April Verch review, European tour

True North Music finished off our first year of putting on concerts with an absolute corker at The Greystones in Sheffield. Canadian fiddle phenomenon April Verch and her band wowed a very appreciative Sunday evening crowd with a searing performance of tunes, songs and superlative step dancing. Our good friend Stu Vincent, a fellow acoustic music enthusiast and bluegrass DJ, came along to the concert and wrote a highly complimentary review (and preview of the April Verch Band’s remaining European tour dates). His article is linked below:

European Bluegrass Blog:April Verch Band

It was a great night with superlative performances from all three band members, making a great connection with the Sheffield audience as well as impressing with their musical wizardry. April’s fiddling and step dancing (sometimes at the same time!) almost brought the house down a couple of times and was complemented by rock solid instrumental contributions from both Cody on bass/banjo and Lucas on guitar/mandolin. The trio do a nice line in vocal harmonies too. We’re already looking forward to their next visit to the UK.

Honourable mention should also go to local trio the Backyard Buskers, who played an excellent support set to start the evening. The ByBs are really entertaining and play a great blend of old time Americana and folk – their impressive first CD 10 of Your 5 a Day was recently released and it features many originals as well as their inimitable take on a few traditional songs. They play regular gigs across Yorkshire so make sure you check out their website and social media pages!

Stu Vincent is an active contributor to the UK bluegrass and roots music scene, hosting two radio shows and blogging for the EBMA. He’s also a frequent visitor to the Appalachian region of the USA where he regularly acts as MC at a couple of large festivals and looks out for new up and coming bluegrass and acoustic roots acts to feature on his broadcasts.