Monmouthshire’s Rusty Shackle win The Big Gig 2012
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After hundreds of entries and three incredible nights of live music at The Globe, folk, roots band Rusty Shackle have won The Big Gig 2012. They put on a blistering performance which just pipped the flamboyant funky indie pop of Palomino Party.
The banjo plucking maestros from Monmouthshire will now join Brit Award winner Emeli Sande, You Me at Six and Cardiff band Kids in Glass Houses to perform at the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Special City Celebration, presented by Coca-Cola, in Cooper’s Field Cardiff on May 25th. Cardiff dance group Rubicon Dance and 80 strong group who will also take part in the relay event as part of celebrating the community.
Liam Collins, Rusty Shackle’s singer said “We’re buzzing this morning, we don’t normally win things, we usually lose and moan. Now we have nothing to moan about!”
The band will also receive airplay on Nation Radio and all finalists will receive studio recording time at the Machinerooms recording studio in Cardiff.
In third place were anarchic Cardiff youngsters Disciple whose big rock sound belied their age. Also in the final were the terrific rapper and showman Dretonio, melodic, 60s influenced The Knox who won the youth final on Monday and Breakdown Face whose extraordinary performance in Monday’s youth final has already become legendary.
Over a hundred entries were received and the standard of entry was even higher than last years amazing debut competition.
The judges included Ben Evans and Owen Davies from Nation Radio, Dave Owens from the South Wales Echo, Est Wilkinson, former manager of Coldplay, Heather Brown of Cardiff Council and John Rostron from the Swn Festival.
The judges said “It was fantastic to see such a high standard of acts representative of Cardiff’s flourishing music scene ahead of next years Womex festival”
Rusty Shackle formed in early 2010 and their infectious pulse, style and musical genre – whilst potently contemporary – is difficult to pigeon hole and has been described by Plugged In magazine as the “Bombay Badboy of Folk” a reference to the hottest Pot Noodle on the market. This said, elements of folk, rock, bluegrass, Celtic rhythms and Delta blues are clearly discernible. Either way, feet tap to whatever the specific nuance.
Stunning, high-energy live performances and boundless enthusiasm make sure you’ll leave exhausted, with their tunes swimming around your head for days after. They are well on the way to ensuring they are everywhere this coming summer.
The Shackle’s debut album ‘Wash Away These Nights’ has been very well received and reached number 22 in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart, the singles reaching as high as number 2.
As Neil King from Fatea Showcases said, “Genre prostitution is a major feature of "Wash Away These Nights", rock, pop, gospel, blues, rockabilly, skiffle, are all thrown into the melting pot to produce an album that celebrates the art of having a good time.” The album thrives on musical diversity, whilst maintaining a cohesive sound to keep it all together.
Songs from the album were chosen for the main play-list on BBC Radio Wales, with singles ‘3AM’, ‘Cold Hearted Town’ and ‘Beating Heart of a Kingdom’ getting heavy rotation with several live sessions for the BBC and airplay and interviews on other stations – Radio 1, Nation Radio, Swansea Sound, Bro Radio, GTFM, Scarlets FM – indicate the exciting buzz around the band.
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