Aberfeldy

Aberfeldy are a band formed by singer songwriter Riley Briggs in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2002. The band is named after the Scottish town.

History

In 2003, Aberfeldy recorded 14 songs with producer Jim Sutherland at his studio above Edinburgh's Bongo Club, using only one microphone and no overdubbing. The resulting tracks were licensed to Rough Trade Records and released in 2004 as the album Young Forever. The single "Heliopolis by Night" was NME's single of the week on release, and the follow up "Love is an Arrow" was featured by Lorraine Kelly on GMTV's Kelly Plays Pop section. The animated video, by Chris Waitt, was nominated for an MTV award for best animated video, but lost out to the Gorillaz. The record sold out in less than a week, due to not enough copies being pressed. It reached no. 60 in the UK charts.

Drummer Ian Stoddart (one time member of Win) departed in late 2005 and was replaced by Murray Briggs, formerly of the Anarcho/street punk band Oi Polloi.

A well received second album Do Whatever Turns You On, produced by Calum Malcolm, was released by Rough Trade on July 3, 2006. However, in October 2006, Rough Trade announced that they no longer wished to work with the band, 12 weeks after the album's limited (UK & Australia only) release.

Ruth Barrie (keyboards, vocals) and Sarah McFadyen (violin, vocals) left Aberfeldy following the 2007 Tune Up Tour. Shortly afterwards Vicky Gray (violin, keyboards, vocals) and Chris Bradley (guitar, keyboards, vocals) joined the line-up.

The band completed 2007 with two sell-out gigs at the new Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh which earned them the following great reviews. The Scotsman review & Evening News Review.

Aberfeldy are currently working on a third album and released a new single in October 2008 (Come On, Claire/You Can't Talk Me Round) with 17 Seconds Records .

Touring

As well as touring throughout the UK, Aberfeldy have supported R.E.M. at their Loch Lomond gig, and Blondie and the Scissor Sisters at Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations (2004), and played at T in the Park (2005). They performed at the 2005 and 2006 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.

Aberfeldy toured the UK in May/June 2006. For part of that tour they supported The Beautiful South, picking up many new fans on the way. During June and July 2006 the band supported James Blunt for four of his UK and European tour dates. The band also had festival dates and an extensive headline tour in autumn 2006, as well as supporting Paolo Nutini on his UK tour.

In October 2006, the band were invited to play at the Cervantino festival in Guanajuato, Mexico; the concert was seen live by over 10,000 people and broadcast on radio and tv.

Aberfeldy toured Scotland in April and May 2007 as part of the Scottish Arts Council's Tune-Up Tour. They also played several successful open-air gigs during the summer.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)

• Several Aberfeldy songs were used in the soundtrack of Gamerz, a Scottish comedy film.
• "Summer's Gone", from Aberfeldy's first album Young Forever was used in Argentina to advertise Quilmes beer. It was used again for a Diet Coke commercial in the USA and Canada, appearing initially during the 2007 Oscars and also during American Idol. The track was again used for a UK TV advert in 2008, this time for online betting firm, Bet365.

Members

• Riley Briggs - songwriting, lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Murray Briggs - drums
• Ken McIntosh - bass
• Vicky Gray - violin, keyboards, vocals
• Chris Bradley - guitar, keyboards, vocals

Discography

• Vegetarian Restaurant (7" single), June 2004, UK #134
• Young Forever, August 2004
• Heliopolis By Night (single), September 2004, UK #66
• Love is an Arrow (single), 14 February 2005, UK #60
• Summer's Gone (7" single), 17 October 2005, UK #246
• Hypnotised (single), 26 June 2006, UK #177
• Do Whatever Turns You On (album), 3 July 2006
• Come On, Claire (7" single), December 2008

External links

• Myspace site with sample tracks and tour dates
• Subculture Magazine's review of "Do Whatever Turns You On"
• Riley Briggs is a participant in burnsong