When: 7pm on Wednesday 10 April 2019
Where: Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW

We’re delighted to be working with John Fairhurst for the first time!

London-based John Fairhurst makes heavy blues for heavy times. In equal parts revealing, vulgar, cathartic and thrilling, the virtuoso guitarist is channelling the discontent felt in the world to pay tribute to – and to update – the very idea of rock n roll as protest music. ‘Personal greed has far outstripped the need to support the health of society. British politics is a farce. The government are liars,’ states Fairhurst. Powerful statements require powerful music. And it is with ragged glory that The Divided Kingdom articulates its point of view.

‘I feel that as an artist, I myself am duty bound to comment upon the times in which we live. Rather than avoid the topics of the day, I have decided to face them head on,’ comments Fairhurst. ‘I think a lot of people are unhappy with the current state of affairs in this country and the world over. I hope to comment on that through the lens of my own life and the lives of the people around me and the people I meet on my travels.’

Created with his partner in crime, Bristolian drummer Toby Murray, The Divided Kingdom evangelises the power of rock ‘n’ roll through sheer bloody performance. Drawing from the same sonic well that brought us Black Sabbath, Tom Waits, Rage Against the Machine and Captain Beefheart, tracks like Blood & Fire, Fear and Lies and a .45 prowl with a fury rarely heard in a two-piece, grabbing reality as it sees it and lays it bare for all to see, warts and all, over a heady 37 minutes.

Fairhurst – hailed by Acoustic Guitar Magazine USA as one of the Top 3 Resonator guitar players worldwide – and Murray recorded The Divided Kingdom in part in their own studio, That Sound Studio, which was built in 2018 by the pair, their friend Pawel Lach and a multinational group of friends. This freedom to create at their own pace empowered Fairhurst and Murray to dig deeply into themselves and soon a theme for the album started to emerge. Outside of the socio-political theme evoked by the lyrics, the key challenge was finally achieving the duo’s vision as a compact two-piece. Setting out a musical palette on record that sounded in control, huge, powerful and exciting.

‘The proof of the pudding is in the drum sound. That is the key. The Engine. The room was literally festooned with mics, capturing everything from the front, the rear, overhead the kit, plus the room itself and interesting and useful frequencies captured in nooks, crannies and corners. As luck, experience, lots of messing around and persistence would have it, the kit sound is awesome.’

‘As gripping as it is totally different. Trembling chords rise slowly out of the speakers like dark mist on a bayou, while Fairhurst’s Bangkok blues hang in the background, sliding in and out with steely precision’ – Bearded Magazine

Buy tickets now. Tickets are available from the bar (no booking fee), Vinyl Exchange, WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

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