Oysterband
To find an artist to close out this year’s festival was not an
easy task. After searching for some time, we felt that Oysterband would be the perfect
choice to make our finale as good as last year’s. Oysterband goes into the new
millennium as the most popular "roots-rock" band in Britain. On the stage they
seem to enjoy every minute of their performance and their joy of playing is something that
many artists must envy. They have their roots in British folk music but they are also
influenced in other music styles and global political engagements.
To see the band live can make you dance, laugh, cry, and shout out
loud. They started up in 1986, around Canterbury University. The fiddler Ian Telfer, the
guitarist Alan Prosser and the lead singer and accordion player John Jones started
Oysterband along with Ian Kearey on bass and Russell Lax on drums. When they in 1988 gave
out their third CD "Ride", they got a new member on bass. Chopper changes their
sound by sometimes using the cello. The cello became a popular instrument on stage.
When their 6th CD "Deserters" came out in 1992, Lee took
over as a drummer. In –94 they released "Trawler", which was a greatest
hits CD, on which they rather novelly decided to re-recorded most of the old tracks to
enable Chopper and Lee to put their own stamp on them. Then in –95 they released
"The Shouting End of Life", probably the most aggressive and political album of
their career. Their latest CD "Here I Stand" marks another landmark with the
formation of their own label Running Man. So far they have managed to release 11 albums
and several live recordings.
We wish Oysterband welcome to Vikedal, and we await their presence
on stage with anticipation.
