The Bookshop Band
Sunday 18th August 2024
#PVFF24, #PVFF15
The award winning Bookshop Band came to life as an artistic collaboration with their local bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in 2010. They write and perform songs inspired by books and released 13 book-inspired albums sharing a stage with over 150 authors, including Philip Pullman, Margaret Atwood and Robert Macfarlane. This summer they will be releasing their 14th studio album EMERGE, RETURN produced by and featuring Pete Townshend, supported with a full UK tour.
“I am enchanted, such variation and delicacy… such latent power, really great work. It reminded me of my days listening to Sandy Denny and Fairport [Convention] and The Incredible String Band… – a great discovery and inspiration.” – Pete Townshend
Between them Ben Please and Beth Porter (Lost Words Spell Songs) bring the books to the stage along with a multitude of instruments, including cello, harmonium, glockenspiel, guitars and ukuleles which, along with their distinct voices, create a cinematic sound that draws the audience right in to a highly intimate performance, at once touching and mesmerising, heart wrenching and funny.
No previous knowledge of the books is required as the band guide the audience through the stories behind each song’s inspiration. They are equally at stage on a festival main stage as they are in a bookshop, having toured the UK, Europe and North America many times. Their work has been recognised with nominations from the Ivor Novello Awards, the Oscars and BAFTA’s.
