Seattle country rockers Massy Ferguson announce debut UK tour dates

Massy Ferguson is a bar band in the best sense – not a band relegated to bars because it will never rise higher, but a band that plays music perfectly suited to dark, crowded rooms in which there’s at least a possibility of a beer glass smashing against a wall.
Their songs though, filled with barflies, broken hearts and doomed late-night romance, sound good anywhere. Singer-bassist Ethan Anderson aptly describes the band’s sound as Americana that leans more toward rock than country – think Drive-By Truckers or a combination of Son Volt and The Hold Steady, filtered through Springsteen’s Greetings From Asbury Park or Nebraska. All influences the band will readily admit to, along with 70s Southern rock and good-time classic rock bands like Thin Lizzy.

If that means Massy Ferguson is derivative, well, perhaps, but does it really matter, when frankly, the songs, are just plain good, their lyrics abundant with the kind of detail and imagery that any reservations are soon forgotten.

Following up 2007’s Massy Ferguson EP, 2009’s Cold Equations, 2010’s Hard Water, and 2011’s Damaged Goods EP, Victory & Ruins reveals a more mature Massey Ferguson, a band that’s matured, knows its sound, unafraid to venture beyond their comfort zone once in a while.
The album opener sets the tone, quickly proclaiming, “Hello! It’s good to see you all again, but you’re really not my friends ’til you see me at the end” with a steady rhythm and hooky guitar leading the way.
Elsewhere ‘2 AM Beauty Queen’ tips its hat to Southern rock, while ‘Apartment Downtown’ shines with a glowing cello leading this tender song, proving that Massy Ferguson can just as easily tone it down and keep the listener hanging on every note.

One of the album’s biggest highlights is ‘The Hard Way’, a duet with Seattle country songstress Zoe Muth.
“She was dynamite,” proclaims Anderson. “I gave her some words, a melody sketch, and she walked in to the studio and knocked out her verse in just over an hour on a couple of takes. It’s amazing how great she sounds, it actually makes me sound better.”

MASSY FERGUSON ·JUNE-JULY 2014 UK TOUR

Ethan Anderson (vocals/bass/flute), Adam Monda (guitars, backing vocals), Tony Mann (piano), & Dave Goedde (drums)

JUNE

Saturday 21          Christchurch, Dorset                  The Thomas Tripp
Sunday 22             Christchurch, Dorset                  Christchurch Chilli Festival
Thursday 26         Coalville, Leics.                         The Vic Bikers Pub
Friday 27              Nottingham                              The Guitar Bar at Hotel Deux

Saturday 28          Dent, Cumbria                            Dentdale Music & Beer Festival
Sunday 29             Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs.       Upton FAB Festival

JULY

Tuesday 1              Ecton, Northants.                       The Three Horseshoes

Wednesday 2         Sheffield                                  The Greystones
Thursday 3            London                                     The Windmill,Brixton

Saturday 5            Easton, Suffolk                           Maverick Festival 2014

“if you are needing a fix of down home Country Rock or quality 50% proof Alt-Country I can heartily recommend Massy Ferguson” No Depression

“You know only good things can come from a band that named itself after a farm-equipment company. But they’re not as hayseed as you’d expect. Their songs are steeped in the classic Americana of the Blasters, the Jayhawks, and the Backsliders. Rich with imagery of highways, truck-stop coffee, whiskey, road-weariness, and bad motels, Massy Ferguson make cinematic music about the blue-collar aspects of our nation. This is what Jay Farrar might sound like without his thesaurus.”The Seattle Weekly