HATFUL OF RAIN
Genre: Folk, Roots and Americana
Band Members: Chloe Overton (Lead vocals, guitar & mandolin), Phil Jones (Upright bass, clawhammer banjo and vocals), Fred Gregory (Mandolin, guitar and vocals) and James Shenton (Fiddle)
Location: Brighton, UK
Discography: Way Up on The Hill (2012) The Morning Key (2014), Climb The Air EP (2016)
Record Company: Union Music Store, Distribution through Cadiz
Website: www.hatfulofrain.co.uk
Hatful of Rain are a Appalachian influenced British folk/roots band based in Sussex, playing original material with a strong traditional feel. The band are one of our current favourites in UK Americana and are great live, famed for singing and playing around a single old-fashioned microphone. With addition of Fred Davies and James Shenton the Chloe Overton project gathered pace. These two fine musicians have added a rich instrumental dimension to the band - Fred’s guitar and mandolin playing and vocals have long been admired in his appearances with the excellent Porchlight Smoker and James has an impeccable pedigree, both as a violinist with the Balanescu Quartet and a sometime member of The Crawfish Scrapers string band. Phil Jones (bass and banjo) is the band’s bantering front man but the eye nor the ear never wander far from Chloe’s compelling onstage presence. Her soulful yet winsome vocal style bring out the best of the bluegrass and country repertoire but it is her own captivating songs that linger in the memory.
Their debut album, 'Way Up on the Hill', was released on 30 May 2012. "Sherlock" actress Amanda Abbington performed in the official video that accompanied the release of The Exit Song, a single from the album. The video was directed by Jamie Freeman (brother of actor Martin Freeman) and Stevie Freeman, who run the Union Music store in Lewes, East Sussex.
Their second album, 'The Morning Key', was released on 25 May 2014. The album's title comes from a song by Phil Jones, "Broad Woolly Back", written about his emotional experiences following the death of his father. The album was produced by Al Scott, better known for his work with The Levellers. In a review for Folk Radio UK, Paul Woodgate said that the album "strikes for the heart and head and succeeds on both counts...If you like Rusby, the Wailin’ Jenny’s and Cara Dillon, add this to your 'must listen' list". Iain Hazlewood, for Spiral Earth, said: "The combination of mandolin, banjo, bass and fiddle is nigh on perfect, the songs have space to grow but they know exactly when to roll with it."
The band's latest EP, Climb the Air, was released on 15 April 2016.