Satchel Blue through to Round 2

So we made it through to Round 2 of Surface Unsigned 2008, somewhat helped by the fact that only 4 bands out of 7 actually made it on stage and the top 4 bands from each heat qualify for round 2.

Congratulations to Subjects of the City, Olly Dabblers, and The Kinells who also managed to turn up, thus guaranteeing qualification to the next stage.

A review of the gig has been posted on the Surface website and, at long last, someone has attempted to solve the "what kind of music do you play?" question.

Or at least helped prove that it's not an easy question to answer.

Satchel Blue describe themselves as ‘nu-folk’. What’s that you ask? Well, in this case it seems to mean melodic, folk-edged, retro-rock-pop-blues (and so I guess it’s probably best to stick with the original abbreviation). It’s a timeless 60’s/70’s pop sound with a modern spin which made the band standout as innovators. Immediately likeable and accessible they’ve got some really ‘nice’ songs (but, like, in a good way), each one a memorable, well written track with heartfelt, witty lyrics and a superb tender-folky vocal. It’s refreshing to see a band trying out a direction that is quintessentially pop, yet completely removed from the modern musical landscape; especially when they do it as well as these guys.

I quite like being labeled as an "innovator" and I'm certainly not going to disagree with the "heartfelt, witty lyrics" so all in all, thank you very much.

From an on-stage point of view I think it was one of the worst gigs we've played in a while but at least we now get a crack at Round 2 to put on a proper show.