British Underground at SXSW

01 March 2022 - Press release

BRITISH UNDERGROUND TO HOST SPECIAL EVENT DURING SXSW MUSIC INTRODUCING MUSICIANS FROM THE BROADSIDE HACK, A DOCUMENTARY TELLING THE STORY OF THE YOUNG VANGUARD OF UK ARTISTS SHARING RADICAL INTERPRETATIONS, PROTO-FEMINIST NARRATIVES AND QUEER HISTORIES THROUGH THE LENS OF BRITISH TRADITIONAL FOLK SONG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq1pRKfvc0E 

LISTEN TO BROADSIDE HACK’S NEW SINGLE, THEIR MODERN TAKE ON 17TH CENTURY FOLK BALLAD, “BARBRY ALLEN” FEAT NAIMA BOCK 
https://broadsidehacks.lnk.to/BarbryAllen 

 

THE EVENT ON MARCH 18 AT SELLER’S UNDERGROUND IN AUSTIN TX WILL INCLUDE A SCREENING OF THE BROADSIDE HACK AHEAD OF SXSW SHOWCASE PERFORMANCES FROM LEADING COLLECTIVES FROM THE SCENE BROADSIDE HACKS AND SHOVEL DANCE COLLECTIVE 

British Underground are celebrating their 20th year producing music showcases at SXSW in 2022 by announcing they will host a unique live event featuring the screening of the folk documentary The Broadside Hack and a music showcase, celebrating a new wave of exploratory bands reinterpreting the sounds of traditional British folk music. 

On March 18, 2022, during SXSW music festival, British Underground will invite fans into the unique world of the next UK folk revival. Reborn during the pandemic and drawing on the folk traditions of England, Scotland, Ireland and beyond, the live event will feature performances from Broadside Hacks, whose rolling membership has included musicians from alternative bands Sorry, Caroline, Katy J Pearson, Black Midi and Goat Girl, joined by critically acclaimed nine piece folk ensemble Shovel Dance Collective who recently received the endorsement of Rough Trade Records’ Geoff Travis. The new folk scene found its mojo at the influential south London independent venue the Brixton Windmill and the rest of the line-up reflects this connection including showcase performances from Naima Bock, Katy J Pearson and Sinead O’Brien.

The multifaceted Broadside Hack project, encompases a sprawling collective of young musicians who meet regularly for casual, open-to-all jam sessions at a South London pub which evolved into a record label to release the compilation ‘Songs Without Authors’ last September. 

The release featured a diverse array of left field artists injecting fresh life into songs whose original authors have been lost in time. 

Today the collective released their single, “Barbry Allen” also featuring artist Naima Bock. A new take on the ballad which has its earliest recorded reference in a diary entry from the 17th Century.  Listen here: https://broadsidehacks.lnk.to/BarbryAllen 

The song’s melody differs from the most famous version, and instead sees the band putting newly composed music to the a capella vocal melody of Appalachian singer Jean Ritchie. Inevitably with a song that old, the tune gets altered over the years." says the band’s Campbell Baum, who began Broadside Hacks as a lockdown project in Spring 2020. "We've taken an American variant of a Scottish song and effectively brought it back across the pond.”

Ultimately, Campbell says, what unites the many different strands of Broadside Hacks is a mission to “broaden people’s knowledge of where folk music can come from and to encourage more people to play the songs, because from the outside the folk scene can sometimes seem exclusive and one-dimensional.” 

The Broadside Hack’s SXSW performance will feature, Sophie Harris (Modern Woman), Katy J Pearson, Naima Bock (formerly Goat Girl), Aga Ujma, Campbell Baum (Sorry,) Oliver Hamilton (caroline/Shovel Dance Collective) Frank Wright (ex-Bleanavon.). 

Performing with traditional instruments of harps, trombones, banjos and choral style vocal harmony at indie DIY nights hosted in pubs across the UK, Shovel Dance Collective aim to “uncover proto-feminist narratives and queer histories within traditional folk songs and to make heard the voices of the working people that created and create the wealth of the world.” They draw from influences as vast as drone, improvisation and heavy metal music and cite folklorist Wordsworth McAndrew, traditional singer Shirley Collins and The Copper Family - a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied folk music that has passed down songs since 1784 - amongst their influences. 

Shovel Dance Collective stated, “The thing about folk music is that whenever it’s sung it not only captures the imagination of those in the room, but also calls to many thousands of others (ghostly or living) who have sung these songs before. Many of the songs we sing have been sung on both sides of the Atlantic, often with different words or different tunes but often not. We’re excited to play our re-imagining of traditional music at SXSW and evoke these new spectres across the ocean.”

 

BRITISH UNDERGROUND SXSW SHOWCASE - FULL LINE-UP

8 PM  The Broadside Hack (Film)

9 PM  Shovel Dance Collective 

10 PM Sinead O'Brien

11 PM Naima Bock

12 PM Katy J Pearson

1 AM  Broadside Hacks

Crispin Parry stated, “The UK has always had a complicated relationship with its folk traditions which sit outside the mainstream music narrative.  But every now and then the songs and tunes are discovered afresh by contemporary music-makers and taken on a new journey to be born again in the present day.  At SXSW in 2022 we are pleased to invite you to join the latest folk revival and share with us in taking these songs to the future.”

The Broadside Hack was filmed at Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire and features Boss Morris, Shovel Dance Collective, Thyrsis, caroline and Broadside Hacks. It is a British Underground production supported by Arts Council England and PRSF Foundation 

https://www.lookingforanewengland.com/broadsidehackfilm