The Forest Hill Billies in France

The early 80s saw the dawn of the photocopying revolution. High street copy shops like Prontaprint were springing up everywhere and we would often spend an afternoon on their premises cutting and glueing master sheets together

Back in 1983 Matt had a cassette recording of a Californian radio station, Radio F.A.T. , based in Gilroy, which was playing country-swing, country and bluegrass. We listened to it incessantly and during a cold winter on his first trip to Canada, Matt transcribed the lyrics of several of the songs on the tape, including…

Forest Hill Billies A-Z A for Amanda on washboard and vocals, Alan on drums, Albany Empire, Acoustic stage Glastonbury B for Bill on the bass, Britanny, ‘Bad to the Bone’, ‘Big Black Cat’, Brighton Busking Festival, Belgium tour, brass section, Bo on posters, Brest En Couleurs, busking, backdrop lost in France, and ‘Billies of course…

A friend of Amanda’s was working as a freelance photographer and got us a two-page feature in Jackie Magazine called ‘City Limits – In London’ along with some copy about things to do and see in London. It came out on July 5th 1986 (Issue 1174) but by the look of the backgrounds the photos…

Transmusicales is an annual music festival held in Rennes, Britanny, with the final evening showcasing up-and-coming British talent. In December 1985 it was The Forest Hill Billies’ first gig in France. That year the line-up included Doctor And The Medics and The Fine Young Cannibals.

After a hectic schedule in March 1986 and a few gigs in early April, on Thurs 17th April we played Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues and finishing at 3am, we immediately packed up the VW Van and headed for the Channel en route to Brussels for the ‘Billies Belgium tour. We had a couple of contacts there,…