Winners of the 2017 MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards’ Folk Band Of The Year, 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Young Folk Award and nominees of the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Horizon Award, Talisk are one of the fastest rising bands on the UK folk scene in recent years.

Mohsen Amini (concertina), Hayley Keenan (fiddle) and Graeme Armstrong (guitar) create a captivating, energetic and dynamic sound that, in just a couple of years, has earned them multiple award wins, unwavering nationwide media praise, and standing ovations far and wide. Atop their collective titles, Amini was the 2016 BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year and is currently the BBC Radio 2 Musician Of The Year adding to a trophy cabinet that far belies their years.

So too does their touring history, though – with appearances at world-leading festivals including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, Fairport’s Cropredy Convention and Celtic Connections, as well as countiess others alongside live sessions on both BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship folk programmes. With further tours and showcases throughout Europe and the US on the horizon, theirs is a star firmly, and rapidly, on the ascent.

After years of playing in several punk/ska/rock bands Im getting the confidence to create my own songs using very little technology, acoustic and 'toy' instruments ie melodica, stylophones, bizzare instruments given to me from family and friends. Trial and error people-hope theres something you like.

Let's start at the start because that's always the best place to start. Mike TV are clearly better than 30 Seconds To Mars and Scouting For Girls but are no way as good as Fearless Vampire Killers. Now that's cleared up, let's move on with the boring showy-off stuff before we go all stupid again at the end. Larry Livermore once described them as "one of England's better pop-punk bands" and he invented Green Day, so that's really good. Here we go.


Mike TV (formerly Pickled Dick) have been on two highly successful tours of China, several trips round Europe (including one amazing gig in Finland, where only ten people came and the band took them all to the pub after). They're released two critically acclaimed albums and several E.Ps - all recorded by uber-producer and dressing gown fashionista - Peter Miles. They've also had album releases in Japan and China, tours with the likes of Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, Sonic Boom Six, Random Hand, The Dickies, Guttermouth, The Flatliners, Uncommon Men From Mars, Chixdiggit, CJ Ramone and Useless I.D. This has put them somewhere near the top of the imaginary punk rock pile. Mike TV is currently composed of Domb Thumb (lead pop smith and occasional Oliver Reed impressionist), Jhon Cosgrove (Cunt Dine With Me), Glyn Mellor (someone please fuck him) and Richie Cooper (handsome new guy, has an army of children). Domb and Jhon once had a fight in Morrisons in Newcastle and Jhon ripped Domb's Ramones shirt - the tearing caused modern day punk rock to fall apart… that is until the new Mike TV album is released next year.


The plan for 2014 is simple: In January, Mike TV will record a brand new 16 track album with Peter Miles. In February, the band will ignore each other after spending all that time together. In March, the band will argue about how to release it. From April to September, Jhon will play cricket. In October (2017) the album will be finally self-released and the guys will go back to China. Why? Because the Chinese have a great taste in punk rock (they like any old shit). The album is under the working title 'SAUSAGE HOSPITAL.' Why? Because it's gonna be full of sick bangers. 


THE END.﻿

BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners, Irish/Manx/Scottish quintet Ímar are amongst Glasgow’s hottest folk property.

With a wide-reaching fanbase throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Canada, the quintet have fast become one of the trad scene’s most talked about group – thanks in no small part to their debut video, L’Air Mignonne, becoming a viral smash in 2016, catapulting the group to the attention of audiences and media worldwide.

Their two albums – Afterlight and Avalanche – have since amassed a devoted listenership, whilst live audiences are transfixed by Ímar’s collective and individual technical prowess. With a line-up boasting a heavyweight haul of top solo prizes – including nine All-Ireland and eight All-Britain titles – the group’s collective synergy and live energy is positively electric.

Adam Brown (bodhrán), Adam Rhodes (bouzouki), Mohsen Amini (concertina), Ryan Murphy (uilleann pipes) and Tomás Callister (fiddle) share a strong background in Irish music; a grounding that underpins many of Ímar’s distinctive qualities, in both instrumentation and material. Indeed, the group’s very being embodies a personal reconnection with its members’ formative years, dating back long before their recent camaraderie around Glasgow’s celebrated session scene.

The shared cultural heritages between Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man are well documented: all three once shared the same Gaelic language, and a similar, clearly potent, kinship endures between their musical traditions.

“striking musicianship, artful arrangements and sheer absolute delight” / Songlines

“genuinely jaw-dropping collective virtuosity supplied frills to burn”  / The Scotsman 

“The energy that’s seemingly bursting to let loose is tempered by a variety of instrumental formations and an attention to pacing that showcases the tunes’ melodic strength, and even when the floodgates open the effect is all the more exhilarating for the underlying control and musicality.” / The Herald

All recordings are written and recorded by Simon Liddell. All instruments played by Simon Liddell too :) 

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