Thursday, July 31
http://waywardsounds.co.uk/thedirtybeggars.html
The Dirty Beggars are an outfit from Central Scotland with the music of the Appalachians running in their blood. Their own brand of down and dirty bluegrass fused with traditional Celtic sounds has been electrifying crowds all over the UK and abroad. Comprising of guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica and double bass – The Dirty Beggars are one-of-a-kind in the UK – akin to unique styles pioneered by Old Crow Medicine Show, Gillian Welch and the Dave Rawlings Machine. Their debut album ‘Bite The Bullet’ was released in 2011 to critical acclaim. The ‘Time to Reminisce EP’ was released in November 2013 on the band’s own independent label – Wayward Sounds Records.
In the past year The Dirty Beggars have gone from strength to strength. Highlights from last summer include playing at Orkney Folk Festival and HebCelt. The band also played a sold out gig with Julie Fowlis at Innerleithen Music Festival as well as their first sold out gig abroad – in Stavanger, Norway. The band was personally invited to play at Perthshire Amber Festival in October by legendary Scottish folk artist Dougie MacLean.
The band has played support slots for The Staves, Three Blind Wolves, Treetop Flyers, Washington Irving, Jason and the Scorchers and successful American honky-tonk outfit The Wilders. They undertook a successful tour of the United States in 2011 and return this summer on their ‘Born In The Wrong Country Tour’ that includes performances at FloydFest.
The band’s debut album ‘Bite the Bullet’ features 10 original tracks and has received airplay on BBC Radio Scotland by Ricky Ross’ Another Country Show and the Iain Anderson Show. The album was featured by Frank Hennessey on BBC Wales and by Barry Marshall-Everitt as ‘Album of the Week’ on his acclaimed House of Mercy radio shows. The new EP has been played on BBC Radio Scotland by Bruce MacGregor and Mary Ann Kennedy. The Dirty Beggars commanded attention from MTV while in the US and filmed a session for the BBC in conjunction with Celtic Connections in 2012.