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Billy In The Lowground(originally called the Brew Band) were formed in 1991 by founder members Chris Hibberd & Ruth Behan, since when we’ve played literally hundreds of gigs at pubs, clubs, large venues and festivals all over the UK, as well as some in Europe.
Past Festival gigs include: Glastonbury, Ashton Court, Trowbridge Pump, Bath festival, Respect in the West, Pontardawe International Folk, Larmer Tree and Off the Tracks.
Notable past support slots include: John Otway, Shane MacGowan & the Popes, Rock Salt & Nails, Norma Waterson & Martin Carthy, Oysterband, the Wurzels and Fairport Convention.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What do you sound like?
The band have often been pigeonholed as Folk-Rock (think ‘Weapon called the Word’ era Levellers rather than ‘All around my Hat’ era Steeleye Span!), but that doesn't cover the half of it - the sound is continuously evolving, veering into alt.country territory and even out-and-out Rock. Or, as Venue magazine put it:
"...a very tight, rocky band, with only the tattered remnants of Irish and Old Timey fiddle tunes hanging out of the back of it (definitely no classicised folky pretty stuff). It's old and tough and dirty and rough."
Can't argue with that, but the best way to find out is to see us live and make up your own mind!
Why don't you play any covers?
Nobody else plays our stuff, so why should we play theirs?
Where did the name come from?
'Billy in the lowground' is an old American bluegrass fiddle tune - it's actually incorporated into one of our songs.
Which one of you is Billy?
You're not paying attention, are you?
What would you like to drink?
Thanks very much, thought you'd never ask! That'll be two pints of bitter, a pint of Guinness, pint of cider & a large whisky. And whatever the rest of the band's having.
Who exactly is going to pay for this bar tab?
Errr...
THE LINEUP
All our songs are penned by long suffering, weather-beaten singer/guitarist Chris Hibberd, who claims he finds them under hedges. He pins them to the ground with a forked stick, wrestles them into a sack & brings them to an old cowshed, where the rest of the band kick them around until they’ve had enough. Once they’ve had all the rough edges knocked off, they’re left to hang for a while until they’re good and ready.
Chris takes very good care of his trademark gravelly voice, treating it to forty rollups a day and regularly gargling with whisky (which he usually forgets to spit out)
Legend has it that fiddle-player (and niece of the notorious Brendan) Ruth Behanmet with the Devil at a crossroads one dark & stormy night, where she sold her soul in return for her fearsome fiddle-playing ability. It's also rumoured that the great Irish champion Cuchulain presented her personally with a bow strung with the hair from his horse’s mane after enjoying her ‘Waxy’s Dargle’...
Bassplayer Ian Simpsontried to make the same deal, but the Devil refused, as close inspection revealed his soul to be in a sorry state of repair & covered in nasty stains. Ian took up the bass guitar thinking it would be easier than a six-string and would get him more attention from girls. He was wrong on both counts.
Previously with 1980s Bristol band All Night Chemists and after that a brief stint in the Spasmodics, Ian joined the band in 1993. He escaped briefly in 2002, but was swiftly recaptured.
The other, much larger half of the rhythm section is Nick Wood, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Desperate Dan, and sits on a specially lowered drum stool so as not to make the rest of us look like Munchkins. His drumsticks were originally the logs used as rollers to transport the mighty sarsens of Stonehenge into their final positions.
And last but not least, lead guitarist Mick Stanger,whose long and varied musical pedigree includes Welsh folk-punks Michaels Bones, and most recently cult space-rockers Tribe of Cro - he also plays mandolin & mandola, and has an array of effects pedals to strike fear into the heart of the stoutest folkie.
ANCIENT HISTORY
Just to prove we didn't always look this old, here's a few samples from our dusty archive; please don the white gloves provided, and try not to breath on the parchment:
Here we are in 1993 or thereabouts, just after a gig in Pusey, when we were still called the Brew Band & top hats were still in fashion... [L to R: Tim Blake (mandolin), Lenny Nelson (whistle), Ian, Ruth, Pete (the original drummer), Martin Cooper (banjo & heavy drinking) & Chris]
This one was taken in about 1994, just before our tour of Germany, and features Jon Hill (whistle) looking like a pirate in the background. And a huge pint of beer, obviously. You can clearly see how poor we all are, as Ian has no tread left on his boots...
This line-up from about 1997 features Mark Rodgers, the Loudest Drummer in the World, at the back.
Around 1997 again, this one has Pat Knock (mandolin) sitting at the front.
If that's given you a taste for more pictures of hirsute musicians, there's an ever-growing archive on this Flickr page A blast from the past:
Courtesy of the shyest mandolin player in the world, Tim Blake, who kindly transferred them from VHS to DVD for us, here's an old song called 'Pushing up the Daisies' that went out on Tellywest back in '95 or thereabouts.
This line-up features Tim on mandolin, Lenny on whistle & Pete on drums, as well as the usual suspects on guitar, fiddle & bass.
We’d like to thank all of the people who helped us out over the years; some have moved abroad, some have changed their names, two or three have disappeared under mysterious circumstances following 'musical differences', and there’s at least four chained up in Chris & Ruth’s cellar...
Step forward and take a bow Pete Thompson, Sid, Phil, Steve, Simon, Tony, Mike, Lenny Nelson, Jon Hill, Martyn Cooper, Tim Blake, Pat Knock, Jake (the man they couldn’t hang), Ali Cross, Mark Rodgers, Nick Sorensen & Nige Lloyd.
