Inverness Gigs to host Hootananny stage at Hootananny, Inverness.
Inverness Gigs are proud to announce we are returning to hosting the stage at Hootananny during this year’s music showcase. Previous years have seen Inverness Gigs host Pale Honey, The Mirror Trap, Lional and NIEVES at XpoNorth, this year there is certainly no drop in the quality of the acts….
Opening Hoots for us will be Ernest Rambles, when we caught up with the band earlier in the year we asked how they saw their style, they talked about indie folk but keen to emphasise the pull of blues, country and folk. Their album ,“My friends call me…”, was recently released and earned the tracks the description of “songwriting of the highest calibre” by Lochbroom FM.
November Lights contrast their Glasgow/Ayrshire roots with the clear American influences, bringing a sound that is as commendable as it is bold. “We always feel confident that people will see the merit in what we’re trying to do…” lead singer John Hopkins added “We take a lot of pride in what we produce.” They are currently supporting Hunter and the Bear on tour and have just announced that they will be headlining the King Tuts Summer Sessions on the 13th of July.
Reverieme whose twelve years of gigging have seen her evolve and perform into varying guises, describes itself as “a musical act that looks mostly like Louise Connell and sounds mostly like pop.” Her album ‘Straw Woman’ has won many fans including blog Unfashionable Male, who described it as “an intelligent slice of quirky folk that has a compelling pop sensibility” . Reverieme will be performing in her solo guise on Wednesday night.
The three-piece Pinact display grunge stylings with echoes of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Mogwai and ,of course, Nirvana. Having just returned from SXSW, work is almost complete to the follow-up to their 2015 release ,’Stand Still and Rot’ ,which is due out in Autumn.It will be loud, it will be proud and it will be awesome way to close the stage on the Wednesday night.
On Thursday it is Nova Scotia’s Quake Mathews, brought to XpoNorth via Excite project, that opens the stage. Emerging from the underground battle rap scene to award winning emcee who has recently released his fourth album ‘Rap Music’. He plays XpoNorth as part of his Celebrate the Struggle Tour that will also see him visit England, Holland and Sweden.
Drawing similarities with the likes of Air, Alt-J and Gorillaz, Faces on Tv, is the brainchild of Belgian producer, musician and songwriter Jasper Maekelberg. Faces on Tv’s popularity can be seen by ‘Love / Dead’ from their 2016 EP , Traveling Blind, which has earned over a million listens on Spotify, an impressive achievement by all accounts.
Indigo Velvet were heralded by BBC Introducing as “..effervescent, sparkling, tropical indie-pop..they’re young, talented, ambitious and going places!”. Indigo Velvet have had those in the know, including Janice Forsyth, Jim Gellatly and Vic Galloway pouring praise over the four piece from Edinburgh. The band have recently released ‘Mona’ described by The Indiependant as “the perfect contender for your late night, beer garden playlists.”