The Countrymen are a Cornish Folk Rock Harmony Group from Launceston.
Five seasoned musicians with tight four-part harmony vocals and a token Cornishman. With a relaxed and light-hearted presentation style they take the audience on a journey through the history and culture of Cornwall, featuring their own arrangements of traditional and contemporary songs, as well as original material. Interspersed with the occasional pop cover to lighten the mood when required, there is no mistaking that to a man, they love their county with a passion.

Now in their fifth year, they have been becoming increasingly popular across both Devon & Cornwall with appearances on both radio and TV and numerous festival appearances including The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival, The Rock Oyster Festival, Falmouth Week, Bridport Folk Festival, Little Orchard Festival and Looe Saves The Day.
2022 will see the band take on a third concert tour of both Cornwall and Devon entitled “Songs of Hope” which the band feels is an appropriate name for the times we currently live in.

“If you get the chance to see these guys (The Countrymen) in concert then take it, you will not be disappointed”; Harry Glasson
“Fantastic band! Great harmonies and mix of music. Don't miss them!”; Guy McKensie
“Saw these guys on Saturday in the main street (Falmouth Shanty Festival). Great singing. Great banter”; Steve Prophet

The band was formed from an Open Mic Night at their local, The Countryman Inn near Launceston, which is where the band’s name originates. They soon found a mutual love of singing in harmony and almost accidentally developed a strong reputation for an emphasis on Cornishness in the repertoire.

In addition to offering quality live entertainment on stage, they have also been busy in the recording studio and have released three online EPs to date, Cornish Lads Vol.1, 2 and not unsurprisingly, Cornish Lads Vol.3.
They also released their debut CD album, “Trees On The Hill” a few years ago and have recently released their long-awaited second album, “The River Rolls On”.

Click Here to Book Your Tickets Online  in advance : £12.00 (£15.00 On The Door)
Book Online or Phone CRBO on 01726 63513
Or Buy at Tourist Offices in Truro, Bodmin & Liskeard
Tickets are non-refundable
Doors & Licensed Bar Open from 7.00pm. Show starts at 7.30pm

The Neil Maya Quartet :
Cartoon Jazz : (From Be-bop to Betty Boop!)

A fantastic, fun evening of your favourite cartoon theme tunes & songs played like you've never heard them before!

 Playing the best in jazz from the cartoons, The Neil Maya Quartet injects some “Yabba Dabba Doo” into your favourite looney tunes – from The Flintstones to Frozen; Top Cat to Toy Story; Sesame Street to The Simpsons.

It’s jazz – but not as we know it!!!

The Neil Maya Quartet’s latest projects takes tunes from the cartoons and gives them the jazz treatment creating a high quality, fun evening of wonderful music.

Tunes include Spiderman, When You Wish Upon A Star, The Pink Panther, The Flintstones, Some Day My Prince Will Come, Alice In Wonderland, Sesame Street, You’ve Got A Friend in Me, Let It Go, Give A Little Whistle and many more.

The Neil Maya Quartet is one of the Southwest's finest Jazz Outfits and has toured extensively throughout the region and beyond over the last 20 years.

The Quartet recorded its first album, "Out Of The Woodshed" in 2006.    The second album Bread and Circuses followed soon after in 2009.

The Quartet launched  its highly successful Brubeck Project in 2016 recording a live album in Devon’s Meavy Village Hall in 2017

The band consists of Neil Maya on saxes and clarinet and triangle, Tom Ball on keyboards and melodica, Kev Sanders on double bass and Gary Evans on drums (but not triangle!)

Release your inner child, throw-off your inhibitions and relive your childhood. 

The memories will flood back; you won't be able to resist a smile, or stop your toes tapping!

That's all Folks!!!

Doors Open and Licensed Bar from 7.00pm.  The Show starts at 7.30pm

Reserved Seats
Free On-Site Car Parking

Tickets in advance : £12.50    ( £14.00 On The Day - So Book Early ! )

Click Here to Book Online Now
or
Phone CRBO on 01726 63513
or
Buy at Tourist Offices at
St Austell, Truro or Bodmin

Get Ready For A Banjo Party!!

“Beautiful and wild, there are no boundaries here. Something I have never heard before.”  Jerry Douglas
“I was utterly blown away by these guys. Exquisite musicianship. My gig of the year.”  Ralph McTell

Damien O'Kane is regularly seen playing banjo & guitar alongside his wife Kate Rusby in her acclaimed band.
Similarly, Ron Block is the ever-present stalwart of US country superstar Alison Krauss's band..

Now, we’re all used to the colloquial phrase “Brother from another mother,” but when Ron Block’s wife, Sandra, met Damien’s Mum, Colette, she was moved to go one step further and exclaim, “No honey, they’re brothers from the SAME mother,” so alike did she find the two men in character.

No wonder, then, that when Ron came to Rusby HQ to play on the album "20 in 2012", they found plenty in common, from playing the banjo, to a grounding in their own traditions of music, to the craic of enjoying a beverage or three in each other’s fine company.

“We should make a banjo album together,” they agreed almost straightaway. And then promptly succeeded in not doing so for another two years.

‘I really like this project a lot. It’s incredibly well played and recorded, nice surprises with the guests!! Anyone that likes Irish and American roots music will love this record.’; Ricky Skaggs

They eventually made Banjophony and released it in 2018.  It began as a single track, recorded in 2014, and remained a one-track record until Ron came to the UK to tour with Sierra Hull in 2016.

Ron and Sierra stayed at Pure Studios during the Underneath The Stars Festival, enabling them to create five tracks from scratch and record them live during two highly productive days. It gave them the core of songs and the momentum they needed to finish off what became a “joyous” experience and a “bucket list thing” for both men when they met in early 2018 to complete the masterpiece.

Take two people who know their scenes inside-out, put them in a studio and add a heady dose of bromance, and you get a crossover of Irish banjo and bluegrass banjo that has never quite been offered before.

Just when cultures were feeling rather divided globally, Damien and Ron gave us something between distraction and hope. They gripped us firmly by the lapels and yelled the wondrous phrase, “Let’s talk about banjos.”

Deliverance puns aside, a bit of their unity and outright sense of fun didn’t go amiss in delivering us from the potential misery of that particular year.

‘Banjophonics is an inspirational album composed with sonic and cultural influences from both sides of the Atlantic , forging a new and innovative sound. The 4 & 5 string banjos of Damien and Ron, a unique and beautiful combination, are exquisitely played on this pristine recording. The energy, groove and technique on Banjophonics will inspire musicians of any genre and bring joy to all music lovers’- Gerry ‘Banjo’ O’Connor.

When you look at their backgrounds, they’ve followed similar trajectories. Both began playing at a young age, immersed in their local scenes: Ron in Southern California and Damien in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

They’ve both played fundamental roles in bands. Ron’s big gig came in 1991, when he joined the mighty force of Alison Krauss’ band, for whom Grammy and Bluegrass Awards have rained down plentifully over the years. Damien played with Irish/Anglo supergroup Flook among others, before joining Kate Rusby’s band in 2008 (before exchanging wedding bands in 2010).

Damien has also been nominated twice at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and hailed by none other than Jo Whiley as a ‘sonic architect.’ So, what is the appeal of a duet that’s basically one bloke from someone else’s band and another bloke from someone else’s band playing some music together?

That’s an easy one: essentially, there’s a whole lotta banjo!

Banjos are often more than noticeable in the mix of a full band’s sound, fast-fingered and fuel for the fleet-footed. Sometimes a banjo even gets a solo. But with Damien and Ron, it’s more like ‘banjo squared’ in their output than the mere addition of one banjo to another.

There’s a heapin helpin of mutual respect, particularly for Ron’s eloquence and for Damien’s improvisational flair. More than anything, there’s that oneness, which comes across both on stage and on record. It’s something about being brothers - from some mother or other.

“I challenge banjo non-believers not to be moved by this transatlantic banjo union.” – Lynette Fay, BBC Radio Ulster

Damien and Ron started working on their new record Banjophonics in April 2019. They recorded a bunch of tracks and met up again at Pure Studios to record more in November 2019 after a tour in the UK. The men had planned to finish the record in April 2020 but a certain pandemic got in the way! They release Banjophonics on July 1^st, 2022. A real treat for banjo lovers worldwide, they will tour the UK and Ireland in the summer and autumn, with full band, to showcase another masterclass on tenor and bluegrass banjos and how their respective traditions meet and unite in perfect and thrilling harmony.

‘I really like this project a lot. It’s incredibly well played and recorded, nice surprises with the guests!! Anyone that likes Irish and American roots music will love this record.’ – Ricky Skaggs

The full band is:
Ron Block on banjo, guitar and vocals.
Damien O’Kane on tenor banjo, tenor guitar and vocals.
Duncan Lyall on double bass and moog.
Ali Hutton on guitar and stomp

Doors Open and Licensed Bar from 7.00pm.  The Show starts at 7.30pm

Reserved Seats
Free On-Site Car Parking

Tickets in advance : £18.50    ( £20.00 On The Day - So Book Early ! )

Click Here to Book Online Now
or
Phone CRBO on 01726 63513
or
Buy at Tourist Offices at
St Austell, Truro or Bodmin

Remi Harris & Tom Moore
(Jazz & Blues guitar & double bass)

A new show from an Arts Centre favourite!

Acclaimed guitarist Remi Harris and double bassist Tom Moore present an evening of music ranging from the acoustic jazz of the 30s and 40s to the electric blues of the 60s and 70s; influenced by such greats as Django Reinhardt, Peter Green, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and more

Remi has been performing with Tom for over ten years, during which time they have developed a remarkable musical affinity. Since graduating from The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Tom has performed around the UK and has appeared at prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall and The North Sea Jazz Festival, and more recently supporting Jools Holland.

The show features an eclectic mix of jazz and blues standards, original compositions, improvisations and new arrangements of familiar tunes. Remi plays a variety of acoustic and electric guitars.

The ease and warmth of Remi’s stage presence, together with his virtuoso talent, will have concert goers captivated by his passion for the guitar.

"Remi's an absolutely extraordinary musician"; Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2
"astonishing stuff" ; Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 2 & BBC 6 Music
"Brilliant" ; Martin Taylor MBE
"a tremendously gifted player” ; John Etheridge
"Terrific” ; The Telegraph
"extraordinary" ; R2 Rock'n'Reel Magazine
"a remarkable musician", "Fantastic" ; BBC Radio 3

Doors Open and Licensed Bar from 7.00pm.
Show starts at 7.30pm

Tickets in advance : Standard : £13.00    (  £14.50  On The Day )
NB Tickets are non-refundable.

Click Here to Book Your Tickets Now 
or
Phone 01726 63513
or
Buy at St Austell Bay Tourist
Information Centre
or
Tourist Offices in
Truro, Bodmin or St Austell

Celloman : "Panacea"
Album Release UK Tour

Celloman has been active for over 20 years under various guises including an electric band, acoustic string trio, and solo cello.

Having released 7 albums and performed extensively across the UK & abroad, including major festivals such as Glastonbury, Womad, Sauti za Busara (Zanzibar) and Exit Festival in Serbia, Celloman are back with a UK tour to promote the release of ‘Panacea', the first full band studio album since the 2009 release of Sharptown.

The 5-piece band has a big reputation and sound consisting of electric cello, electricviolin, drums, bass, percussion and sampled beats. A sound that is a unique fusion of world music, jazz and classical mixed with African and Middle-Eastern rhythms. In addition, Panacea adds a Classical Baroque flavour into the mix.

Alongside his work with Celloman, cellist Ivan Hussey has had a distinguished career as a session cellist, performing and recording with the likes of: Mick Jagger, Soul II Soul, Incognito, Jay Z, The Lighthouse Family, Snow Patrol, Annie Lennox, Duran Duran, Gabrielle, Natacha Atlas, Smoke City, Shaun Escoffrey, Third World, Lee ‘Scratch’Perry and many more.