Spiro
Spiro's bookings are now handled by Playpen www.playpenmusic.co.uk
They are managed by Alan James at Hold Tight. ajlime@yahoo.co.uk
They might bear the tools of the folk musician and be partial to the odd traditional tune, but Spiro have closer affinities to the worlds of contemporary classical and dance music than they do to the folk scene. This four-piece contemporary ensemble take a meticulous approach to composition and performance, creating a sound much greater than their parts (accordion, mandolin, acoustic guitar and violin) would suggest.
Their music - as heard on Lightbox, their new album for Peter Gabriel's Real World Records - is sweeping, majestic and cinematic, marking them out as kindred spirits with Steve Reich, Michael Nyman and the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. It's a unified but never uniform sound, one made by four virtuosic musicians pulling in the same direction and keen to provoke an emotional response in anyone within earshot.
The number - and calibre - of people queuing to sing the praises of Spiro is surely the envy of any acoustic band going; esteemed personages beguiled by the sound of this Bristol quartet include :-
Melodies that bleed through the warp and weft as on Underland or The White hart can be breathtakingly moving....even if you don't experience them on disc, you should most definitely catch them live. Without a doubt it'll be quite a spectacle. BBC Online
Melodically inventive and emotionally compelling, this is a fantastic record. The Word
The folk scene - or rather, the experimental acoustic folk-influenced scene - is becoming increasingly sophisticated and adventurous, and Spiro are leading exponents of this new genre. The Guardian
An oddly compelling, strangely soulful music of mind and body. The Independent
Rich, moving and cunningly wrought, Lightbox offers up the purest folk. This, their long-awaited second album, will not only ensure that they finally get the attention they deserve, but is already a strong contender for best folk album of the year. Songlines.
This is soulful music, passionate music and I love it". Peter Gabriel
Spiro live at The Forge, Basingstoke, 4 star live review in the Financial Times, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b9736f34-209c-11df-9775-00144feab49a.html
and at The Pleasance, Edinburgh http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Gig-review-Spiro-.6109491.jp
Preview in "Venue" magazine. "How good are Spiro? That good! And if you don't believe us get to this gig. A truly original quartet of folk-based musicians - Alex Vann (mandolin), Jane Harbour (violin), Jason Sparkes (accordion) and Jon Hunt (guitar) - they have taken the bare bones of English traditional music's themes and structures and applied the full architecture of contemporary minimalism as well as the sensibility of stadium-dance music. The result is a kind of Ye Olde Orbital meets Michael Nyman, a thunderously gripping dance music devoid of both drum and bass and a deeply emotional soul rooted in the very soil of England. That good, honest!"
