Join Greg Rekus and Chloe Hawes on their Southampton date of the UK tour on Thursday 30 March at The Art House, doors open 7.30pm
Greg Rekus hasn’t wasted a second, and already has almost 150 shows under his belt in 2022. Between a January tour and a Spring tour, Greg has visited the west and east coast of the USA, Canada, and several European countries to play his unique brand of folk punk goodness. After a short hiatus this summer, Rekus is hitting the road again in the fall for a giant loop around North America. The tour features stops in western canada with fellow solo artist Paige Beller (Ohio), The pacific North West with Seventeen Excuse (PNW). Socal and Mexico with Run Your Pockets (San Fransisco), The southern US, East Coast States, Eastern Canada, As well as the Mid West before heading back to Winnipeg. The tour boasts over 75 shows with a stop in Gainesville for No Idea Record’s the Fest.
Death and Taxes features local musicians Laura Payne on bass and back-up vocals, Erik Strom on drums, and Darryl Riley on saxophone, back-up vocals and penny-whistle. Once again enlisting John Paul Peters (Royal Canoe, Comback Kid, Propagandhi) as engineer/producer, the album boasts thirteen original tracks that push the band’s writing and playing to new levels. The addition of the Sax kept things fresh and added a new vibe to an already solid rhythum section and cavalcade of catchy hooks, interspective lyrics and fun little parts that can be the sound track to any situation.
Rekus’s passion for music is bursting at the seams. It is the driving force that keeps him constantly on the road, and cranking out album after album of folk punk goodness. During live performances, audiences are treated to an entertainer who treats the stage as his home. With high energy and infectious enthusiasm, Rekus has a natural ability to engage with a diverse assortment of crowds from around the world. His lyrics speak to common experiences, such as drinking in a favourite hometown bar, or the simultaneous joy and heartache of falling in love, but also do not shy away from making pointed political commentary, coloured with the anger and frustration that comes along with it. Delivering each line with a force that is rivaled by few other solo artists, Rekus emphasizes his words with every strum of his guitar, pounding the beat out on his custom-built stomp box. His hard work has already gotten him to places he never thought attainable, and as far as he’s concerned, the only way from here is up.
Chloe Hawes’ unique, transatlantic, sound combines modern British folk with the cinematic sentimentality of classic Americana and a punk rock outlook. Chloe’s triumphant tragedies tell tales of late-night misadventures, lost love and a yearning for both the past and the future with the singer/songwriter at the peak of their powers on latest release ‘Finn’.
Equally adept at playing in the stillness of a folk club or a raucous festival atmosphere, Chloe’s smoky-voiced storytelling and down-to-earth nature have endeared them to audiences across the UK, Europe and the USA. In recent years, the Essex-born honorary Mancunian has also played sold-out shows in their adopted hometown, performed at Machester Pride, and shared stages with the likes of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., Amythyst Kiah, Beans on Toast, Emily Barker and Wallis Bird.
