Jools jape is one for Elephant Sessions to remember
NEO-TRAD band The Elephant Sessions are in for a busy time of it over the next few months.
Warming up with what is for the majority of the band a home town gig at Hootananny in Inverness, next weekend sees them launch a busy summer of festivals with another home territory show at Bogbain Farm’s Brew at The Bog where they will top the bill on the Northern Roots Stage — their first festival headline slot.
One place where they will not be seen is on Jools Holland’s Later... on BBC2, despite reports to the contrary.
The band sent out a Tweet at the start of the month saying they had been offered a slot on what has become UK television’s most prestigious music showcase.
In response they were inundated with congratulations from well wishers who had not spotted the relevance of the date the Tweet was sent — 1st April.
"It ended up being a bit naughty with that," guitarist Mark Bruce apologised.
"We thought it was pretty unbelievable, but it probably got more attention from that than anything else we have ever done. I don’t think anyone was annoyed at us, it was just a joke, but when we started getting congratulations coming in from family and old teachers, we had to come clean."
In fact, the jape seems to have had a positive impact on the band.
"A couple of people have started following us on Twitter since we did that," Bruce revealed.
"It wasn’t meant as a publicity stunt, but it has turned into a bit of one."
Perhaps the reason that people were fooled by the April Fool’s Day gag was that it was not so implausible after all.
Since winning Up and Coming Artist of The Year at The Scots Trad Awards ceremony in Inverness last December, the band’s email inbox has been filled with inquiries and offers of gigs.
Their debut album, The Elusive Highland Beauty, was also well received by public and critics, much to the band’s relief, further boosting their profile.
"Everyone’s biggest fear was hitting send on the iTunes thing, but it’s all been positive and it seems to have opened up some doors for us to get a few more gigs," Bruce said.
"It’s definitely quite interesting to see where we send albums out. We send albums all over the world — America and Belgium and Germany and Australia. It always makes you wonder how they heard about it."
The band may not get as far away as the USA or Australia this summer, but they will certainly be busy with a run of festival dates.
Islands seem to be a recurring feature on the Elephant Sessions 2015 calendar, from the tiny Channel Island of Sark, so small that motorised transport is banned, and neighbouring Guernsey to a closer to home island jaunt to Stornoway’s HebCelt Festival.
Other Highland festivals are also on the cards, including a return to Belladrum, as well as number at the other end of Britain, including the biggest festival on the UK’s roots circuit, the Cambridge Folk Festival.
"We just have to drive from Cambridge to Speyfest afterwards, but that’s what you sign up for when you join a band," Bruce said.
However, the Elephant Sessions, who also have a 16 date tour planned for November, are used to putting in the miles just to get together.
With Bruce and drummer Greg Barry in Glasgow, fiddler Euan Smillie and mandolin player Alasdair Taylor in Inverness and double bass player Seth Tinsley in Newcastle, meeting up can be a logistical challenge.
"Because of distance, we don’t spend a lot of time rehearsing together, so it’s always good to meet up ahead of gigs and run over the set," Bruce said.
"It’s not ideal, but Newcastle’s only two-and-a-half hours from Glasgow so he could leave in the morning and be in rehearsals by afternoon and everyone, apart from Seth, is from the Highlands anyway so when we come up to Inverness we get to see our families, so no-one grudges coming up."
• The Elephant Sessions appear at Grassroots at Hoots at Hootananny’s Ceilidh Bar, Church Street, Inverness, this evening (Friday 24th May) alongside singer-songwriter Findlay Napier and DJ Dolphin Boy. They also headline the Northern Roots stage at next weekend’s Brew at The Bog Festival at Bogbain Farm.
