Biography
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Years Active
2010 – present (14 years)
Small Engine Repair is an English folk/blues/alt-country collective brain-child of Phil Twigg (guitar, keys & vocals), Tom Harrington (bass & vocals) and Dan Lewis (drums & vocals) - who hail from the city of Hereford, UK (home of Mott the Hoople, cider and the large scale manufacture of chicken-based products…)
Small Engine Repair, formed from the remnants of burnt out touring bands, first came into being in 2009 when Phil called former band mate Dan and asked him lay some drums on some solo tracks he’d written during a self-imposed 18 month musical exile. Dan dutifully arrived at the studio, bringing with him his friend and drinking partner for many years, Tom Harrington, to play bass. 10 tracks were recorded straight to tape in a garden shed/studio on the outskirts of Leominster in just a single day and the band then tentatively began playing live and circulating choice cuts from this session. During these first shows Small Engine Repair came to the attention of Hilldrop Records, who cherry-picked the song ‘Serve Yourself’ for inclusion on their compilation album - We Can Be Friends’ (Hilldrop Records: 2009 -AAAAA – Artrocker Magazine).
Shortly afterwards the another track from these first sessions ‘Have you seen what I’ve become?’ sound-tracked a short-film made by the Charity UK Youth, when the song reached the ear-drums of the then charity head, John Bateman, who felt the sounds and sentiment of the song sat perfectly with the films’ cinematic intention. This led to three very confused and underdressed Hereford musicians playing a star-studded charity event at St James’s Palace in early 2010.
Encouraged and surprised in equal measure by any kind of reception for their work whatsoever, the band returned to the studio to record some more material. One of the resultant tracks ‘How Long’ also found it’s way onto another compilation - ‘Acoustic Chill’ (compiled by Chris Coco - iLabel Records – 2009), sharing compact-disc space with the likes of Emmy the Great and Peter, Bjorn & John and earned the band radio play across Britain, mainland Europe and also in the US.
This relationship with iLabel is set to continue into 2011 as the Dan, Phil and Tom release their first 7 Track EP ‘An Introduction to Small Engine Repair’. Recorded with Rob Parrett over the second half of 2010, it draws from a deep reservoir of collective musical influence, everything from the heart-rending blues of Leadbelly to the shining guitars of EELS and infectious sweep & groove of Tom Waits. All this is held together by Twigg’s unique & mesmerizing vocal performance that soars above a soundtrack of brushed drums, tool-box percussion, piano balladry, lap-steel waltz and an organ-soaked final curtain that serves as a taste of things to come.
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