“This is the best thing I’ve EVER heard!” Jim Reid, The Jesus & Mary Chain The Mello Festival, Worcester, 2019
Independent Country
6 cowboys from Birmingham (UK) who take Indie classics on a rollickin’ ride to Nashville and back. Floppy fringes and baggy jeans are swapped for pedal steel guitars and four-part harmonies as the NME meets The Grand Ole Opry.
In the hands of Independent Country, the Happy Mondays’ freaky dancing hit “Wrote for Luck” becomes a barn-burnin’ foot stomper; Electronic’s “Getting Away With It” transforms into a tear-jerking country waltz, and Oasis’ classic “Rock ’n’ Roll Star” morphs into the greatest Glen Campbell smash hit that Capitol Records never released.
The list goes on: New Order, Blur, Stone Roses, Teenage Fanclub, Pulp, Nirvana, Pixies - all get similarly taken apart and put back together again with undoubted musical chops, songwriting craft and creative flair. You ain’t heard nothing like this!
Saddle up your ponies and say hello to the best gang in town...
Pirate Studios, Birmingham, 2017 Rock and Roll Brewhouse, Birmingham, 2020
Attic Brewery, Birmingham, July 2019 Recordings
The band’s debut LP, "TrailerParkLife", was released in December 2016 and featured southern-fried versions of songs by Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, New Order, Teenage Fanclub, and more.
They followed this in summer 2018 with a 2nd album, "The True Adventures of Independent Country", taking on tunes by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, The Smiths and Spiritualized.
After releasing the “Brassneck EP” in 2019, featuring songs by The Wedding Present, The Cure and Suede, the band then hunkered down to begin work on their third LP.
Due for release in late 2020, “American Portions” is their best yet. This time they are crossing the pond and bringing it all back home, reworking grunge and College Radio anthems by Nirvana, Pixies, The Flaming Lips, REM, The Strokes and The Replacements. Releases
Releases Albums
Trailerparklife (2016) Digital / CD / Lathe-Cut Vinyl
Featuring: Wrote For Luck (Happy Mondays), True Faith (New Order), Getting Away With It (Electronic), Parklife (Blur), Star Sign (Teenage Fanclub), Rock N Roll Star (Oasis)
Listen: SPOTIFY / BANDCAMP
The True Adventures of.. (2018) Digital / CD / Vinyl
Featuring: Rocks (Primal Scream), Def Con One (PWEI), Do You Remember The First Time? (Pulp), William, It Was Really Nothing (The Smiths), You Made Me Realise (My Bloody Valentine)
Listen: SPOTIFY / BANDCAMP
Singles & EPs
Brassneck (2019) Digital / CD
Featuring: Brassneck (The Wedding Present), Friday, I’m In Love (The Cure), Trash (Suede)
Listen: SPOTIFY / BANDCAMP
Coming soon…
American Portions (2020) Digital / CD / Vinyl
Featuring: Come As You Are (Nirvana), Here Comes Your Man (Pixies), She Don’t Use Jelly (The Flaming Lips), Feelgood Hit Of The Summer (Queens of the Stone Age), Flux = Rad (Pavement), Left of the Dial (The Replacements), Shiny Happy People (REM), Last Nite (The Strokes), I Will Possess Your Heart (Death Cab For Cutie), Been Caught Stealin’ (Jane’s Addiction), Sabotage (The Beastie Boys), Feed The Tree (Belly). Attic Brewery, Birmingham, July 2019 Live
Since their debut in the summer of 2016 the band have developed their live chops in front of a huge array of audiences, evolving different versions of their show for almost any occasion.
Their full-band sets will tear the house down on a drunken Friday night, while their laid-back acoustic shows provide the ideal soundtrack to a regretful, hungover Sunday.
They have played festivals all over the UK, including slots for the Indie kids descending on Butlins, Minehead for The Shiiine On Weekender, the beer-swilling tractor obsessives who head for The Great Dorset Steam Fair, or the more discerning denizens of The Lunar Festival and The Moseley Folk & Arts Festival.
Stick Independent Country on a festival stage as the sun starts to set and just watch the good times roll. In the pub and bar venues they more usually call home they have supported indie and country artists such as Karl Blau, Cale Tyson, The Surfing Magazines, Malcolm Middleton and The Swampmeat Family Band, and have had outdoor audiences at street parties and food festivals in the palms of their hands.
They have twice taken a stripped-back show to London’s legendary Union Chapel, sending four-part harmonies reverberating around the church, and have played to sit-down audiences in intimate theatre spaces such as The Midlands Arts Centre.
Brewery shows have become something of a speciality, as crowds at The Leeds International Beer Festival, The Rock and Roll Brewhouse, and Attic Brewery will attest. They’ve also been relied on to get the party started at one or two weddings.
Give these boys just a bit of space to do their work and they’ll turn any occasion into a darn tootin’ riot.
The Dark Horse, Birmingham, 2019 Videos As well as being handy with a musical instrument or two, both The Swede and Doc from the band know their way around a camera. Click on the links below to watch the promo videos they made for the lead singles from the band’s last two releases.
Alongside those, several of the bands live performances since 2016 have been captured and shared online.
New promo videos are in the works for the “American Portions” LP.
Wake Up Boo! (2018)
With a nod to Morecambe & Wise, this video for The Boo Radleys’ 1995 Britpop tune finds the Independent Country boys greeting a brand new day with a hearty breakfast because heading off on an adventure.
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Brassneck (2019)
Even very dapper country gentlemen can sometimes struggle to get a date, so in this video for The Wedding Present’s 1986 tune the Independent Country boys take to Tinder, with varying results.
WATCH ON YOUTUBE Come As You Are
Live videos Live (Nirvana) Feat. The Jam Tarts Choir Recorded live at The Union Chapel, London, June 2019.
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Blues From A Gun (Jesus & Mary Chain)
Recorded live at The Hexagon Theatre, Birmingham, April 2018. WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Def Con One (Pop Will Eat Itself)
Recorded live at The Lunar Festival, Warwickshire, July 2018 WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Rock N Roll Star (Oasis)
Recorded live at The Union Chapel, London, September 2016 WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Come Together (Spiritualized)
Recorded live at The Great Dorset Steam Fair, Dorset, August 2017 WATCH ON YOUTUBE
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys)
Recorded live at The Parklife Social, Birmingham, June 2016, WATCH ON YOUTUBE Contact
If you want to discuss working with Independent Country, call or email.
+44 (0) 7740 358 162 [email protected] Online If you want to find the band online, click the links below
Website: www.independentcountry.org Twitter: @theindiecountry Facebook: /theindiecountry Instagram: @theindiecountry YouTube: Independent Country