Merry Hell are an English

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band from

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, Greater Manchester, formed in 2010. The core members of the band include the three Kettle brothers, who were previously members of

The Tansads The Tansads were an English band from Wigan, Greater Manchester, who were active during the 1990s. Playing a mix of folk, punk and indie music they developed a strong following on the festival circuit and on the crusty/ traveller scene, but ne ...

. As of 2020 the band have released six albums.

History

Guitarist and songwriter John Kettle and his brothers, mandolin player Bob and vocalist Andrew, were members of the 1990s

band

. In 2010, over a decade since they last performed together, former members of the band reunited for a series of concerts in St Helens. Following the successful gigs, some of the musicians involved, including the three brothers, decided to continue as a band, but rather than use the Tansads name chose to adopt the new name Merry Hell. In addition to the former Tansads, other members of the new band included John Kettle's wife Virginia. Merry Hell were signed to the Mrs Casey Records label on the basis of a demo recording, and in October 2011 released their debut album ''BLINK.. and you miss it''. In 2012, Merry Hell performed at Folk on the Pier in Cromer, the Derbyshire 'Big Session', the

Towersey Village Festival Towersey Festival is an annual festival of folk, world music and traditional dance, previously held in the village of Towersey, now relocated to neighbouring Thame in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place every August bank holiday weekend ...

Wickham Festival Wickham Festival is a four-day music event that takes place in the village of Wickham, Hampshire, England. Wickham hosts live music and comedy across four stages, as well as food stalls, craft stalls, real ale and cider bars and children's ente ...

, and the Great British Folk Festival at Skegness. They also performed an autumn show at St Helens Citadel, billed as "Merry Helloween". The band's second album, ''Head Full of Magic, Shoes Full of Rain'', was released in 2013, and features a guest performance by

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

, formerly of

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

. That year the band performed more than forty live shows, and also played at the Acoustic Festival of Britain at Uttoxeter, Off The Tracks in Derbyshire, the

Beverley Folk Festival The Beverley Folk Festival is a three-day celebration of folk music, art, comedy and spoken word held in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was first organised in 1983 by the White Horse Folk Club and grew considerably over thirty y ...

, the

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, the Wickham Festival and Beautiful Days in Devon. In 2014 the band released the EP "The Ghost", which previewed tracks from their upcoming third album, and took part in the Armistice Pals project, collaborating with other folk artists including Lucy Ward,

Christine Collister Christine Collister (born 28 December 1961) is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adaptat ...

and

Robb Johnson Robb Jenner Johnson (born 25 December 1955) is a British musician and songwriter who has been called "one of the last genuinely political songwriters". He is known for his mix of political satire and wit. He has his own record label, Irregular ...

on a version of

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

's song "

Where Have All The Flowers Gone "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a modern folk music, folk-style song. Inspired lyrically by the traditional Cossacks, Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", Pete Seeger borrowed an Irish melody and the first three verses in 1955 and published it ...

" to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Merry Hell's third album, ''The Ghost In Our House and other stories ...'' was released in early 2015 and features a guest appearance by guitarist

Gordon Giltrap Gordon Giltrap, MBE (born 6 April 1948) is an English guitarist and composer. His music crosses several genres. He has been described as "one of the most revered guitarists of his generation", and has drawn praise from fellow musicians including S ...

."Folk-rockers raising Merry Hell"
''Wigan Today''. The band's fourth album ''Bloodlines'' followed in late 2016, and the fifth ''Anthems to the Wind'' in 2018. In November 2020 the band released their sixth album ''Emergency Lullabies''.

Members

Current

* Andrew Kettle – vocals * Bob Kettle – mandolin * John Kettle – guitar * Virginia Kettle – vocals, guitar * Lee Goulding – keyboards * Nick Davies – bass * Andy Jones – drums * Neil McCartney – fiddle

Former

* Andrew Dawson – bass (first two albums) * Tim Howard – guitar (first album) * Phill Knight – drums (first album)

Discography

Albums

*''Blink ... and you miss it'' (2011) *''Head Full of Magic, Shoes Full of Rain'' (2013) *''The Ghost in Our House and other stories ...'' (2015) *''Bloodlines'' (2016) *''Anthems to the Wind'' (2018) *''Emergency Lullabies'' (2020)

DVDs

*''A Grand Night Out - Merry Hell Live'' *''A Documentary: A year in the Life of Merry Hell'' (2019)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
British folk rock groups English folk musical groups Folk punk groups