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Cuculi Presents

Hands of the Heron & Tom Calladine

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Our Gin Garden Sessions are back!

During the pandemic, we moved our summertime gigs outside into our beautiful gardens – and we liked it so much that we’re back for more. Our Gin Garden returns in partnership with 6 O’Clock Gin, and across June and July, we’re welcoming brilliant local artists for our free weekend afternoon sessions. You don’t need a ticket – just come along, order one of our delicious summer drinks, and soak up the music. If the weather isn’t on our side, we’ll relocate into our Café Bar instead.

This week’s session is Cuculi Presents Hands of the Heron  /  Tom Calladine.

DIY label Cuculi Records was set up in 2020 to share emerging alt-folk, contemporary classical, poetry and ambient sounds from Bristol and beyond. This special garden gig will feature two of their roster, including their latest signing, Tom Calladine. Originally from Cornwall and now based in Bristol, Tom is a prolific songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recent album Each time you go around the sun explores a multitude of themes including love, mystical experience, impermanence and nature. His distinctive falsetto vocals are reminiscent of Robin Pecknold and early Bon Iver, with lyrics that offer the listener an invitation to his compelling world of dreamy abstraction.

Hands of the Heron are a dreamfolk trio from Bristol (and also the label’s co-founders). Their instantly recognisable vocal harmonies are delivered by three frontwomen, each of whom brings a signature writing style to the band’s mercurial sound. They move effortlessly between sparse choral folk and spellbinding chamber pop, richly layered with an assortment of strings, drones and reeds. They’re excited to premiere brand new material at this event following the release of their long-awaited second album 13 Moons last year. The album was praised as “a wondrous collection of curious story-songs, choral singing and carefully layered instrumentation” (Joyzine) with “songwriting mastery that perfectly delivers reverberating folk-pop” (Tap The Feed), while esteemed jazz critic Ted Gioia recommended 13 Moons as one of his top recordings for 2021.