Scotland’s renowned The Bookshop Band is touring some of the finest bookstores and libraries across the USA with its repertoire of songs inspired by literature.
Folk duo Ben Please and Beth Porter perform across the UK and Europe – and have frequently appeared on stage with the famous writers whose work they sing about.
The three-week US tour comes after literary critic Dwight Garner issued a challenge in The New York Timeswhere he wrote:
“The Bookshop Band is not just good but achingly good … If America’s independent booksellers can’t figure a way to get these two … to tour America, they’re doing something wrong.”
The American Booksellers’ Association (ABA) responded in style by inviting the band to perform for its members at its Winter Institute this month in Albuquerque.
They will also play at 15 independent bookshops and two public libraries in New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and Colorado.
Among the highlights will be appearances at the New York Public Library and the Tattered Cover book store in Denver.
Based in Wigtown, Scotland’s National Book Town, Porter and Please have collaborated with celebrated authors such as Ben Fountain (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – which became a major feature film), Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City).
Some even feature as musicians on the band’s 13 albums, like Man Booker winners Yann Martel (Life of Pi) and Ben Okri (The Famished Road), and best-selling authors Joanne Harris (Chocolat) and Louis de Bernières (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin).
Porter said:“The USA has always been a powerhouse of great literature. It’s hugely exciting to come across from Scotland and perform songs inspired by books and authors we love in some of America’s best bookstores.”
The award-winning folk singers have highly distinctive voices and appear with a variety of their favourite books and a variety of instruments from cello and harmonium to glockenspiel, guitars and ukuleles.
Please said:“We love performing intimate gigs in unexpected locations, like bookshops and libraries. It creates such a great atmosphere to be singing about books, surrounded by them on the shelves.”
Audiences can expect to hear songs about everything from The Adventures of Alice in Wonderlandby Lewis Carroll and Shakespeare’s Richard IIto Aldous Huxley’s Brave New Worldand Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up The Bodies. There’s also a good chance that they will perform one of the songs they were commissioned to write for the launch of Philip Pullman’s work The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage.
The band’s origins go back to 2010 when they were based near the English city of Bath and their local indie bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights asked them to perform at book evenings.
Since then The Bookshop Bandhave entertained in over 200 bookshops around the UK, Irelandand France, writing songs inspired by over 100 books curated by Mr B’s.
The US tour is supported by UK based wholesaler Gardners and its US counterpart AMS.
Nic Bottomley, of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, said: “Many of our peers in America have been itching to host The Bookshop Bandand we at Mr B’s are so proud and excited to see them finally heading stateside.
“On a personal level I am as excited as ever to see a genuinely creative industry collaboration come to fruition, thanks to the efforts of a very forward-thinking transatlantic wholesaler in Gardners who have sponsored the tour, many American booksellers, a trade association, two musicians and, never forget, their two-year-old daughter Molly who is in for a memorable first road trip!”
Nigel Wyman, at Gardners, added: “We at Gardners, alongside our US sister company All Media Supply (AMS), are very happy to be supporting The Bookshop Band’sUS tour.
“We feel a close kinship to this band with their close ties to the book selling community. They offer something truly unique and entertaining, playing music and singing about the things we all love – books!”
The Bookshop Bandhas received commissions from the BBC, The V&A Museum and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
They are regularly featured on 6Music by Tom Robinson, and have been championed by Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2, describing their “fabulous new music”.
They are also mainstays of the annual Wigtown Book Festival – which attracts visitors from all round the world to the 10-day event in Scotland’s National Book Town, situated in the rural region of Dumfries and Galloway.
Praise for the Bookshop Band
- “Not just good but achingly good.” The New York Times
- “Really fabulous new music… just delightful.” Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2
- “It’s a modern day Twinkle meets fairytale-land for adults. You’ll be smitten.” Fresh on the Net, BBC 6Music
- “A Guardian Books’ favourite… astonishingly prolific.” The Guardian
- “The Bookshop Band’s approach to song writing is entirely original, and the results are both surprising and beautiful. They are two talented musicians coming to the same point from different directions.” Louis de Bernières
– Ends –
Notes for editors
The Bookshop Band – tour dates
Jan 16th: Little City Books – 100 Bloomfield St, Hoboken, NJ 07030 7-9pm
Ticket link: https://www.littlecitybooks.com/event/bookshop-band-uk-tour
Price: $20
Jan 17th: Short Stories & Community Hub – 23 Main St, Madison, NJ 07940 7-9pm
Ticket link: http://www.shortstoriesnj.com/events/
Price: $15 ($10 with college ID)
Jan 18th: Turn of the Corkscrew Books – 110 N Park Ave, Rockville Centre, NY 11570 7-9pm
Ticket link: http://turnofthecorkscrew.com/event/the-bookshop-band/
Price: $20 (includes one complementary beverage from the café)
Jan 19th: New York Public Library – 18 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019 2-3pm
Details: https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2019/01/19/music-nypl-featuring-bookshop-band
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 19th: Book Culture – 26-09 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101 5-6pm
Details: https://www.bookculture.com/event/lic-bookshop-band
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 20th: Maria’s Bookstore, 960 Main Avenue, Durango, CO 81301 6-8pm
Details: https://www.mariasbookshop.com/events-calendar
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 22 – 25th: ABA Winter Institute, Albuquerque Conference Centre. Albuquerque Various
Details: https://www.bookweb.org/news/catch-bookshop-band-winter-institute-109354
Price: conference attendees only (sorry)
Jan 23rd: Bookworks – 4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW Ste H 87107 Albuquerque, NM 12-1pm
Details: https://www.bkwrks.com/event/bookshop-band
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 25th: Title Wave Books, 2318 Wisconsin St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 8.30 – 10pm
Details: https://www.titlewavebooks.com
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 27th: OpCit Books, 157 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 2-3pm
Venue details: http://www.opcit.com
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 27th: The Collected Works, 202 Galisteo St, Santa Fe, NM 87501 5-7pm
Details: https://www.collectedworksbookstore.com/event/bookshop-band-concert
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 28th: OpCit Books, 124 Bent St, Taos, NM 87571 6pm
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 31st: Denver Public Library – Denver Public Library, 10 W. 14th Ave Pkwy, CO 80204 1-2pm
Details: https://www.denverlibrary.org/event/bookshop-band
Price: FREE (donations)
Jan 31st: Hearth Fire Books – 1254 Bergen Parkway, Suite D118, Evergreen, CO 80439 Eve
Details: http://www.hearthfirebooksandtreats.com/events
Price: FREE (donations)
Feb 1st: Boulder Books – 1107 Pearl St, Boulder, CO 80302 7.30pm
Details: https://www.boulderbookstore.net/events
Price: FREE (donations)
Feb 2nd: Second Star To The Right – 4353 Tennyson St, Denver, CO 80212 2-3pm
Details: https://www.secondstartotherightbooks.com/the-bookshop-band
Price: $7 – $12
Feb 2nd: Tattered Cover – 2526 East W Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206 7-8pm
Details: https://www.tatteredcover.com/event/evening-bookshop-band
Price: FREE (donations)
Feb 3rd: WORD Bookstore – 126 Franklin St, Brooklyn, NY 11222 4pm
Ticket link: https://www.wordbookstores.com/bookshopband
Price: $10
Further information
- To find out more contact [email protected]or call the tour manager on +44 7789348165
- A selection of free-to-use pictures is available via DrobBox (or can be emailed on request): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jgbsx2287vox05k/AACgWZDroRl4ifSPtvNtNL6ka?dl=0
- Band biog at https://www.dropbox.com/s/374bds58sqrg1rm/BIOG%202018.pdf?dl=0
- Social Media Links
twitter.com/TheBookshopBand / @TheBookshopBand / #BookshopBandUsTour
- Tour video https://bit.ly/2CMONxl.