Kings of the South Seas

Kings of the South Seas are:

Ben Nicholls - vocals, concertina
Known as a multi instrumentalist, double bass & ‘crane duet’ concertina player and singer, Ben Nicholls is a member of the double BBC Folk Award winning Full English and Seth Lakeman bands. He has performed and recorded with a diverse range of artists from Cara Dillon, Dave Swarbrick and Maddy Prior to Patrick Wolf, Carl Barat and Birdy. He has released several albums with his own bands, Menlo Park and Dennis Hopper Choppers.

Richard Warren - guitar, vocals
18 years and 8 albums into a mercurial career..... Warren's early projects 'Echoboy' and 'The Hybirds' ranged from pure power-pop to psychedelic sonic exploration. Between 2004 and 2009 he recorded and toured with a list of notable artists including Soulsavers (feat. Mark Lanegan) and Spiritualized. The last 5 years have seen the release of 3 critically acclaimed solo albums. Q magazine recently referred to him as "like a Gothic Bert Jansch".

Evan Jenkins- drums, vocals
New Zealand born drummer Evan Jenkins is a member of the award winning Neil Cowley Trio (BBC jazz album of the year, Jazz FM band of the year). He studied at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and on moving to London has played with acts such as Ronnie Scott, Bert Jansch, Eric Clapton and Beverley Martyn.

The debut album, Kings of the South Seas, is inspired by epic whaling expeditions of the early 19th Century from Britain to the South Pacific, round the South Sea Islands, Australia and New Zealand. It delves into the lives of the ‘whale men’ and their culture and influence through traditional songs, broadsides and hymns. These voyages, often four years long, were pushing the boundaries of the known World, spreading European culture, both good and bad, and returning with the tallest tales known as they landed to trade, supply and repair their ships, all a by-product of the commercial venture undertaken.

Produced and mixed by John Parish. The recording was done in three days during the Summer of 2014 at Cecil Sharp House in London after the material had been researched by Ben Nicholls during a Creative Residency from the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

They’re going to be supporting Bellowhead on their forthcoming tour in April, so this is a good chance to catch them at a smaller venue.