GANGSTAGRASS

The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

£15.00
Entry Requirements: All Ages. Under 14s accompanied by an adult. R.O.A.R

Square Roots Promotions & TWR Present GANGSTAGRASS

Plus Special Guest RODNEY BRANIGAN

“When music is THIS good, it smashes every borderline, every genre, every pre-conceived idea of what a bluegrass hip-hop fusion might sound like…it blows live audiences away wherever they play!” (Essential Pop)

Doors Open 7.30pm. Show Starts 8.00pm.

A daring blend of innovative modern swagger and classic Americana cool, which dares listeners not to come along for the ride.

“There are only three bands that can tame a mountain lion just by playing. Gangstagrass is one of them. Gangstagrass is also the other two of them!”

With their third studio album, “Broken Hearts & Stolen Money”, GANGSTAGRASS can be found ripping up stages and blowing minds wherever they appear. Their explosive live performances have garnered a buzz at SXSW, CMJ and on tours across the USA. Now they are coming to Europe (and Portsmouth!) with emcees R-Son and Dolio!

“There are a lot more people out there with Jay-Z and Johnny Cash on their i-pod playlists than you think”, says Rench, mastermind behind the genre breaking sensation GANGSTAGRASS.

When FX Network came to Reach looking for the GANGSTAGRASS sound for the theme song to their new series “Justified”, he had bluegrass players lay down an original track with rapper T.O.N.E-z, the result was “Long Hard Times To Come”, the song that opens every episode of the series, now in its fourth season.

The 2019 live album “Pocket Full Of Fire” spent 20 weeks in the Top 10 Billboard bluegrass charts. Gangstagrass has toured internationally, blowing minds on main stages from SXSW to Grey Fox bluegrass festival, with a live stage act taking full advantage of the improvisational aspects of both hip-hop and bluegrass.

With 2 emcees R-Son and Dolio The Sleuth trading verses, Dan Whitener on banjo, Brian Farrow on fiddle, and Rench on guitar, and frequent 3 part harmonies, the Gangstagrass live show has garnered a reputation among fans for it’s dynamism and spontaneity.

Gangstagrass is using live performances to organically develop new material for an album that will further explode the boundaries between genres generally thought to be incompatible!

“Gangstagrass’ eclectic mix of low-down to down-low beats. destroys other genres in their path!” (Magnet Magazine)

RODNEY BRANIGAN

Rodney Branigan - Americana folk roots music with virtuoso presentation, with a touch of clean comedy thrown in for good measure.

Highlights: The Texas-born troubadour who learned to play in Austin, perform in Los Angeles, craft songs in Nashville, and put it all together in London has played all types of music in all types of venues in his storied career. His adventurous, boundary-breaking guitar playing (sometimes at the same time) earning him the title "The Two Guitar Man" has led to performance invites across America, India, Africa, and Europe. In 2018 Michael Eavis asked him to headline the 11,000 people Glasto Extravaganza at Glastonbury Abbey when Paloma Faith was forced to pull out - leading to a spot on the Acoustic Stage at the last Glastonbury Festival, where he went down a storm!

Privileged to have shared stage or collaborated with likes of Jack Johnson, Alabama 3, Billy Bragg, Show of Hands, Seth Lakeman, Andy Mckee, Cross Canadian Rag Weed, Kelly Willis, Dick Dale, Billy Sheehan, Frances Cabrel, Bad Finger, Slim Jim Phantom, Bo Didley, Tommy Emmanuel, Tom Odel...

Received a standing ovation at Folk East - quote "Every year there will be one or two artists that take the audience completely by surprise. This year Rodney Branigan was undoubtedly that artist, his name being mentioned in our feedback over and over again as peoples stand out act" John Marshall-Potter, FolkEast

QUOTES: Music connections USA described him as - “Impossibly talented”

Whispering Bob - 'Outstanding showmanship'

Mike Harding BBC Radio2 FolkShow - 'One of the Worlds greatest guitarists'

Music Week - 'A multi-instrumentalist with a rich and soulful voice comparable to Jeff Buckley'

Line Up

GANGSTAGRASS

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