When: 7.30pm on Wednesday 17 February 2010
Where: The Deaf Institute, 135 Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HE

Erland & The Carnival are a British folk rock band, formed in London by multi-instrumentalist Simon Tong (formerly of the the Verve, Blur, and The Good, the Bad & the Queen), Orkney folk guitarist and singer Gawain Erland Cooper and drummer/engineer David Nock (who recently worked with Paul McCartney on his Firemen project).

After Erland recorded the Nock-produced track Coming Home for Tong’s Butterfly Recordings compilation What the folk vol 2, the trio began writing and playing together around London. Following the path of Pentangle, The Trees and early Fairport Convention they decided to form their group called Erland & the Carnival.

Carnival are best known for their contemporary arrangements of traditional Scottish and English folk songs, including Sally Free And Easy, The Parting Glass, Was You Ever See, and Love Is A Killing Thing, collected by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

The band’s name comes from the Jackson C Frank song My Name Is Carnival after the band recorded their own version of the song from his album Blues Run The Game. In October 2009 they released a limited edition seven-inch, Was You Ever See, on Static Caravan. Their eponymous debut album, recorded at Damon Albarn’s 13 studio, came out on Full Time Hobby (Tunng/The Leisure Society/Micah P Hinson) on 25 January 2010.

‘Their bewitching debut album is a seamless blend of their own 1960s garage-influenced compositions, psychedelic interpretations of traditional folk songs and words by William Blake and Leonard Cohen’ – The Scotsman

‘Erland Cooper’s folky hymnals are wrung through the sonic rinser by Tong and drummer David Nock and the result sounds like the house band in Papa Lazarou’s big top: dazzling and disturbing’ – The Independent

‘This is the sound of musicians on an extended honeymoon with each other, barely aware of the delight they instill in their listeners’ – The Times, four stars

Local support comes from Driver Drive Faster.

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