Drenge to headline first day of Deer Shed Festival

The festival, situated in Baldersby Park just outside of Thirsk, will be something of a homecoming show for the Yorkshire-based band, as triumphant international tours followed the universally acclaimed releases of their eponymous debut album (2013) and the subsequent Undertow (2015).

Drenge burst onto the scene as a duo of young brothers – Eoin and Rory Loveless – writing fiercely intelligent lyrics dripping with antipathetic ingenuity, underpinned by the kind of overdriven guitar tones and seismic drumming you tend to only hear in your dreams. No glitz or pretence: just pure, muddy rock stripped back to some fuzz-laden strings, an amp and a kit. Proper garage stuff.

With the addition of bassist and childhood friend Rob Graham (formerly of Wet Nuns), Drenge bulked up their sound yet further, and are now regarded as one of the most exciting grunge bands the UK has produced in years.

Drenge frontman Eoin Loveless said: “Relative obscurity is fine but there comes a point where you need to take a break and with that we’re very pleased to announce our return to the stage with a headline appearance at Deer Shed 2018. We’ve kept to our own, working hard on our next release in fair South Yorkshire, but by making this cultural handshake with the north we are looking to build bridges of music and laughter all across God’s own country.”

Deer Shed Festival director Oliver Jones has been desperate to book the band, whose return has been eagerly anticipated for some time: “For us, Drenge embody modern rock in its rawest and most powerful form. Uninhibited and prolific in producing utterly feral riffage, have no doubt tunes like ‘We Can Do What We Want’, ‘Running Wild’ and ‘Bloodsports’ will shake Baldersby Park to its core. The most gloriously heavy headliner we’ve had in nine years of running Deer Shed.”

Elsewhere, Jane Weaver will headline a Lodge Stage that already appears bolstered for 2018. Weaver is the architect of a world of wavy soundscapes where listeners lose themselves in the space between her intrepid experimentalism and anthemic floor-fillers. The Liverpudlian and current queen of psychedelia, will perform inimitable songs from her latest album Modern Kosmology on the Saturday evening.

More Merseyside music royalty in the form of Bill Ryder-Jones, will be heading to North Yorkshire this year. The co-founder and former guitarist of The Coral combines hints of the Mersey-beat inspired indie formula which initially brought him success with hushed vocals and deeply personal lyrics have seen helped him blossom into one of the most intelligent and moving guitar-driven singer songwriters around.

Hailing from Halifax, The Orielles will strengthen the local Yorkshire contingent at Deer Shed Festival 9 further. Inspired by a shared love of alternative US bands from the 90s such as Sonic Youth and Pixies, they learned their instruments on the road through gigging and have spent the past few years polishing their sun-kissed, surf-indie sound. They are tipped by many to be one of the big breakthrough bands of 2018.

Since his debut album, Passing Stranger, in 2006, Wolverhampton-born star of bluesy acoustica Scott Matthews has refined his craft. Writing deft and sensitive songs during a trajectory that begin with the ethereal ‘Elusive’, The Great Untold – coming April 2018 – apparently marks his best album to date, and the Deer Shed team couldn’t wait to book him as soon as they got wind of the upcoming release.

Ren Harvieu’s first and only album Through The Night, released six years ago in 2012, is a record of rare beauty. Released when she was just 21, it is an unadulterated piece of soul mastery. Since its release, we haven’t heard a huge amount from Harvieu, but that’s all about to change and the Deer Shed team couldn’t be happier!

Danish experimental pop band Lowly also join the Deer Shed Festival 9 line-up. Combining silky vocals with lavish yet surprising guitars and electronics, Lowly appeared out of nowhere in April 2014 with the release of the bewitching ‘Daydreamers’. The sound, already so rich and full, was like being put under a magical spell, and it’s no wonder they were snapped up by Bella Union for the release of their stunning debut album Heba.

Joining Jane Weaver on the Saturday Lodge Stage line-up is Anna Burch. After learning the ins and outs of the Detroit music scene with various bands, Burch found herself accumulating a growing amount of solo material. These songs caught the ears of Collin Dupuis (Angel Olsen, The Black Keys) who mixed the tracks and helped develop them into what has become Burch’s debut album, set for release very soon.

The Ninth Wave are a part post-punk, part new wave synth-pop quartet, producing a euphoric mix of hair raising-riffs, hook-infested keys and dual male against female vocals that soar far above the marvellous raucousness.

Deer Shed Festival announced its first wave of music acts in December, which also featured more of Britain’s best touring bands. This included Nadine Shah, This Is The Kit, Blaenavon, HMLTD, Dream Wife, Sivu, Warm Digits, AK/DK, Rozi Plain, whenyoung, Seamus Fogarty, Mush, Holy Moly & The Crackers, Morrissey & Marshall and Bella Gaffney & Polly Bolton.

Acts already revealed for the comedy line-up include James Acaster, Justin Moorhouse and Daliso Chaponda.

Tickets are available from www.deershedfestival.com/tickets