Exciting sound from Scotland (From Stroud News and Journal)

Exciting sound from Scotland

ARRIVING in Stroud's Subscription Rooms by popular demand next week, following their Cornhill Stroud Fringe show in 2001, Drop the Box are one of the hottest bands to emerge from Scotland in years.

Refreshed, renewed and now livelier than ever, Drop the Box are currently taking festivals and venues across Europe by storm.

They mix punchy pop tunes and funky bass lines with traditional music from Shetland and Ireland and pull their many influences together with tight musicianship, putting on a brilliant live show.

"From turbo-charged reels to haunting love songs - here is an outfit high on passion and imaginative musicianship," said gig organiser Crispin Thomas.

Two sell-out recent UK tours were augmented by festival dates which included headline slots at the Larmer Tree Music Festival, Spirit of Friendship Festival, Birmingham, L'Orient Interceltique Festival, Swiss Alps Irish Festival, Gosport, Wimborne, Galloway, Towersey, Stroud Fringe & the Heart of Scotland Festival.

They band are fronted by the highly regarded singer-songwriter James Henry and Inge Thomson on powerful and contrasting vocals.

They are complemented on fiddle by the multi-talented Eilidh Shaw, also of Poozies fame, on drums by the excellent Russel Gair, (ex-Rock Salt & Nails) and Jonathan Rich on bass.

Drop The Box have appeared alongside Sinead O'Connor (in front of a 5000 strong crowd) and The Silencers, and were invited to perform at the Millennium New Years Eve bash in the streets of Edinburgh.

Drop the Box play at Stroud's Subscription Rooms on Thursday, April 14 at 8pm. Tickets, at £8.50, are available from the box office or on the door.