The Hanging Stars + TJ Walker - Brighton/Hove

Twenty Music Roots Presents 

The Hanging Stars + TJ Walker live at The Brunswick, Brighton/Hove, on Thursday 16th November 2023 

Ticket Price: £13 + booking fee 
Age restrictions:  18+ 
Location: 20 minutes walk from Hove station or 25 minutes from Brighton station 

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The Hanging Stars 

Blending folk pastoralism with swampy 60s Americana, The Hanging Stars sound like the missing link between the California desert sun and the grey skies of London Town. The album was recorded between LA, Nashville and Walthamstow, with each of these vastly different places leaving an indelible mark on the songs. Their debut album Over the Silvery Lake came out in March 2016.

The band is made up of songwriter, singer and guitarist Richard Olson, Sam Ferman on bass, Paulie Cobra on drums, Patrick Rally on banjo, guitar, keyboards and assorted instruments, with pedal steel courtesy of Horse and Joe Harvey Whyte.

The Hanging Stars place themselves firmly as part of a long folk tradition encompassing European and North American influences – as a continuation rather than a pastiche of these styles.

On the back of their album release, The Hanging Stars played sold-out shows at The Finsbury in Manor House and London’s The Lexington for an end of year extravaganza. They also shared the stage with Teenage Fanclub at their sold-out show at Islington Assembly Hall and played at the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia.

“An album with enough of a hazy, sun-dappled charm to make the capital’s dreariest weather bearable.” The Times 4*s

“A promising debut from London’s The Hanging Stars, who switch deftly between deliciously sentimental Americana and swaggering psychedelia.” Uncut

“A hazy, desert-dream of a song, nicely sharpened with steely-eyed guitars, Mersey-laced harmonies and just a whiff of the Gun Club.” – Guardian

“Swampy psychedelia that recalls the Medway Delta as much as the Mississippi, the band’s new single neatly conjoins these influences.” – Clash

TJ Walker 

TJ Walker is actually called Tom Walker but his name was used by the pop singer with the beard and woolly hat that sings about leaving lights on......so he had to change his name to TJ Walker!! He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living on a river delta in the Deep South of... The United Kingdom!

Tom grew up as a multi-instrumentalist in a musical British family. He learned the banjo ukulele alongside his dad in a traditional jazz band from the age of four, then at 7 years old picked up the guitar. By 15, he'd started to work with professional bands, since when as a hard-working professional musician, he has performed all over the world including at top-tier venues like the Albert Hall and o2 Arena. He was recently interviewed as "One to Watch" in Maverick Magazine (Europe's biggest Country Music Magazine) and also supported Nik Kershaw.

You may have already heard other music he’s written or his guitar playing as his writing credits include the Radio 1 Live Lounge theme, BBC 6 Music themes and beds (Craig Charles, Steve Lemacq, Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley), Virgin Radio, Smooth Radio and many other radio stations across the globe as well as TV themes on ABC in Australia. He also had music featured in a film starring Gary Oldman and wrote and arranged music for the Trinity College London Acoustic guitar syllabus.