When: 7.30pm on Sunday 1 November 2009
Where: Dulcimer, 567 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0AE

We’re very excited to welcome North Carolina’s Bowerbirds, a band whose Manchester debut has been highly anticipated for a while now. We caught them at End of the Road last year, and they proved to be one of the highlights of that festival. Also on the bill, My Sad Captains from London!

Bowerbirds are Beth Tacular and Phil Moore, who make leafy folk-pop with guitars, accordions and violins. They self-released their debut EP Danger At Sea in August 2006 and were signed to Burly Time Records later that year.

Their first full length album, Hymns for a Dark Horse, was released in Spring 2007 on Burly Time Records. Their fluent, characteristic style, marked by wonderfully skilled songcraft and bucolic imagery, has since earned them several positive reviews (e.g. 8.4/10 on Pitchfork).

In early 2008, Bowerbirds signed to Dead Oceans (home to Akron/Family, Phosphorescent and Califone) , who soon reissued Hymns for a Dark Horse. Their second full-length album, Upper Air, is released this summer.

My Sad Captains are signed to Stolen Recordings (Pete & The Pirates, Let’s Wrestle) and count Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens, Gideon Coe and Marc Riley among their fans. We first heard about them through Fortuna Pop, one of our favourite indie labels, which described them thusly:

‘London-based quintet My Sad Captains take the country-tinged American sounds of Sparklehorse and Wilco and lend them a sparkling, harmony-rich pop edge, touched with occasional fiery noise outbursts.’

This show takes place at Dulcimer, Manchester’s celebrated ‘folk bar’ in central Chorlton. Regular buses (85 and 86) run to Chorlton from the city centre, plus the 23 and 23A from Didsbury and West Didsbury and the 168 from Fallowfield. We recommend using GMPTE’s JourneyPlanner to arrange your trip.

Tickets are available from the bar, Piccadilly Records, www.ticketline.co.uk and on 0161 832 1111.