ROSDEC Event – Ashley Hutchings

ROSDEC would like to invite you to another Live and Local Performance  -  Ashley Hutching’s Rainbow Chasers at Rolleston Club on Sunday 21st March 07.30 pm

Ashley Hutchings is to British folk rock what John Mayall is to British blues. Beginning in the 1960s, Ashley co-founded legendary folk rock groups Fairport Convention Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. He is not only a musician and composer, but also a poet and musical director at the National Theatre. Ashley is also the person who discovered the young Nick Drake and alerted producer Joe Boyd to the legendary singer songwriter’s fledgling talents. 

Throughout his career, Ashley has sought to inspire and nurture new talent. A result of this is the Rainbow Chasers, a collaboration with young, talented musicians that takes folk music to new places. Ashley’s joined by Ruth Angell on vocals, fiddle and guitar, Jo Hamilton on viola and guitar (both girls are recent graduates of the Birmingham Conservatoire) and talented young guitarist and singer songwriter Joe Topping.

This is music that mixes in a bit of Ashley’s back catalogue and plenty of the groups self-penned songs and instruments. Musical influences range from the Eastern European ‘gypsy’ style song First Europeans, Circus Girl was inspired by a TV documentary about teenage cosmetic surgery and Nailing the Shrimp and Hammer your Toes are two fantastically quirky songs written after Ruth’s bicycle was stolen. And there’s a fantastic song about fighting chicken’s that was inspired by a scary encounter with a red neck whilst walking across the USA!

It’s an intimate evening of very high quality music which really sets an atmosphere and will suit an attentive crowd who will enjoy having this wonderfully rich sound wash over them. There are some up-tempo bits but these are of the foot tapping rather than the foot stomping kind! And their rapport with the audience is excellent as they love to talk and tell stories about their music.

A Live & Local Event (supported by Staffordshire County Council and East Staffordshire Borough Council)

Tickets are available at Starbucks Newsagents or Rosdec committee members.