The Staves: Band and Gig Review

Hailing just a stones throw from the big smoke of London, this trio of harmonic virtuoso’s can descend any room into the type of hair-raising silence that would put any Edgar Allen Poe novel to shame.

With delicious, warm under currents of tone, the angelic chord progressions add a real sense of identify to the girl’s haunting vocals.Earlier this year, The Staves supported Bon Iver on their little gem of a tour and with their UK & Ireland tour bus soon to be racing down the M62, eager fans will not have to wait much longer for them to arrive once again here in Yorkshire. 

The nostalgic atmosphere of The Wardrobe is perfectly suited for this fine selection of poetic vocals on offer. 

With its monthly “Funk & Soul Club” nights, it is certainly not shy of drawing in the dedicated music enthusiasts of Yorkshire.So if you appreciate good music, then you are in for a sensual, acoustic trip that you will long reminisce about, possibly as you’re tucking in the grandkids after a long day feeding the ducks, who knows?

The Staves Interview

Your uplifting lyrics and hypnotic guitar leads are somewhat reminiscent of lazy summer days. There is a strong Folk influence within your sound, how have you found it trying to introduce this style within an industry that is promptly dominated by electronic dance music?

Well luckily there is also a wide audience out there that appreciate folk or Americana or whatever style it is that we are… When we first started gigging we’d be the only acoustic act on the bill and the only girls, and we’d be sandwiched between an indie-rock band and a metal band with a DJ playing dub between acts. You just have to know where it is that you’ll fit in and that way your music will be appreciated by the right type of crowd

During your current UK & Ireland tour and the previous tour of the US, how would you say the experiences and feedback that you have received differs from that of our American friends?

American audiences seem to have had an immediate reaction to our stuff – we’ve had a great reception over there. Also in Ireland they seem to have got it straight away too. UK audiences are &great too but i think we’re a little cynical over here as we’re totally inundated with live music all the time.

Your debut on Later… With Jools Holland back in November 2012 delivered an emotional and stripped back insight into how you guys perform live. How was it meeting such well established musician and music journalist and were you ever nervous or apprehensive of appearing on such a legendary show? 

We were definitely nervous! The Tuesday night show is live so you really can’t fuck up. Natasha Khan from Bat for Lashes was really sweet and was cheering us on! She’s a Watford girl, too. I think we pulled it off! We didn’t actually get introduced to Jools, though, which was a shame.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of your group before, how would you relate to other artists within the music industry and how could you tempt any newcomers to jump on The Staves bandwagon?

It’s hard to make comparisons to other bands – I wouldn’t like to tell someone that if they like, say, Simon & Garfunkel or Joni Mitchell for example, that they’re going to like us because music is so subjective. It’s usually best to let other people make references and comparisons to other bands. I would say if you like harmonies then you should like us.

Finally, here in Leeds we are known to be a very enthusiastic and passionate bunch when it comes to music. Do you have any expectations or experiences of your fans here and do you reckon they will do their reputation proud? 

We’ve always had good crowds in Leeds and often a messy night following the gig! There’s a great music scene in Leeds and people are always really friendly. We’re looking forward to the gig next week.

Review of The Staves @ The Wardrobe, Leeds

21st November 2012

A concoction of acoustic, folk, rock and three sisters and what do you get… Yes, it’s The Staves!

Full of anticipation, Leeds eagerly waited like small children on Christmas Day for what was to be a night to remember. British folk band The Staves were back from supporting International stars Bon Iver and were and ready to let off some smooth mixtures of acoustic, rock bass. That’s independent women right there.

The set explodes with Newton Faulkner style guitar riffs courtesy of Oliver Hardake before the snare drum rolls into action and the trademark harmonies of The Staves begin.

The room descends into total silence, half out of respect and the other out of total amazement. The thunderstorm of harmonies and country guitar progressions were all brought to a beautiful climax by the scattering of snare fills and kick drums. Prepare to be blown away by this compelling set.

Video from the night (sorry about the quality!)