Tuesday, 15 January, 2013

Album News, 2012's best bits

Hey All,

Here's hoping you all had a great Christmas and New Year. We we're busy penning the songs that are to be our second album. We're a committed bunch of Muso's here at Z&P HQ and the whole band were in the studio starting work on the album 1st January.. Now thats getting down to business.

We jumped head long into the album with Jack Eggelstone (drums) and Andrew Brown (bass) laying down the rhythm tracks in two days. Llion Roberson is back with us Engineering and Mixing the album so we're in safe hands. This weeks we'll be bringing in additional players to really expand the songs as creatively as possible. We have Jazz Ledged Lee Goodall coming into the studio to lay down some Wood Wind instruments and John 'Catfish' Thomas will be bringing the Cosmic Country element to the party with his Pedal Steel. We're having loads of fun making this record. Can't wait for you all to hear it!

Another Excellent week on Radio!!

With Radio Shows reviewing 2012 Musical high points 'Zervas& Pepper' picked up some fine accolades.

BBC 6 Music,

Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Macconie picked 'Cigar Store Indian' as a highlight as did Tom Robinson.

Don Letts choose 'Buffalo Crow' as a highpoint.

BBC Radio Wales,

Adam Walton choose 'One Man Show' in his top sounds of 2012.

A great end to an excellent year for our Music, here's to a creative and exciting 2013.. xx

Sunday, 03 June, 2012

Summer 2012

Hey All,

Well its been a little while so apologies for the lack of blogs/news updates folks, We've been very busy of late and have slightly neglected our little corner of the web... Whoops... So thanks for popping by.

The last few months have seen us take a step back from playing live dates and have been concentrating on writing what is to be our second album. We have a lot of exciting new material and we'll be pulling out all the stops to make the next record a killer! Meanwhile our debut album 'Somewhere in the City' has been now been finding its way on national radio stations such BBC 6 and BBC Radio 2... Very Exciting..

Our single release 'Cigar Store Indian' is now hitting the national airwaves and is gaining support from BBC Dj's Janice Long, Chris Hawkins, Radcliffe & Maconie, Tom Robinson, Jo Good as well as staunch support from our local BBC Wales who've championed the album over the last year. A massive thanks to all these DJ'S for getting behind our music and in such a big way! We'll be heading to Manchester for the 'Radcliffe and Maconie Show' on Monday 4th June to chat about our music and select songs that we're digging at the minute.

We're also be playing live in-session for Jo Good at BBC London Sunday 10th June..

A few weeks ago we also released 'One Man Show' a brand new sneak preview single from our forthcoming (As yet untitled) album. BBC Radio Wales has since featured it as a 'Single of the week' and now it has found its way onto Finlands YLEX Radio. Again huge thanks to these guys for airing our music, we've had a great reaction to the new material. Heres a link for you to listen: http://soundcloud.com/zervas-and-pepper/one-man-show

Live Dates!!

To say we're excited to get out and play with our band is an understatment! We have a couple of dates in the diary.. so check out the events page for details.. We've pulled together a excellent line-up and we're all looking forward to getting in front an audience. So come along!!

Video and website

At long last we are making our first music video... We've brought in a great local director Ryan Owens to direct and produce the film for the single 'One Man Show', Storyboards are coming together nicely as we speak so we're really looking forward to making it.. watch this space.

We are also upgrading our website, should be up and running in the next few weeks! So keep checking in and thanks. Watch this space.......

Z&P

Saturday, 03 December, 2011

'Winter Forever' and other stories

Hello all and thanks for checking in on all the recent happenings in the world of Zervas & Pepper! Here at Z&P towers...Ahem, (well the 'Mansionette' as we like to call it) and with the nights drawing in and xmas fast approaching you'll be pleased to hear that we have another brand new single release called 'Winter Forever'. And it's now available in digital-download only format from Itunes and Amazon mp3. Kath and I co-wrote the song in October and lyrically drew inspiration from old time folk standards and our shared love of the fantastic 'A song of ice and fire' novels by George R R Martin. It was recorded with 'Somewhere' engineer/producer Llion Robertson in Music box Studios in Cardiff and while it's not strictly an xmas song WF is about as close to one we're ever likely to get and sits happily amongst the old favourites that we hear time and time...and time again. So if you're after something new this year we suggest you check it out!

The last 3 months have seen us release our second single from SITC, The albums closer 'Cigar store indian' and we're thrilled to say that so far it's had an amazing response from both the public and radio broadcasters! The track so far has been featured several times on BBC 6 music and also earned us BBC radio Wales much coveted 'Single of the week' status. And a special mention must be given to YLEX National Radio in Finland, in particular the DJ Toni Laaksonen for adding us to his playlist and for championing our music ever since.A big thanks! From that we are picking up several new Finnish fans who seem to be loving the music and spreading the word about us!!!! We really hope that 2012 will see us visit Finland and perform a show or two!

Last October saw us perform an acoustic 3 piece set live for the first time at this years SWN Festival which went down incredibly well as the audience were the perfect mix of friends and fellow talented musicians. Thanks to all who attended and made the evening special. Also as part of the SWN fest, Wales's finest media gurus Walesonline filmed a special live acoustic performance of our single 'Cigar store Indian', Which is now available to view on Youtube at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoyD7PWETWw Please add your comment and click 'like' if you enjoy the vid and thanks.

In mid Nov Z&P helped raise £1300 for the Welsh Charity 'Bobath' (a wonderful organisation providing help to children with cerebral palsy) by performing an intimate show at Cardiff's plush Marriott Hotel.We had a great night with a brilliant atmosphere thanks to a wonderful audience. So thank you to all who bought tickets and made further donations to this fantastic charity.

And lastly thanks to all who came to last weekends New Sound Wales St Johns Church show with Al Lewis and Ivan Moult. This was by far the most opulent of venues we've ever played and it was great finally getting to meet up with Al and his band and Ivan to share a 'free' glass of plonk :)

Coming up this week we'll be playing as part of the BBC radio wales xmas bash alongside Cardiffs excellent 'The Keys' and 'Colorama'. Tickets are unfortunately now sold out but there will be recorded footage/audio from the night that's destined to be broadcast on BBC wales in the New year so keep a listen out for that. Also on the 28th of Dec be sure to tune in to BBC wales 'Jaime and Louise' show to hear a live Z&P performance that should help you chill after a hopefully brilliant xmas!

So that's it for now, Thanks for stopping in and please do come by again! Have a great xmas! Z&P x

Monday, 28 November, 2011

Live session, chats and shows...

Hello and thanks for dropping by to check out the latest Z&P news. Autumn 2012 has sure been a great couple of months for us! Performing some great shows across the UK, highlights include our completely sold-out headline show in our home town of cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach where we also launched our first official music video for 'One Man Show' and performed with a full 7-piece band.

Also performing a live acoustic session/interview on BBC Radio 2's incredibly popular 'Wake up to Wogan' show in September. Further highlights were debuting the full band in London for a show in 'The Windmill' Brixton and playing a further sold-out show as part of Wale's SWN festival alongside the fantastic Al Lewis and Paper Aeroplanes and organised by the brilliant NewSoundWales. And finally of course releasing our latest single 'Buffalo Crow' that's currently hitting the UK national airwaves! It's digital-only at the minute and you can purchase it on iTunes.

Coming up we've got a fantastic BBC Radio 2 appearance on the lovely 'Janice Long' show,
We'll be joining Janice to chat, Pick some great tunes and take part in the new 'Spoken word' section of the show! It's a late one but be sure not to miss it!

We're also extremely pleased to announce that we'll be performing on BBC 6 Music live in session/interview for the Lauren Laverne show with our band on the 30^th of this month (Nov).

We'll be performing the new single 'Buffalo Crow' amongst others and chatting to Lauren about forthcoming news etc! Be sure to tune in for this and feel free to text or email the show as we're on as we love to hear from you!

Thanks.

Coming up gig-wise we'll be providing support for the brilliant Beth Rowely at the Fleece in Bristol at the end of the month and also supporting the incredible 'Band of Skulls' at their show at Cardiff's Coal Exchange in early Dec. We're also playing as part of an intimate songwriters Circle' Show in Penarth, S. Glam. Tickets for all shows are available now, Check our events page for details.

Finally we're truly ecstatic to announce that we'll be heading out on tour in February/March 2013 supporting the rather brilliant Canadian Songstress Lindi Ortega on all of her UK Dates.

We'll be performing a stripped-back acoustic set for these shows with perhaps one or two guests musicians at a couple of the shows. We're very much looking forward to it and we hope to see you there! Check the our 'Events' page for more details.

Friday, 23 September, 2011

Z&P at summers end

Hi peeps and thanks again for stopping by. Well, It's been a great spring/summer 2011 for Z&P and we're still buzzing from performing at some Wales' best summer festivals and the overwhelming response the new album is getting! Be sure to check out the latest (Oct 11) issue of superb Americana/ Country publication 'Maverick' magazine which sees 'Somewhere' reviewed with 4 out of 4 stars!
Our performance at Green Man was certainly the amongst the highlights for us, With sunny skys and an almost packed-out crowd in the courtyard things couldn't have been better, Thanks to all of you who caught our set and we're certain you had just as great a weekend as ourselves with all of the incredible bands/shows on offer there.

We'd love to do it all again, Hopefully next year :) If you'd like to see us there again let those lovely people at http://www.greenman.net/ know, And hey...You never know, And thanks. Check out our interview from the festival for the BBC by clicking this link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00jy3pj

Also we're pleased to announce that our track 'Cigar Store Indian' is BBC Radio Wales 'Single of the week' this coming October, Our second SOTW this year! So thanks to those wonderful folk at the BBC once again, And please put in your requests to hear more Z&P on the station, It's greatly appreciated.

Less than a week away is our support show for Ex 'Gene' Frontman Martin Rossiter in the lovely St Georges Hall in Bristol on the 28 Sept, Martin is a fantastic singer/songwriter so this is sure be a great night in one of Bristol's oldest and cosiest venues.

So that's it for now folks and keep your eye on our events listings for more upcoming shows. Have a great Autumn!

Z&P x

Saturday, 13 August, 2011

Summer Festivals & other news

Hi folks, And thanks for dropping by to catch up on all things Z&P! It's been a few months since our last blog and since then we've been busy touting the new album, playing local shows and rehearsing a new acoustic set for our up-coming festival appearances. As you may have read from our previous posting last June and July we were to play a number of shows as a support act (Sparrow and the workshop, Judy Collins, Chapin sisters etc), These shows were a blast and perfect for us to 'road-test' the material to fresh new audiences and so far the response has been brilliant, The three piece acoustic setup (featuring our new singer/guitarist Dave Sivell) has been fully embraced and has proved a winning format with that incredible third part harmony! Certainly the Judy Collins show was a highlight for us, (not only to have supported a folk-music legend) but to have a packed-out audience who really knew their stuff musically to really dig what we do was great and we completely sold out of albums on the night too, which was a nice bonus! Hanging out with the lovely Chapin sisters was cool too, And certainly reaffirmed for us that there is a definite buzz about west-coast harmony folk rock happening both sides of the pond! Exciting times ahead we thinks.

Z&P recently played a show in conjunction with Spillers Records for the 'Big Little City' exhibition at Cardiff's old library,Celebrating all that's great about Cardiff and it's culture and characters BLC was a triumphant success! pictures from the show here http://cardiffarcades.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/spillers-saturday-sessions-no-11-zervas-and-pepper/ Thanks Amy.

Also around 2 weeks ago we performed at the brand-new 3 day Rheola Festival in Neath sharing the stage with some of Wales best 60's inspired rock/psych bands and all things country-folk AND also the legends that are 'The Zombies'. We performed on the Sunday and we debuted the new acoustic set to a brilliantly response audience! We also had an awesome time milling round the place as spectators too. Anyways thank you to all who attended those shows, We hope you had as good a time as us!

The next festival event on the ZP calendar this August is an appearence at the (now sold-out) Green Man festival in the beautiful Glanusk Park in Brecon. We're over the moon to be featured on this years lineup as GM is considered one of the best independent Folk,Psych and Americana festivals in the world. Headliners and top acts this year include no less than Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, Laura Marling, Gruff Rhys and Explosions in the sky. We've hired 'Dilys' A classic 1960's split screen VW Camper and will be rockin' up to GM in style this year and we'll be performing on the popular 'GM Pub stage' on the Friday 19/08/11, We've packed our wellies (just in case). For more info or to view our GM profile page click this link http http://www.greenman.net/ orhttp://www.greenman.net/artist2011/zervas-and-pepper/4289. Hope to see you there!

Other festivals on the near horizon include the 'Watusi' fest in Rhoose this coming September and we're proud to announce that we'll also be playing as part of this years SWN festival (a superb multi-venue/Genre crossing festival that practically takes over the Wales music scene throughout the summer), The place/time is still TBA but for more/latest info check this link http://www.swnfest.com/line-up-2011/zervas-pepper/

Our next 'single' release is to be the current 'live-favourite' Cigar Store Indian, Already twice featured in the last fornight on BBC 6 Music's introducing with Tom Robinson show and subsequent Podcasts this looks set to be a great choice to introduce a new audience to our music, So keep an ear out for it on your local radio station in the coming months.

Also keep an eye out for our forthcoming interview for Newsoundwales http://www.newsoundwales.com/index.htm

Little by little we're also writing new material now that will form our next release, Both Kath and I have a few new Ideas apiece and they're shaping up nicely, With a bit of luck we'll have the next album ready for Spring 2012 with maybe even a small EP? Single? release in the interim.... hmmmmmm, We'll have to see. Anyways, Enjoy the summer and hope to catch you at a ZP show soon! x Paul

Tuesday, 24 May, 2011

'Somewhere' Album gains momentum and other news....

Hi all, Firstly a big thanks must go to all those who've already purchased the new album, We've had some great feedback so far from many of you and a further thanks must go to those who've spread the word, introduced our music to friends, tweeted, facebooked and tuned in to our radio appearences, attended a show etc your continued support is greatly appreciated, And please keep up the good work!

Since the albums release at the beginning of this month those great people at BBC Radio Wales have continued to feature several tracks from 'Somewhere' on many of their shows and currently playlisting 'It's a Sleepless night' , Which is also (At the time of writing) BBC Radio Wales's 'Single of the week' and will be played on rotation as such.We'll be giving an interview with some live acoustic tracks on the 'Roy Noble Show' to promote 'Sleepless' and the new album this week on 26/05/11 at 2pm, Please tune in for that one!

Last weekend Z&P played a support slot for one of our personal favourite bands,'The High Llamas' at The Globe theatre, Cardiff and what a terrific night it was! Attendance at the gig was excellent (with many die-hard Z&P fans turning up.....you know who you are! :) and the evening was chock-full of musical diversity that would keep the most discerning music fan satisfied. The show was also our first proper live outing as an acoustic 3-piece featuring our new singer/guitarist David Sivell, And by the reaction to our set the audience clearly approved! Our slot was soon followed by a great performance by the superb 'Spencer McGarry Season' and then the Llamas cranked out an incredible set of which we joined the latter on stage adding backing vocals for 2 songs. Video's from the night are surfacing on Youtube as I speak, So do a Zervas &Pepper search and check 'em out while they're still available.

The coming month of June sees Z&P providing further support-slots for some a number of bands and artists we both admire and are in similar genres to ourselves musically, One of which is 'US folk legend' Judy Collins @ Globe theatre,Cardiff. Judy created some of the very finest American folk music of the last century so we're very excited and honored to be invited to perform at this concert and tickets are certain to sell out, So book ahead! (check out our 'Events' page for more details)

Another support show coming up is our gig with 'The Chapin Sisters' at one of Cardiff hippest clubs '10 Feet Tall', With their brand of California Country-folk and our brand of er...um...California Country-folk, This will be a 'woody' harmonius concert that's for sure!

And just around the corner is our support slot for 'The Sparrow and the Workshop' in Cardiff's most popular live music club 'Clwb Ifor Bach' , This band is making some serious waves in the industry with their brand of killer electric 'indie' country. Not to be missed!

Also be sure to book your weekend tickets for this years 'Rheola Festival' in Neath near Swansea, We were there as spectators last year, This year we'll be joining the line-up of quite simply some of the country's best Psych Rock/ 60's pop /Country Folk acts there are, Wale's own mini Woodstock. It's gonna be incredible.

Z&P also this month got to be guest vocalists again on a further 3 tracks on the forthcoming Christiaan Webb ('The Webb Brothers') album taking the current tally up to 5. Again, the more we hear it, The more we love it and can't wait for it's release and we're certain fans of Z&P are gonna love this record.

That's it for now, But we'll be back for more news etc in a shortwhile. Please check us out on our new Twitter account @zervaspepper for the latest updates and thanks. Paul Z + Kath P

Tuesday, 03 May, 2011

Album Release & Other Stuff

Hi all and thanks for taking the time to visit us in our small corner of the web, It's our pleasure to announce that the new Z&P album 'Somewhere in the City' is now available (see front page for purchase details) and we're extremely pleased with the results! We hope all of you who purchase the album enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it! And if you do like what you hear please tell your family/friends etc,It means a lot to us because we are completely independent and free of what is usually a record company-funded PR juggernaut to accompany a new release like our own. Thank you again.

As Steve Stills once sang "So begins the task" we are now gaining the momentum of spreading the Z&P gospel to as many new listeners as we can. With a bit of luck, We'll be posting up some (hopefully favourable) reviews of the album in the coming weeks right here, So keep checking in for those. Last night (02/05/11) we performed a live 3-piece acoustic session/interview for 'The Evening Show' on BBC radio Wales debuting 4 of the brand new songs from the new album, Tracks played were 'Underling', 'Running Solo', 'It's a Sleepless Night' and the title track 'Somewhere in the City'. The session will be availble to listen to online for another week from the above date and you can fast forward to us by starting at 27 minutes in, Here's the linkhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b010gd91 Enjoy!

Another Z&P forthcoming live show that's not to be missed is our gig supporting L.A's harmonic-folk siblings 'The Chapin Sisters' at '10 Feet Tall' in Cardiff on the 15th of June which is part of their UK tour this spring.This is set to be an awesome night of laid back California folk pop in one of Cardiff's most intimate venues! Fans of Z&P will no doubt love their music! You can check them out here http://www.thechapinsisters.com/

Tickets are on sale now and you can purchase them via this link http://www.wegottickets.com/event/116220

We hope to see you there!

Z&P have also had the pleasure this month of providing some harmony backing vocals on several tracks to the forthcoming solo album by Christiaan Webb ('The Webb Brothers'). One of our favourite groups of the 'noughties' the Webb Brothers (Sons of legendary Singer/Songwriter Jimmy Webb BTW) made some awesome California power-pop albums over the last 10 years and have been an on-going influence on Z&P's music, So getting to add our touch to his incredible songs on the forthcoming album has been a real high point for us this year! Recorded in Cardiff by top-producer/engineer Charlie Francis (Who subsequently recorded remixed our 2nd EP) and featuring musician guests such as members of 'The Magic Numbers' Christiaan's album looks set to be a classic and we're more than proud to have played a part in it. Thank you Christiaan & Charlie!

You can find the more on 'The Webb Brothers' here http://www.myspace.com/thewebbbrothersmusic#!/thewebbbrothersmusic/music

On a slightly different different note, We have already been asked by several Z&P 'followers' about the inspiration behind one of the songs off our new album 'The Ballad of 'Shotgun' John Collins' and as to whether this somewhat-epic tale of a Wild west Gunslinger was based on a real person. Well, for all who'd like know, Yes, 'Shotgun' was certainly amongst the legendary Outlaws of the Old West.The song is loosely based on the various events we've read about him And we loved the fact that there is so little info to found on someone who clearly seemed to be in legendary company (Wyatt Earp/ Billy the Kid etc) and is said to have been present in some of those classic shoot-outs and legendary moments in Wild West history.This of course allowed us to use a good dose of poetic-license when writing the song (His battle with Geronimo etc) and more info on 'Shotgun' can be found herehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_John_Collins (Again, How factual this is, we're unsure) but a cracking read about an incredible gunslinger nonetheless!

Anyways more news coming soon and thanks again for dropping by!

Oh and if in the meantime if you've already purchased or about to purchase our album 'Somewhere in the City' via iTunes we kindly ask if you could please rate or review it just so we can gain some feedback on as to how it's going, 'Every little helps' as they and thank you very much :) Have a great spring!

Paul & Kathy

Thursday, 31 March, 2011

Welcome to our brand new Z&P blog!

Hi and Welcome to our little ol' Blog space on our new website! It'll be here that you'll find out all the latest news and happenings in the world of Z&P. Still under construction but thankfully free from the kind of background graphics and ads that make each page load and run soooooo sluggish (Myspace take note!), This new website will soon include a page of our music with samples and exclusive downloads (Also links to purchase mp3's via Itunes and CD's/Merch etc from our own store), A picture gallery/media/video section and a page for all our forthcoming live shows/appearences etc, So keep your eyes and ears peeled for those!

At the end of Summer 2010 we started writing and recording our forthcoming debut album 'Somewhere in the City', A collection of songs that blend sweet acoustic guitars, Harmony laden hooks and laid back Americana to 14 original tracks with varying themes including an ode to an inanimate wooden indian chief to a 'Beach Boys' obsessed groupie! Yes, Varied indeed! Cd version is a six panel digipack featuring some incredible artwork by Charlotte Little who has really gone to town on this one! Thanks Shirls! Thanks also must go to our bassist/photographer Pete Hurley who taken some incredible promo pics of us!

Anyways recording sunny laid-back music had proved fairly difficult during the harsh icy winter we've just endured in the UK and it's taken us a tad longer to complete the album than first expected, But with the addition of Cardiff's own incredible producer/engineer Llion Robertson on board for mixing at the final stage we've finally got there! Now with(hopefully sunny) spring in the air we'll release it in all it's glory on 02/05/11 (just one month away at the time of writing this) Our dreaded 1st album phobia is finally over! (our previous EP releases were all gleaned from full albums we recorded but decided not to release at last minute,So it's a big relief to finally commit!)

At the moment we're in the process of promoting the new album to radio stations etc and rehearsing the new material ready to take them out on the road for the summer, And subsequently our release date will coincide with a promo live acoustic show/interview for BBC Radio Wales on the 'Alan Thompson show' on the evening of 02/05/11, so listen out for that and please by all means feel free to contact the station and put a request in to hear some Z&P! Any support is greatly appreciated and thanks to all that have already!

We're also extremely pleased to be playing a 3-piece (with our new fantastic guitarist/singer Dave Sivell) acoustic support slot for one of our favourite acts 'The High Llamas' (If you haven't heard these guys, You MUST check out their Beach Boys-esque, Tiki grooves! Find them at http://www.highllamas.com/ ) on the 22/05/11 at 'The Globe Theatre" in Cardiff, With further support from Wales's own awesome 'Spencer McGarry Season' this looks to be an unmissable night of music and is certain to sell-out quickly so get your tickets while still available from 'Globe tickets' at http://www.theglobecardiff.co.uk/theglobe/index.php?event_id=118

Also with an exclusive live video made by those great people at 'The Miniature Music Press' on the way, Things are looking up for Z&P! Thanks for dropping by and please keep checking in on us!

Catch ya later!,

Paul Zervas + Kathryn Pepper

Zervas and Pepper

News and updates from the band on albums, tours, festivals and more

Album News, 2012's best bits