Chris Barron and Lach for Mad Hatters' Gig

Chris Barron and Lach to play Inverness in November.

November sees the appearance of The Spin Doctors’ Chris Barron and New York legend and Antifolk founder Lach.

Chris Barron’s legacy is the stuff of myth. His band, The Spin Doctors were ubiquitous in the early nineties. Everyone owned their iconic album Pocketful of Kryptonite and blared it out of summer speakers all across the globe. Barron has a Grammy nomination, a Rolling Stone cover, two multi-platinum albums and two Top Ten hits – Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong and Two Princes. In 1999, doctors believed that Barron would never sing again because of a rare vocal chord paralysis.

Perhaps the story would’ve ended there had Chris not, a year later, wandered into the landmark venue, Sidewalk Café in NYC, home of the Antifolk scene, to see his friend Lach host the infamous open stage night known as The Antihoot. Charmed by the burgeoning scene, which at that time included the as yet unsigned Regina Spektor, Jeffrey Lewis and The Moldy Peaches, Barron kept coming back to the weekly event. After several weeks Barron asked Lach for a slot. You could hear a pin drop as Chris took the stage (as by now the scene knew he had been hanging out, a multi-platinum superstar in their midst who had tragically lost his voice).

Barron recalls that time, “The Antihoot was a crucible where, right there in the East Village, you could see someone like Regina Spektor timidly trying on her persona, playing tunes that weren’t famous yet, next to some kid who could barely plug in his guitar. I’d sit there in the dark over by Lach, the ringmaster and raconteur. I was recovering from this (for me) cataclysmic episode. I’d lost my voice… And there, in the dark, watching and listening to that hodgepodge of a cavalcade, I found it again.”

Chris nervously strummed a few chords, opened his mouth and sang like an angel. Those in attendance went nuts and Chris broke out his famous grin, the man could sing!

Things moved pretty quickly after that. Chris joined an early incarnation of The Moldy Peaches helping them get signed to Rough Trade and he proceeded to build his solo career with the release of Shag. Eventually all of this led to the reunion of The Spin Doctors and the release of 2013’s beautiful If The River Was Whiskey hitting the Top Five on Billboard’s blues charts.

Chris still loves gigging world-wide with his highly in-demand band The Spin Doctors, but he also cherishes playing his solo, acoustic shows as he evolves into that rare beast of singer-songwriters, the journeyman. The November UK tour with Antifolk legend Lach will see Chris playing his hits with The Spin Doctors as well as breaking out exciting new material.

Lach – “Lach is New York’s living legend. The roots of modern songwriting: Bob Dylan, Syd Barrett, The New York Dolls, Nick Drake and Lach!“-London Time Out. High praise indeed but not uncommon for the founder of Antifolk, the international phenomenon that’s been cited as a main inspiration for acts ranging from Beck to Jeff Buckley and from Suzanne Vega to Laura Marling as well as hundreds of others.

With six critically acclaimed albums (“5 stars. Splendid, best of its kind!”-Mojo Magazine), a sold out book of poetry and a hit BBC Radio 4 comedy series ‘The Lach Chronicles’ (Top Radio Pick Hit from The London Times, The Observer, The Independent, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and RadioTimes!) Lach still cites playing live as his favorite part of his artistic life.

Lach says, “I dig all of it or I wouldn’t do it. The albums, the books, the radio show, I see them all under the general umbrella of being a writer. But it’s at the gigs that it all comes together and I’m so lucky to have an audience that’s there for the ecstatic live moments like I am, whether I’m singing a song, telling a story or just riffing. No genre, no definitions just that campfire glow of total possibility.”

Five years ago Lach moved from New York City’s Lower East Side, where he hosted Lach’s Antihoot, the most successful, longest-running open mike in town, to Edinburgh, Scotland. Since then he has been constantly touring the UK and building up a fanatically loyal indie-club circuit. Not surprising for a man that founded a worldwide music and art movement and who’s been compared to Bob Dylan and Lenny Bruce in the same breath with the admonishment, “You’ve got to see him live!”

With his UK touring circuit firmly intact Lach has begun inviting some of his favorite performers along for the ride. Past UK tours have included bills with Suzanne Vega and Hamell on Trial, duets with Florence and The Machine, Michelle Shocked and now Lach’s second tour with Chris Barron. Two journeymen from New York’s East Village mixing tales of the Rock and Roll life with songs that are loved by millions. Not to be missed