Ed Askew First Ever London Headline show – Café Oto, London

Cafe Oto, 18-22 Ashwin Street, London
Ed Askew First Ever London Headline show – Café Oto, London image
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Event has ended
This event ended on Friday 6th of December 2013
Admission
£11
Location

Cafe Oto, 18-22 Ashwin Street, London

Nearest Tube/Rail Stations
Dalston Junction 0.02 miles

He will be joined by Tyler Evans (The Black Swans) and Jay Pluck*

“Ingenious earworm of the month” Mojo
“Highly individual aura of fragile melancholy” Shindig
“Opalescent apocalyptic imagery while his voice quivers like a flag at top mast” The Wire

On Friday 6th December Acid-Folk legend Ed Askew comes to London to play his first ever headline show at Café Oto. Anyone who loves ‘outsider’ folk from Tom Rapp to Roy Harper or Gary Higgins to Peter Grudzien knows the name of the legendary bard Ed Askew.

In September he released his new album ‘For The World’ which was released on Tin Angel Records which featured Sharon Van Etten, Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), The Black Swans and Mary Lattimore (Meg Baird, Thurston Moore). Filled with Askew’s trademark baroque odes the album builds up to an unrelenting crescendo of harp flourishes and harmonica. Askew’s charismatic warbling vibrato vocals, at times, are reminiscent of both Simon Finn and David Bowie. ‘For The World’ continues to offer an insight into his life although it is notably less heartbreaking than its predecessors. These charming songs of love and escapism capture both the spirit of Askew along with the hearts of musicians (and fans) who have been with him for decades.

Ed Askew recently toured the US for the first time 2011, as a result of the tour it was decided that Jerry DeCicca of the Black Swans and producer of the final recordings of Larry Jon Wilson (Drag City/ 1965 Records), would assist Ed in making his first non-solo album.

A painter and singer-songwriter who lives in New York City. Born in Stamford, Connecticut, he moved to New Haven to study painting at Yale Art School in 1963.

After graduating from art school in 1966, Askew was called up for the draft. Not feeling particularly enthusiastic about going to war at age 26 (the Navy tried to convince him that he should apply for officer training!), he looked for a teaching job and found work at a private prep school in Connecticut. It was while teaching he started making songs; he also acquired his Martin Tiple (a 10 string lute-like instrument originally from Columbia) at this time. "I must have written 25 songs that semester; all of the material on Unicorn and possibly some stuff on Little Eyes."

He then recorded his second album for ESP, Little Eyes, but it sat in the vaults for almost 40 years until it saw a limited release in 2007.

The singer-songwriter moved to New York for a few months in 1967 where he met Bernard Stolman of ESP Disk' (Pearls Before Swine, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler), who offered him a contract. That year Ed's first album was released, Ask the Unicorn (on Parlophone in the UK) and it quickly disappeared into folk-psych obscurity.

In support of the limited vinyl/ digital re-release of the 80's era cassette tape Imperfiction, Ed was accompanied on piano by Jay Pluck and travelled with tour mates, The Black Swans.

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