March 11th-Bohemian Jukebox Sunday Social

It’s free in, there are free acts and you can lounge around on beanbags at the front of the stage. Perfect for a hangover Sunday!

John J. Presley
‘Scuzzed up garage blues that you’d expect to hear in a dive bar somewhere way off Route 66’ gigjunkies.com
An intriguing line-up dynamic where the absence of a bassist is amply compensated by Danielle Perry’s intense interrogation of a Fender Rhodes compressed through a VOX combo amp. Mr. Presley evokes more agonised mojo angst from his long suffering open-tuned guitar than is strictly fair. You like your Black Keys/White Stripes stripped down razor-bladed fret-board intensity? Partial to some swamp/grind psyche-tonal dronal dirge? brumlive

Layla & The Good Lads
At one time Layla’s songs had never ventured beyond their beautiful bedsit. Luckily for us they were tempted outside by the friendly call of The Good Lads and are now off on their adventures.
Travelling through the dirty, dusty groove of the city; rolling and rocking along the meander of the river, they reach the violence of the ocean waves and soar up to the shimmering moonlit sky.

‘Sensitive, emotive and provocative music to set nape hairs on end and cool hearts aflame.’ moseleyfolk.co.uk

Ben Calvert

Ben Calvert & The Swifts debut album Festive Road is out now.
“A stunning collection of melancholic post-folk and classic English story telling all wrapped up in a blanket of strings, organ and piano. Ben possesses a croon that brings to mind Scott Walker, whilst the music ranges from sparse and stripped to near orchestral as The Swifts weave a majestic spell. Festive Road is a mesmeric, enchanting affair showcasing a master craftsman at his very best. Ben Calvert & The Swifts have delivered a true timeless masterpiece that’s just waiting to be discovered.” Rhythm ‘N Booze

“Just as a decaying building can be more interesting than pristine ones, the tracks on Festive Road benefit from being a bit off kilter. Whilst comparisons with the Divine Comedy are almost inevitable, think in the style of rather than copy. There is something of the eccentric personality to the album.” Fatea

David Leach is a one-man ukulele outfit with a penchant for hand-knitted merchandise. He writes and sings uncomplicated ballads about everyday life. Y’know like Jeremy Kyle’s TV show and thinking that the age of 22 is old.

Paul and Jez are The Flowers of Despair. Lo-Fi, Acoustic Indie-Pop deadpan beauty brilliance abounds.

Soaring and clear-as-a-bell vocals from Bohemian Jukebox new-comers Inbetween Seas

Rock-Noir band The Dark Retreat a perform rare acoustic set. Their Gavin Monaghan produced single Devil In Me (Buttefly Kiss) is out now.

Steve Ison
A fan of magical transcendent pop music like The Beatles, 70’s Bowie, T.Rex, Tamla Motown, The Kinks and Arthur Lee, Steve Ison has been internationally acclaimed for years (in the online world of unsigned musicians) for his consistently inventive and creative songwriting. He’s recently hauled himself out of the relative comfort of reclusive bedroom recording and into an exciting new world of impromptu live performances where he’s developed a dedicated following who truly love his songs and have encouraged him to spread his wings in a live capacity.

Joe BuzFuz
Sgt BuzFuz are pioneers of British Anti-Folk. They have a series of songs that document the ill-doings of popes, and you’ll have heard their song ‘Knock, Knock, Knock’ when your favourite team scores during Carling Cup Goals on Sky. Today Joe from the band appears solo. As a songwriter he weaves fine English psychedelia. As a promoter, he’s arguably done more than anyone to bring New York’s antifolk movement to the UK and was booking key players for his Blang! night at London’s 12 Bar Club long before the rest of us caught on.

New Single Danny’s Room/Molly’s Bar Out Now

“This impressive double A-side is an excellent showcase for the band’s idiosyncratic folk-pop sound, not to mention Murphy’s increasingly compelling lyrical dexterity….great story-telling” (Whisperin’ and Hollerin’)

“Fantastic…The lyrics are modern and vivid, the more I listen to the song the clearer the picture it builds and being set to a folk backing just throws the images into sharper relief.” (New Singles Review, single of the day)

“As finely a crafted acoustic pop song as you’ll find anywhere, it harks back to a time when there was more to singles than fluff and beats…. two absolutely solid songs that can put albums to shame.” (Fatea)

Ben Calvert
Has recently re-discovered his electric guitar. Expect pub rock classics with piss poor noodling, like the kind of sound that comes from middle-managers of office based businesses who can afford huge proper amps that make them feel like they are playing Wembley, when in fact they are playing the local market town pub.

Theatre of The Absurd
A self-deprecating Will Self/John Lydon Hybrid is band leader Greg Smith. Literary, emotive and moving musings on finding himself in the gutter cursing at stars.
“Bruised guitar bashings and a red-raw spillage of emotions produce a rush of goose bumps.” (The Fly)

The Mock Deers

This band started their joint adventures early in 2009 when singer-songwriter Ricky Damiani met backing vocalist Laura Capaldi in a back yard in Manchester. United by a love of acoustic music and general gadding about, the pair began singing together almost instantly and found that Capaldi’s ethereal harmonies brought colour and depth to the beautiful melodies and haunting lyrics of Damiani’s songs.

In their music they aim to recreate the memories of Simon and Garfunkel, Don Mclean, Suzanne Vega, Donovan, Eva Cassidy, Elliot Smith, Anthony And The Johnsons, and Bright Eyes in their music.

Richard Burke

He spent his formative years listening to American Indie and throwing himself around on stage in legendary local band The Starries. Having long fostered a love of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, Richard turned his hand to folk in his early twenties.

Ten years and two albums later, he has just released his new album ‘An Ocean Full of Broken Stars’ on local label Commercially Inviable. This new collection showcases his unique finger-picking style, warm vocals and insightful lyrics. His cover of Yazoo’s ‘Only You’ and his own composition ‘Old Couple on the Moors’ are particularly moving.’

Kid Conventional
He’s Jack, but on weekends he’s known as Kid Conventional. After going down a storm on the busking bus at Tramlines festival he arrives on our doorstep to play his own brand of uptempo anti-folky-Indie goodliness.

The Dirty Old Folkers
Lively and inappropriate folk, telling stories of the changing face of Birmingham.

Ben Calvert
‘Too folksy for me.’ (Ernie Hendricks, Fortune & Glory Records, 2001)

David Leach
A ukelele playing Lancastrian with a nice line in knitted merchandise.

Dave Boddison
Deft guitar play and chilled songs from this ambient folker.

Fox
A self confessed grumpy man, Fox writes skillful, miserable melancholia. A busy Summer ahead for this Post-Rock frontman turned troubadour with slots at indietracks on a bill with Jeffrey Lewis and Edwyn Collins amongst others.

Poppy Tibbetts
takes influence from artists such as Adam Green and Emmy the Great, to create a new style which is full of irony and black humour, but always with a tentative undercurrent of romanticism. Two things that Poppy feels are missing from a lot of music today are clever lyrical content and melodically interesting content. She continues to develop these two things significantly in her writing.

Ben Calvert
In solo mode on the day, this Post-Folk pioneer will be playing rarities, including some ancient AND new songs not yet heard by the public. And maybe a couple of your favourites.

Mrs
Know as Marianne Delaney to her fiends, Mrs takes notes from the angsty songbooks of PJ Harvey and Martha Wainwright.
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We return to our original home of The Bull’s Head in Moseley on Sunday 8th May to bring you the Bohemian Jukebox Sunday Social. Then on every second Sunday of the month between 4pm and 8pm, we’ll continue to bring you a late afternoon early evening of the best in Post-Folk, Anti-Folk and Alt-Folk from the Midlands and beyond, for free.

8th May:
Headliners Layla & The Good Lads play breezy, nature-inspired stoner folk that’s perfect for mid-Springtime.

These events started off as a residency for Ben Calvert, so it’s no surprise that he’s playing with The Swifts.

The inventor of Aikedo, Blackpool beach, and exam grades all come together in a heady mix of deftly- picked Psych-folk played by The Cribbler.

Dave Wilkins plays songs for clapped out generals and porn actresses. A bit of an experiment in booking him for this event: He will have come straight to the venue to play his set from running a half marathon.

Do you play music that resembles folk? Borderline folk? That IS folk? Post-folk, Alt-Folk, Trad folk, Anti-Folk? Good. Drop Ben a line at info@bohemianjukebox.com if you want to play one of our events.

“The room has been steadily filling for the last hour or so and when headliners Betty and The Id hit the stage the place is packed. When I say packed, I do genuinely mean so that it is difficult to move. I haven’t seen this at a non high-profile gig for a very long time. There must be near to a hundred people in this small upstairs room. The sound is bloody brilliant: crisp and clean.”
Birmingham Live

“The Rivers Presley Set don’t give two fucks for your comfort as their bluesy sex hunger charges the previously sedate audience. Rivers himself roars like a nymphomaniac Kurt Cobain as his guitar growls with quiver inducing bass, while Thomas Henry’s primal thuds rampantly append the eroticized atmosphere.

It’s pure filth and should definitely not be allowed to be performed on a Sunday. It’s the beastly sound of being drunk on whiskey and fucking both the vicar’s virgin daughters in a graveyard under a full moon.”
The Fly

“The best in folkesque sounds not only from all around England, but also from as far away as Sweden, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. Recent visitors include Toby Goodshank, (The Moldy Peaches), The Smoke Fairies, and other acts on small up and coming Indie labels.”
fused magazine