Frome artists converge on Glastonbury!

Port Erin.

Frome’s music scene was well represented at this year’s Glastonbury Festival whilst popular  music store, Raves from the Grave, made their first appearance. 

Among those musicians representing Frome at the world’s biggest cultural event were popular rockers Port Erin, 9-piece funk machine Fat Stanley and original acoustic artist Al O’Kane.

Raves from the Grave from Cheap Street in Frome set up camp overlooking The West Holt stage at this year’s festival  selling CDs, vinyl and merchandise.

Richard Churchyard, who started the business 18 years ago said, “It is our first time here and it’s very enjoyable. We’ve had lots of interest in the vinyl and people are pleased to see it here at the festival. It would have been nice if it hadn’t rained – but that’s Glastonbury!”

The shop has previously been featured in the online magazine Sabotage Times as 1 of 10 record shops you must visit before you die, and also selected by the Guardian as one of the best independent shops in the UK.

Fat Stanley and Al O’Kane both played at the Avalon Cafe. On Wednesday Al performed a smooth acoustic set promoting his debut full album Oort Cloud Visitor. Fat Stanley, who have collaborated in the past with the likes of Huey Morgan from Fun Lovin’ Criminals, performed an energetic funk filled set on Sunday night.

Glastonbury veterans Port Erin have performed at  the festival in three previous years and were playing this year on their biggest stage to date.

The band formed in 2005 and comprises of Reuben Tyghe (guitar and vocals), Cerys Brocklehurst (drums) and Jacob Tyghe (bass).

The trio took on a warm-up tour around the South West to try out new songs before the festival. This year Port Erin played at three of Glastonbury’s venues. At midnight on Thursday they rocked the West Holts Backstage Bar followed by an afternoon performance at The Rabbit Hole on Friday, and finishing backstage at the Theatre & Circus on Sunday.

Speaking after their first gig of the festival the band said, “It was one of the best shows we’ve ever played. Thank you to everyone at The Backstage Bar at West Holts who made it a night we’ll never forget.”

As they prepared to perform at The Rabbit Hole, Reuben said, “Every gig at Glastonbury is different. This is the first year we have played at The Rabbit Hole which is the best slot we have been given so far; they seem to get better every year so we are really excited.

“Musically speaking we have developed since our last Glastonbury Festival. And this year we were able to rehearse before the festival at Studio 9 in Glastonbury town which was great.”

Unfortunately the band were stopped in their tracks during the gig when the whole festival was shut down due to a storm.

Port Erin are signed to Secret Chord Records and their third album ‘Floating Above The City’ will be out in September. The band will be playing at The Griffin in Frome on Friday 4th July as part of the Frome Festival. This free event starts at 9pm.