Goodnight California - Orphan Colours
We continue our look at some of our favourites at The Cambridge Folk Festival with our next LCM Featured band, the London based Orphan Colours. This UK Americana group was formed by members of Ahab, Noah And The Whale and Danny And The Champions Of The World. Our LCM #TrackOfTheDay is a live version of 'Goodnight California' taken from an always excellent UTAT session at the home of Bob Harris.
After the indefinite hiatus in 2013 of UK alt country outfit Ahab, song writer Steven Llewellyn went on to form his own band with the help of Ahab originator Dave Burn. Being firmly a part of the London country scene made it easy to get involved in collaborations with members of bands like Danny & The Champions of The World, who’s drummer Steve Brookes, already having toured heavily with Ahab, became a permanent member of Orphan Colours in 2014.
guitar tech contact of Brookes later lead to a meeting between Llewellyn and Noah & The Whale guitarist Fred Abbott. The lead guitarist was in the midst of auditioning lead singers for his solo project and the two found common ground in their appreciation of Tom Petty and Jason Isbell. When Abbott heard Llewellyn’s demo’s for the new Orphan Colours project he immediately signed up. Graham Knight was quickly drafted in on bass and vocals, having already played shows with Ahab throughout 2012, he was an obvious fit.
The band have some impressive credentials with Llewellyn and Burn having already honed their songwriting craft during their tenure with Ahab, who swiftly built a reputation as an unmissable live act after their performance at the Cropredy Festival 2010. That performance paved the way for a collaboration with legendary producer John Leckie and being championed by BBC 2 DJ ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris. The band went on to play many successful tours in UK, Denmark, Germany and Australia as well as notable festivals; Bestival, Green Man, Wilderness and Board Masters amongst others.
Not to mention Abbott’s Noah & The Whale world tours and having played a number of notable shows, including The Royal Albert Hall, Coachella, Lollapoloza, Green Man and Glastonbury as well as appearing on shows such as the Late Show with David Letterman, Later… with Jools Holland and The Graham Norton Show
With gleaming commercial success, critical acclaim and rock solid underground credibility so firmly ensconced in their DNA, Orphan Colours have nothing to prove. Their debut EP 'High Hopes' was released Feb 26th 2016 with 'Won't Let You Down' as the lead single
Their follow up 'Acoustic EP' shows a more stripped back approach showcasing their songwriting skills and was released in December 2016.
The band are currently in the studio recording their debut album.