Henry's Funeral Shoe EPK
BIOG
Henry’s Funeral Shoe was formed by two brothers from South Wales, inspired and influenced by many of the albums that singer/guitarist Aled Clifford had looted from his father’s vinyl collection when he was growing up. The Who, CCR, Peter Green, Robert Johnson and the Beatles were favorites, and Aled quickly became a gifted guitar player, aided and taught by Ned Edwards, a long time collaborator of Van Morrison.
Aled soon played with various bands, eventually doing some recording sessions for producer Ian Grimble, and even recording at the legendary Abbey Road studios. His younger brother Brennig started playing drums at nine. At fifteen he joined a local band, learning his trade by performing covers of The Clash and Thin Lizzy before moving on to writing original material. The dexterous brothers have finally joined forces to create some of the loudest soulful rock’n’roll to come out the UK in a long time.
The release of their debut album Everything’s For Sale was met with rave reviews from the press and public alike and the band toured extensively throughout The UK & Europe on the back of this through U-Turn touring (The Sonics, The White Stripes, The Datsons). Single’s such as ‘Down the Line’ & ‘Don’t lose the rhythm’ have been used in a number of television programs in the UK, Europe and America most noticeable the 2011 American film ‘Puncture’ starring Chris Evans (Captain America, The Fantastic Four) the band started to build a loyal fan base throughout the UK and Europe and were even invited to play at Greenman Festival alongside bands such as The Flaming lips, Billy Bragg & Doves. The release of the bands second album ‘Donkey Jacket’ which again was met by high praise from the press and media with MOJO & UNCUT magazine both giving the album *** CLASSIC ROCK giving it 8/10 calling it ‘Thumping good music with a timeless sound’ and BLUES MATTERS calling the band ‘One of the few authentic-sounding British blues-rock band touring the circuit today’. The band even had **** in ROCK AND FOLK the most prominent and popular music magazine in France. The albums got heavy rotation on all major UK, European and American radio including Radio 1, Radio 2 & BBC 6 music to name a few. The Single Dog Scratched Ear was used by Fiat in their advert to launch the 500 Abarth series and featured none other than Charlie Sheen. The video went viral on YouTube with over 1 million views in a week was then picked up by Zodiak Media and used in the popular BBC THREE program Being Human. On the live circuit the band are known for their high energy and engaging performances, and in 2012 were sharing the stage with such bands as Feeder & Reef at The Steelhouse festival (Hands down find of the Festival were Henry’s Funeral Shoe) & Status Quo at The Bulldog Bash Festival – “Most promising band I have seen in the last ten years” – Big Chris, festival organizer and the band were even invited to fly out and headline Friday night of ‘The Deep blues festival which was held in Minnesota USA – “What an amazing show, my crowed enjoyed every minute of these welsh wonders” – Chris Johnson (festival organizer).
The profile of the band was beginning to raise more and more and it was at this point that the band received an e mail inviting them to fly out to Miami to play with none other than KISS & LYNYRD SKYNYRD on the legendary floating festivals ‘The Kiss Kruise’ & Lynyrd Skynyrds ‘Simple man cruise’. The band played two flawless performances on each cruise attracting attention from the CEO of the festival who was impressed enough with the band to write them a written testimonial : “As the world’s leading headline music cruise festival promoter we get hundreds of quality bands applying to perform on our ships each year. This years surprise package was Henry’s Funeral Shoe. We plan on making them frequent performers on our music festivals at sea. They are something to be discovered for sure.” – Andy Levine (CEO of Sixthman) The next release was the bands E.P ‘Comfortable Skin’ and extensive touring of UK, Europe and America followed. The band were invited back to play at the Deep Blues Festival which in that year was held in Clarksdale Mississippi.
The band flew back and were then main support to ‘Slaves‘ at the Velvet Coalmine Festival, also playing at the HRH Blues Festival in Sheffield’s O2 Academy supporting such bands as Bernie Marsden, Ten years after & The yard birds. More sync placements were to follow with success with tracks used by ‘Marshall Amplification’ using the track ‘Overflow’ in a brand new advert promoting their new headphone range. And ITV snapping up other tracks including ‘Dog Scratch Ear’ for ITV2’ ‘Love Island’ and ‘Be your own invention’ being used on ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’
The release of the bands latest album ‘Smartphone Rabbit Hole’ was given high praise again by media and radio alike. Using ‘Duff Press’ for this PR campaign they were able to secure fantastic reviews (some of which are below) and even an interview and live performance on the famous James Whale show on TalkRadio.
Smartphone Rabbit Hole) has all the makings of a modern day rock classic that will stand the test of time for years to come - The Razors Edge
‘Smartphone Rabbit hole’ is ace. Ten tracks of raw, primal rock and roll with a soulful, original touch - Maximum Volume Music
Thumping good music with a timeless sound. The band have an ear for a hit abs deliver in killers not fillers - Classic Rock Magazine
Unfortunately, due to a very close family member being diagnosed with a terminal illness in the past year, the band made the decision to stop all live performances in order to focus on providing care for the family member. With things now calmer at home the band are ready to get back on the live circuit again and have been hard at work practising and writing new material in preparation for this.
Don’t lose the rhythm!
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Music
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Henry's Funeral Shoe - Janice The Stripper Pt1
Henry’s Funeral Shoe - High Shoulders Everywhere (Official Video)
Henry's Funeral Shoe - Grown So Angry
Videos
Reviews
Stunning albums by Welsh blues brothers
Uncut Magazine
By the look of tonight’s crowd,they've got a following bordering on fanatical. Great big fat blues infused bells that are still ringing in my ears!
Louder Than War
Welsh brothers boogie out of their garage with their latest releases
Mojo Magazine
The album (Smartphone Rabbit Hole) has all the makings of a modern day rock classic that will stand the test of time for years to come.
The Razors Edge
Thumping good music with a timeless sound. They have an ear for a hit and deliver in killers not fillers”
Classic Rock Magazine
If you haven’t ever heard of Henry’s Funeral Shoe, then do yourself a favour, stop what you’re doing and get on this. If you have, then why have you been hiding them? They are too good to remain tucked away.
Maximum Volume
One of the few authentic sounding British blues-rock bands touring the circuit today
Blues Matters Magazine