Fri 24 Jan - 7:30 pm

Ned’s Acoustic Dustbin

+ special guest Tom Hingley
£15
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Ned's Acoustic Dustbin

It’s 8th November - Happy Birthday Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – now meet Ned’s Acoustic Dustbin! Twin bass indie-rock band Ned’s Atomic Dustbin* formed 32 years ago to the day and became the third wave of successful Stourbridge band following in the footsteps of Pop Will Eat Itself and The Wonder Stuff. Fast forward to September 2017 and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin were about to announce their first UK tour for 28 years with Stourbridge mates The Wonder Stuff. Miles and Erica from TWS were ready to play acoustically for a live Facebook broadcast to make the announcement, so Miles suggested that Neds play a couple of their songs acoustically too. “We don’t do acoustic” says Jonn. “We don’t do acoustic” says Rat. “I’ll play guitar for you Jonn” says Miles, cunningly. “No, I’ll play guitar!” says Rat. Ned’s Acoustic Dustbin was born. Jonn hates to hear his voice laid bare, Rat was never a fan of playing acoustic guitar – he’s the noise monger, the guy with infinite delay, chunky distortion and a wrist that does 200rpm. How on earth do you squeeze the essence out of songs written with Alex and Mat’s two bass guitars and Rat’s effect-laden sound? Take away Dan’s drums too? Rat likes a challenge. He has got the acoustic bug – you can hear it in spades through these masterful interpretations. Rat says “I soon realised that acoustics don’t go to 11 but at least it spared the neighbours the initial butchery of the tunes. Of course, it did give me justification for buying a new guitar and, while selecting said acoustic, I discovered that playing Stairway To Heaven is still frowned upon in guitar stores!” Jonn says “I just do what I’ve always done and bawl it out the same as I do with the full band behind me - I’m lucky enough to have my parts already written 30 years ago! It’s terrifying but I’m loving the intimacy of playing this way - almost nose to nose with the fans”. Now Miles has bullied them into recording 14 songs in 4 days at the foot of the Long Mynd and somehow, he’s captured this Ned’s Acoustic vitality with aplomb.

Tom Hingley

Tom Hingley is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman of Inspiral Carpets. Hingley was born in Abingdon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and moved to Oldham in 1984 to study English at Manchester Polytechnic. He formed a band called Too Much Texas and got a job collecting glasses at The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester. He joined Inspiral Carpets as lead vocalist in 1989. After six successful years, Inspiral Carpets split in 1995 and Hingley started performing as a solo artist, releasing Keep Britain Untidy (2000) and Soulfire (2002), released on his own label Newmemorabilia Records. In 2001, Hingley formed the band The Lovers with Steve and Paul Hanley (both former members of The Fall), Jason Brown, and Kelly Wood. The Lovers' first album, Abba Are The Enemy, was released in 2004. In 2002-03, he joined a reformed Inspiral Carpets for two sell-out UK tours and again in 2006/2007. His second album with the Lovers, Highlights, was released in March 2008. In August 2009 Hingley played the Rebellion Punk Festival in Blackpool.[citation needed] In 2009 Hingley released a new solo acoustic record on Newmemorabilia Records called Thames Valley Delta Blues, a kind of follow up to the earlier, much-acclaimed Keep Britain Untidy. Hingley's late father was the Russian academic Ronald Hingley, translator of Chekhov for Oxford University Press.[citation needed] Hingley continues to perform live, and teaches part-time at Salford University, while studying for a PhD in music performance. He is currently playing solo shows around the UK as well as playing brand new material with his outfit, the Tom Hingley Band alongside The Kar-Pets - an Inspiral Carpets tribute band, but with a notable difference from other tribute bands in that the Kar-Pets of course feature the former lead singer of the Inspirals. He has a range of beers that he sells at his gigs. "Tom Hingley's Stout" is brewed with Northamptonshire's Hart Family Brewers. Tom Hingley's memoir Carpet Burns, My life with Inspiral Carpets charts his time with the band from 1989–2011.

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