Rachel Ries + Canyon Family + Ian Bramall @ WagonWheel Presents...

On Friday November 14th, WagonWheel Presents… welcomes Rachel Ries back to Sheffield when she joins us at Shakespeares. As anybody who caught her show earlier this year can tell you, Rachel crafts sly and compassionate songs for the crooked hearted. With an electric guitar, clear voice and steady hand, she pulls the listener into her world of city grit, country dirt, and her open-eyed search for redemption and reason. Her songs are fine-tuned delicacy with a snarl and disarming candor. Also on the bill for what promises to be another magical night will be Canyon Family and Ian Bramall. Advance tickets priced at £6 are available from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/289033 or entry on the night will be £8. Doors open 8pm.

***RACHEL RIES***

Daughter of Mennonite missionaries, Rachel Ries hails from the inspiring, vast expanses of South Dakota, by way of Zaire. Her formative years were filled with Congolese spirituals, Mennonite hymns and The Carpenters. Currently splitting her time between rural Vermont and New York City, she now crafts sly and compassionate songs for the crooked hearted. With a clear voice and steady hand, she pulls the listener into her world of city grit, country dirt, and her open-eyed search for redemption and reason.

Ries, returning from a years-long hiatus, is releasing her third long player, Ghost of a Gardener. Rachel’s voice at times echoes that of Regina Spektor or early Maria Muldaur and this new album is full of thoughtful and inventive arrangements. Fingerpicked melodicism pairs with sweeping strings & analog synths while a Merle Haggard-style drinking song struts with trumpets and close knit harmonies. The album, produced by Ries along with Secretly Canadian artist David Vandervelde, also includes Emmett Kelly (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Cairo Gang), Gregory Alan Isakov, Evan Bivins (Cary Ann Hearst, Duncan Sheik) and members of Brooklyn’s Cuddle Magic.

Since 2008’s Country EP, a split 45″ with Anaïs Mitchell released on Righteous Babe Records, Ries (“reese”) has recorded and toured extensively with Mitchell, supporting Bon Iver and others. She was granted a Chicago Arts award in 2010, worked in Chicago theatre, toured Europe and the States, learned how to repair Wurlitzers and (kind of) play the drums.

“Ghost of a Gardener is a technicolor treasure, in word and melody.” Maverick Magazine (5 stars)

“Gorgeous gush of warm-blooded harmonies” Uncut Magazine

http://www.rachelries.com

***CANYON FAMILY***

Born in 2012 and making their live debut at that summer’s Tramlines festival, Canyon Family play hazy Americana. A love of classic country duets and folk ballads from both sides of the Atlantic has influenced the sound. A patchwork of voices and simply plucked acoustic guitar underpins all their work, hinting at sixties folk waifs, Vashti Bunyan and Karen Dalton, as well as tragic country idols such as Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons. It’s the shuffle beat, the lilt in the voice, the glint in the eye. Its driving over the Snake Pass on a warm summer evening, with a well worn tape of “Rumours” on constant rotation.

“The music is ethereal and one tambourine short of Mazzy Star‘s long lost sister.” Sloucher.org

http://www.facebook.com/CanyonFamily

***IAN BRAMALL***

Singer/songwriter Ian Bramall opens the show after supporting Rachel on her previous visit to Sheffield. Described as sounding somewhere between Richard Hawley and Mercury Rev, nineties indie with folk sensibilities.

“His self-deprecating manner endearingly flowed through his music as he sang lyrics in a distinct Sheffield accent” Now Then Magazine

“Fabulous finger picking tunes with uplifting lyrics from an endearing performer” bbc.co.uk

http://soundcloud.com/ian-bramall