Meanwhile Somewhere In The West Country

I think the fact that you play benefits for

Port Isaac Lifeboat Station tells people all they need

to know about Show Of Hands.

-Tom Robinson, interviewing Show Of Hands, 1997

Did You Hear The One About....?

Two wandering musicians who sing about the way things really are rather than a picture postcard. Oh yes the West Country is a beautiful place with many a fine thing to see, but life can be, and is, hard as well. A Show Of Hands song that comes immediately to mind is Windchanges, that song encapsulates, perfectly, all that Steve Knightley is telling us. Indeed he's commented that though the songs refer to the West Country, there's no reason to suppose things are any different anywhere else, and you know, that's not just the UK either. The base for this website is a small town in Manitoba, Canada, and you can see the slow death of the prairie small towns everywhere you look. Again, like England's West Country, it's the big box stores, as they're called here, driving the local small retailer out of business, it's the folk from the small towns leaving for the big city, the drain is constant.

Now don't get the idea that all is doom and gloom from the tomb, there's also the tales and legends of the West Country, they're incorporated into Steve Knightley's songs as well, and what tales they are. At the bottom of this page is a link to a website concerning these tales and legends. There's other musicians who are linked to Show Of Hands, Jenna Witts and Seth Lakeman come to mind, two incredible talents in their own right, the web widens out ever further with links to Phil Beer..ummmmm The Albion Band and Ashley Hutchings come to mind, as does The Ridgerider Band, which featured Ashley, Phil and Chris While. The Family Tree grows as one thinks about it, Afro Celt Sound System...... but enough..... it's time to allow the words to speak for themselves....ever onwards....

Show Of Hands Events

Upcoming gigs and news

SOH ON THE RADIO:
!!CHRISTMAS ROYAL VARIETY SPECIAL!!
FOLLOWING THE QUEEN'S SPEECH ON CHRISTMAS DAY BBC RADIO DEVON WILL BE TRANSMITTING A RECORDING OF THE SHOW OF HANDS CONCERT AT RHS ROSEMOOR LAST SEPTEMBER. IT WILL ALSO BE SIMULTANEOUSLY BROADCAST ON SIX OTHER STATIONS: Radios BRISTOL, CORNWALL, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, SWINDON, SOMERSET AND WILTSHIRE AT 3.15pm .

THE FULL PICTUREDROME HOLMFIRTH CONCERT WILL BE BROADCAST ON THE DURBERVILLES SHOW BBC R LEED IN THE NEW YEAR (Date tbc)..
Click here

SOH IN THE PRESS:
MUSIC WEEK ARTICLE.
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