[Press Release] [Audio] [Biography] [Yang the cat] POKE Records is pleased to announce a debut CD from the well regarded English Ceilidh band Nightwatch. Awash with Celtic influences, the music ranges from ambient tone poems through rip roaring Irish jigs and reels to a hypnotic re-working of Billy Bragg’s Between the Wars. Press reviews to date "...what truly sets them apart is a real adventurous spirit ..." Rock ‘n’ Reel. "Approaching everything they do with vigour and boundless energy, the superb production job on 'Dusk Till Dawn', their latest album, really does them credit and allows the band's instrumental prowess to shine." - Rock 'n' Reel. "Well... A band where 'eclectic' does not mean it collects tunes from the corners of Europe but that it tips its hat to 1970's jazz fusion, picks up the odd classical reference, drifts into a dream sequence or two but one where the returns to folk tunes still do work." - Martin Kiff - Webfeet. MPEG Layer 3 Audio Clips (MPEG Layer 3 Audio) Just as the tide was a-flowing (Trad arr. B Heywood) Give us the beat boys and then just drift away.... The Barfly (Trad. arr. B Heywood) "A Butterfly goes into this bar see, and ...." Lemmings Leap (J Shorter) Of course Lemmings don't really leap, they plumet actually... Cassio Branle (B Heywood) This tune was written using a Cassio calculator, one boring afternoon in Slough.... Kitchen Sink/Dummond's Jig (D Good/Trad Arr. D Good, B Heywood) It's amazing what Good ideas occur during washing up time... Far and Away (J Shorter) "C'mon Jim" we said, "write us a nice tune", and he did! Thady-U-Ganda (Trad arr. B Heywood) Forty bars and we're still standing ... Joe Cant/Dance (Trad arr. B Heywood/K Whiddon) - but he can Rock 'n' Roll... Whistling in the the Dark (Trad arr. B Heywood/Iain MacLachlan) all the fun of the fair, complete with English weather... Lanigan's Ball (Trad arr. B Heywood) let's hope he doesn't want it back, it's getting a bit battered... Between the Wars (Billy Bragg). probably one of the best songs ever written... Click here to find some help on how on how to use these Audio Resources... Band Biography Nightwatch is a five piece band (violin, guitars, keyboards/sax and drums) with a great deal of experience playing for ceilidhs, festivals and other events. The music ranges from 16th century material, through material based on traditional tunes from England, Ireland, Scotland and France, with a smattering of eclectic contemporary material. Nightwatch are (left to right)... Alison Heywood - saxophone, keyboards and accordian Richard Spooner - drums and percussion David Good - guitars Karen Akroyd - violin, recorders Brian Heywood - bass guitar Yang the cat The cat featured on both the front and back cover of the CD is ‘Yang’ and lives with Alison and Brian Heywood. Yang is the model for the band’s logo. back to top