Wickerman Gathers Pace

as Main Stage Artists are Revealed

Amy Macdonald, The Enemy, KT Tunstall, Dexys and Bellowhead Amongst Acts Announced

Friday 26^th & Saturday 27^th July 2013 / www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk

Spring has sprung and The Wickerman Festival is bursting with news as the second wave of main stage acts is announced today. Headlining the festival on the Saturday will be Scottish singer songwriter Amy Macdonald. Joining her on the Summerisle stage will be The Enemy, KT Tunstall, Dexys and Bellowhead amongst others.

Award-winning artist Amy Macdonald will take to the stage on Saturday 27^th July to entertain festival goers with her first Wickerman performance. Her heartfelt sound and raw performance style promises a rousing set that will include tracks from her three critically acclaimed albums.

She will be joined on the bill by The Enemy who promise top quality, unapologetic rock’n’roll, and hits from their three UK top ten albums. Performing on Friday 26^th is multi-platinum selling artist KT Tunstall. KT, who will be returning to the spotlight this summer after an 18 month break, will be performing a mix of new material from her much anticipated fourth studio album and classic hits from her back catalogue.

Also announced today are British band Dexys (previously known as Dexys Midnight Runners). The new six-piece incarnation of the group are set to whip up the crowds as they perform their acclaimed show “One Day I’m Going to Soar” (the album in its entirety, in sequence) plus a few Dexys favourites.

The eclectic Summerisle line-up will be further enhanced by popular contemporary 11-piece big band Bellowhead who have won the Best Live Band accolade an unmatched 5 times over the past few years, as well as Best Album (for ‘Broadside’) at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2013, and up and coming eccentric singer-songwriter King Charles, who released his debut album last year. Four-piece Glaswegian band Holy Esque are also set to deliver a powerful performance and Scotland’s Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire will be making their mark with their darkly compelling mix of classic Americana and Celtic soul. On the Saturday North Tyneside’s Steelband will perform a lively blend of musical styles including calypso, jazz and pop, their infectious performance is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

Wickerman Festival Coordinator Helen Chalmers is delighted to be revealing this raft of new additions to the 2013 event. She commented: ‘Wickerman prides itself on offering festival goers a truly diverse line-up, so it is fantastic to announce acts that cross so many different genres of music. With Amy Macdonald, The Enemy and KT Tunstall joining already announced Primal Scream, we are confident that this year’s festival will be the ultimate summer party and we are looking forward to announcing further exciting line-up additions over the coming months.’ 

Amy Macdonald commented, “I’m really looking forward to headlining the Wickerman festival this year as I love being able to play in Scotland and I have heard the Wickerman audience are a great crowd to play for. There is always a great atmosphere so I am looking forward to a great evening together.”

Artist Information

Amy Macdonald

Amy rose to fame in 2007 with her debut album This Is the Life, which sold millions worldwide, charted at #1 in 5 countries and was one of the Top 10 best selling albums in Europe in 2008. The single of the same name was #1 in 10 markets around the globe. Amy released her third album Life In A Beautiful Light last year, which went straight to #1, and has spent the past year touring around the world. The album was recorded between State of the Ark Studios in Richmond and Mayfield Studio in Surrey.

In 2011, Amy won the coveted Echo award for Best International Female beating Adele, Katy Perry, Pink and Rihanna. Earlier this year, she completed a life long dream to be on Top Gear and completed her lap in an impressive time of 1min 44.4 seconds making her 9^th on Top Gear’s leader board and the fastest woman

KT Tunstall

Since scoring a worldwide hit with her debut album Eye To The Telescope in 2005, which went on to sell more than 4m copies worldwide and over 1.8m in the UK alone (and a million plus in the US), KT Tunstall has remained at the forefront of UK singer-songwriter talent. Two critically acclaimed albums, Drastic Fantastic and Tiger Suit followed in 2007 and 2010 respectively, keeping the platinum sales rolling and cementing the Scottish songtress’s reputation as a major recording talent, as well as a mesmerising live artist.

The Enemy

The Enemy is an English indie rock band formed in Coventry in 2006. The band’s debut album We’ll Live and Die in These Towns (2007) went straight to Number 1 in the UK albums chart on release. The band’s second album Music for the People (2008) went to Number 2 on the UK albums chart. Streets InThe Sky, the group’s third studio album, was released in May 2012 and became their third UK top 10 album.

Dexys (previously known as Dexys Midnight Runners)

“We’ll wear great clothes and make soulful music.” That was the promise Kevin Rowland made to the first line-up of Dexys Midnight Runners when he formed the group in 1978.

The pledge held true through Dexys’ audacious and powerful live performances, seven top 20 hits (including the number ones Geno and Come On Eileen) and the landmark albums Searching For The Young Soul Rebels, Too-Rye-Ay and Don’t Stand Me Down.

Style, soulfulness and emotional honesty remains Dexys’ hallmarks as spring 2012 witnessed the group’s return with the stupendous new album One Day I’m Going To Soar and a series of hotly-awaited shows.

Bellowhead

Bigger, bolder, brassier and more brazen than ever, Bellowhead released its mighty new album Broadside in October 2012. The band’s third album Hedonism was the highest-selling independently released traditional folk album of all time and its highly acclaimed new album Broadside entered the UK album charts at number 16 on its release.

While all things Bellowhead tend to be an event, Broadside is a positive spectacular, taking some of the wildest, most joyous and iconic songs in the richly colourful canon of the folk song tradition and turning them upside down and inside out with the unique sense of drama and theatre, instrumental virtuosity, verve, humour and blind cheek that has seen them spearhead the new folk boom.

King Charles

2012 has been a hugely successful year for folk star King Charles, beginning with the release of his critically acclaimed top 40 debut album ‘LoveBlood’ in May, which propelled him from underground hero to a day time radio regular. Extensive touring of his exuberant live show and the most played festivals of any artist this year has earned him plaudits around the UK and Europe and left a trail of love enthused fans behind him. 2013 is already shaping up to be an equally busy year with Charles currently in the studio writing and recording his second album.

Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire

A band defiantly in the classic mould, Scotland’s Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire are set to make their mark this year with the release of their long awaited eponymous album.  Having released three acclaimed independent solo records – Bookmarks (featuring guest performances from Kris Kristofferson and Eddi Reader), Sign Language, and Road Of Bones – and The Dylan EP with Mercury nominated artist Gemma Hayes, Hart decided to shake the traditional singer/songwriter tag and concentrate on building an exciting and formidable seven-piece band.  Working with the producer of Coldplay’s multi-million selling album XnY, the band spent most of 2012 ensconced in the studio to create a vividly widescreen sonic landscape, and a sound that is all their own.

Holy Esque

Holy Esque was formed in 2011 by four young Glaswegians, Pat Hynes (vocals/guitars), Keir Reid (keys), Hugo McGinley (guitar) and Ralph McClure (drums). The band began playing shows throughout the UK and in less than six months since their inception the word began to spread.

Following the release of their critically heralded self-titled debut EP the band released a follow up single ‘Tear’ on August 7^th 2012. At the end of 2012 the band went on their biggest tour across Europe with The Raveonettes where they continued to impress crowds with their intense live shows. Glasgow four-piece Holy Esque will release their single ‘St.’ on the 25^th March.

North Tyneside Steelband (NTSB)

North Tyneside Steelband is now well into its third decade as the North East’s top performing steelband. Operating as a charity it provides music activities and leadership training for young people and others across the region through the exciting medium of steelband music.

Playing as a 5 to 20+ piece band NTSB offer something for everyone via a wide variety of musical styles such as calypso, soca, classical, pop, latin, jazz, etc. Their musicality, exuberance and enjoyment of providing a quality musical experience, is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.