three previous tours, blending contemporary bluegrass and Americana with traditional folk influences.
Despite an enforced hiatus from the road, they’ve kept busy since their last visit, receiving a prestigious JUNO Award nomination in 2019, winning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 2020 Momentum Band Award and picking up the Canadian Folk Music Awards’ 2020 Traditional Album of the Year gong for their third album Queen City Jubilee. They also recorded a brand new album, Up The Hill and Through the Fog, which was released in June 2022: our reviewer considered it the band’s best yet (reviewed here).
Over a decade of touring has helped The Slocan Ramblers build a reputation as a highly entertaining live band based on energetic performances and impeccable musicianship on banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar and double bass. Their UK tour line-up will consist of Frank Evans (banjo, vocals), Darryl Poulsen (guitar, vocals), Charles James (double bass, vocals) and Casey Campbell (mandolin). Nashville-based Campbell (filling in for founding member Adrian Gross, currently on paternity leave) has performed with many bluegrass greats, including David Grier and Alison Brown. Banjoist and vocalist Frank Evans is also based in Nashville these days. He picked up a JUNO nomination and a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2022 for his duo project with fiddler Ben Plotnick. All four band members are exceptional musicians, and their amiable stage presence and sparkling vocal harmonies add to The Slocan Ramblers’ appeal to fans of folk and roots music far beyond the bluegrass heartlands.
The Slocan Ramblers – September 2022 UK tour dates
Thurs 1 Sep Lewes – Con Club – tickets
Fri 2 Sep Petersfield – TPS Studio – tickets
Sat 3 Sep Kemble, Cirencester – Didmarton Bluegrass Festival – tickets
Tue 6 Sep Boxmoor, Herts – Fishery Wharf Café – tickets
Weds 7 Sep Sheffield – The Greystones – tickets
Fri 9 Sep Saltburn – Saltburn Arts – tickets
Sat 10 Sep Meltham, Huddersfield – The Carlile Institute – tickets
Sun 11 Sep Hunmanby, Filey – Hunmanby Village Hall – tickets
Mon 12 Sep Alvanley, Frodsham – Alvanley Village Hall (Helsby Bluegrass Club)
Wed 14 Sep Aberystwyth – The Bank Vault – tickets
Thur 15 Sep Baulking, Oxfordshire – St Nicholas Church – tickets
Fri 16 Sep St Davids, Pembrokeshire – Clwb – tickets
Sat 17 Sep Swansea – Taliesin Arts Centre – tickets
Sun 18 Feb Bristol – Bristol Folk House – tickets
More info at slocanramblers.com and truenorthmusic.co.uk