DKOS Artists for Sat 28th Jan – Musicians In Exile. / Iago Barnet / True Foxes. /. Grainne Hunt / Cody Feechan
MUSICIANS IN EXILE – Glasgow
Musicians in Exile: we are local asylum seeking and refugee musicians who organise ourselves as a community music ensemble of The Glasgow Barons, Govan’s regeneration orchestra. Founded in 2018, we are a home from home, a replacement family during the asylum process accessing instruments, rehearsal space and gig opportunities to share our homelands’ music across Scotland, whilst recovering our musical identities. We can be amateur or professional, seeking asylum from Ukraine, Congo, Iran, El Salvador, to name a few. Although we win recognition from various diversity awards and perform everywhere from street festivals to corporate events, the heart of Musicians in Exile remains weekly rehearsals in Glasgow where we support each other through music.
Iago Banet – Galicia / London
Iago Banet was born in Galicia in the north-west of Spain. As a teenager, he found a classical guitar at home and set about learning to master it. After moving to the UK in 2014, Banet was involved with several bands of diverse style; touring and recording. These included The Boo-Hoos, JFK Blue and Deep Blue Sea.
Since 2018, Banet has been building an impressive career as a solo fingerstyle acoustic guitarist receiving rave reviews along the way. With two studio albums and a live album under his belt, Banet redefines the boundaries of the instrument enthralling audiences as he does so.B
Banet is releasing his third studio album in early 2023. The album will feature new levels of skill, complexity and versatility, fusing styles including gypsy jazz, blues rock, country, dixieland, swing, pop and folk. Iago’s technique and approach to performance have captivated crowds across the UK and Spain. A one-man-band on acoustic guitar not to be missed.
‘Mesmerisingly special as you will see… In a word AWESOME, fantastic original music and incendiary finger picking acoustic guitar”, Tony Corner (Radio DJ)
“If musical talent is measured in ability, then Iago’s acoustic guitar goes beyond infinity. It surpasses all expectations for a solo artist playing in this music genre. He carries the audience with him”, Andy Davies, Blues at the Woodlands
True Foxes – Cornwall
True Foxes, an up and coming folk/pop cousin duo from Cornwall, are quickly becoming a household name in the South West. Amie’s powerful vocals and soulful song writing has been compared to the likes of Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton and Brandi Carlile, performing on Guitar with the addition of Ukulele, Banjo and Piano. Together with Chloe’s ethereal harmonies and melodic bass lines the duo’s storytelling and sisterly banter takes the audience on an emotional journey.
Described as ‘the hardest working female duo in the South West’ (Daniel Pascoe, BBC introducing) the self-managed duo performed at 140 shows in 2022. Travelling in their little white van, they took their music outside of the South West into major cities across England, Scotland and Wales, including two UK Support tours with renowned folk bands Flats and Sharps and The Magpies, receiving incredible reviews across some prestigious venues such as the Liverpool Philharmonic and The Water Rats in London.
The beginning of 2022 saw the release of the duo’s debut EP ‘Sunny’ which was featured on multiple radio stations, including BBC Radio Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. They then went on to hit the major UK festivals such as Wilderness in Oxford and Boardmasters, as well as performing on the main stages at Tunes in the Dunes, Great Estate, Rock Oyster and RattlerFest. With one EP under their belt, a new single, ‘How are you now?’ and music video coming out this spring and a debut album in store for Winter 2023, things are looking exciting for the True Foxes!
Gráinne Hunt – Co Kildare
Gráinne is a contemporary nu-folk singer/songwriter with a rich background in performance and songwriting. She has shared stages with Glen Hansard and U2, and has opened for Mary Black, Declan O’Rourke, Gladys Knight, Eagle Eye Cherry and The Bay City Rollers. Gráinne has toured throughout Ireland, UK and Europe.
Her voice is incredibly powerful – there’s a husky element but also a vulnerability, which is present too in her lyrics. This combination has gained her a reputation as one of Ireland’s most outstanding female vocalists and songwriters. Some have compared her to Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant and Dolores O’Riardan.
Gráinne’s two albums Firing Pin (2015) and This Secret (2019 – recorded in Nashville, with Grammy nominated Thomm Jutz) both dig deep into her personal history – she writes from a powerful place with lyrics that tell of pain, hurt, desire, all the hallmarks of scarred relationships making her truth resonate with her listeners. The albums feel like a cathartic expression that have enabled her to move on, move forward.
Gráinne is the quintessential singer songwriter, and while the pandemic put her 2019 release and touring schedule into chaos, she’s moved on and is getting ready to record her third album.
Alongside her own original music, Gráinne is involved in
• Gráinne and Brendan – Songs from Ireland – Trad Irish/Classical crossover project with award winning guitarist Brendan Walsh
• New project – Hibsen – a collaboration with Jim Murphy on 15 songs, one for each of the short stories in James Joyce’s Dubliners. Album to be released June 2023
• songwritercircle.club – founded in August 2020
• She is the Widow Kilmartin in new folk musical In the Midst of Plenty
Cody Feechan – Fife
Cody Feechan is a singer-songwriter from Scotland who has been noticed for her unique, husky vocals and subtle Scottish lilt that shines through in her songs. Taking influences from all sorts of genres, her music is best described as Alternative Rock-Pop however some of her songs have been described as having a sort of Folk/Country feel. Jim Gellatly compares her husky vocals to the likes of Janis Joplin. Cody’s voice has also been described as having great similarities to Kelly Jones (Stereophonics) and Sharleen Spiteri (Texas).
Most recently, Cody has made some exceptional achievements whilst gaining a lot of recognition. This year has already seen Cody take to the stage at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Party at the Palace, Butefest, Killin Music Festival, Scottish Traditional Boat Festival (Main Support for Skerryvore), to name a few. Cody quickly sold out her headline show at Kings Theatre Kirkcaldy in November 2021. She has performed at top venues including King Tuts Wah Wah Hut and The Barrowlands Ballroom. Cody ended 2021 by touring all round England with the Peat and Diesel boys. Cody, winner of the Kingdom FM Awards 2019, continues to be on the rise. She has had great success in the iTunes Charts, Amazon Music Charts as well as breaking into the Official UK Charts for Scottish Singles. She has secured airplay on Absolute Radio, Kingdom FM, BBC Radio Scotland, Sirius XM and RTE Radio 1. The Shires very own Ben Earle picked Cody as one of his ‘Ones To Watch’ in February 2022 on his show on Absolute Radio Country and he praised Cody saying “She’s got a KT Tunstall