The Lucky Strikes
Hailing from the Thames Delta of Southend on Sea The Lucky Strikes channel blues country and gospel into their own brand of cinematic Americana. The first single from the forthcoming album, entitled the Beast Burnt Down, tells the story of Southend Pier burning down on October 9, 2005.
The songwriting vison of Matt Boulter (lead vocals and guitar) and Dave Giles (piano and accordion) focuses on literate ragged alternative country, influenced by the Band, Tom Waits and the spaghetti westerns of Ennio Morricone. Boulter, who also tours with Simone Felice and Duke and the King, posseses an urgent soaring voice, often compared to Mike Scott from the Waterboys.
He's backed by Jim Wilson's flying fiddle and banjo, which gives the band their signature sound. Giles adds accordion, organs and clattering bar room piano. Will Bray's thundering drums and Ambrose P. Ambrose's upright and electric bass give the swing.
Formed in 2006, the band recorded their debut after just 6 months. This was followed by the Chronicles of Solomon Quick. The half true/half fictional account of the man who killed blues singer Robert Johnson. Next came Gabriel Forgive My 22 Sins, the story of a boxer who descends into madness after taking a bribe to throw afight.
For their fourth album the Lucky Strikes abandoned the narrative storyline of their previous two long players and looked inwards. Inspired by the desperate and the damned of Nelson Algren's novel Never Come Morning - the songs are based on the gangsters, carnival queens and ghosts of Essex folklore.
From the rousing Irish folk of Ghost and the Actress to the swampy voodoo rhythms of Mother Moore, the album sweeps and swings across genres, but always sounding unmistakably like the Lucky Strikes.
The band play the following dates in the UK this summer with more tba :
11th May -Wheelbarrow, Camden, London
18th May- The Railway, Southend (acoustic)
14th June- Hare&Hounds, Birmingham
17th June- Big Session Festival, Walton-on-Trent
19th June- Hoy Anchor Folk Club, Leigh-on-Sea (acoustic)
22nd June- Rugfest, Wallingford
24th June- Leigh Folk Festival, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.