The Hoosiers

Hoosierettes and Hoosierothers,

Welcome to 2020! And what a year it's gonna be. Our musical sleeves are chock-full of surprises for you. To get the ball rolling we're playing our biggest shows in over a decade as we take off in style on a mini-tour to celebrate the birth of our bouncing Greatest Hit(s) album at two of our favourite cities in all of the citysphere:

• O2 Academy Newcastle Thursday 5th March
• O2 Shepherds Bush Academy in lil old London Friday 6th March.

Get Tickets HERE

Our support announcement will leave you boggle-eyed and goggle-eared ... but we're gonna make you wait for that one ;)

What I CAN tell you is that we will be giving audiences a WORLD EXCLUSIVE of new material to be released a little later in the year. We will be welcoming back into the fold our beloved brass section of Barney and Seb Philpott, and we're so excited to make such a racket with them, you simply HAVE to be there!!

Year of the rat? Nah, year of the Hoosier.

Yours,

Al & Irwin

P.S. Irwin here 👋.

I have a new music incarnation called White Tail Falls and TODAY marks the release of a song dear to my heart called ‘Disintegrate’. I’d love for you to stream it wherever you get your music here and let me know what you think via my WTF Instagram @whitetailfalls.

Also, for a chance to win tickets to see me play some special shows in the UK Mar-Apr, check out the tour dates and save the single on Spotify to enter here now. Thank you so much for the support, it really means the world to me 💫 Good luck!

ANNOUNCEMENT!

We're going back to where it all began with TWO special shows in 2020 ... Newcastle Academy on 5th March and Shepherds Bush Empire in London on 6th March!

We'll be playing our greatest hit(s) and perhaps even one or two of some other artists and maybe, just maybe, something new.

If you were there the first time, let's reunite! If you're new(er) to the crowd, come hang/sing/dance/shout with us. We'll be bringing some special guests along too. Tickets will go on sale Friday, 6th December, at 10AM.

Check out the TOUR page for ticket links and details!

Hello our fans in Hoosierland.

It's been a strange few months for us, pretending to be different people and all that (more on that later). But we're writing to you to present a fabulous retail opportunity.

This time of year, loads of people start barking on about 'Black Friday'. Well we've decided to buck this trend and get ahead of the curve. SO far ahead, in fact, that OUR sale actually started YESTERDAY!

We're so ahead that our sale will END on Black Friday (although we suspect the elves at the online store will let it go on a bit longer for your gift-buying needs... before they're ritually herded up and culled as is our post-festive custo)

Yes, this MAUVE MONDAY sale of ours is pretty simple: 50% off absolutely everything we sell. That's it, pretty simple. Of course we have to say "while supplies last" because once we sell out, most of this stuff won't be made again.

So go pick up a bargain (our Greatest Hit(s) CD makes a supreme stocking filler) by using the code MAUVE19 at the checkout.

Now, back to that comment about being other people.

Mr. Irwin has recently unleashed his new project, White Tail Falls, and a somewhat frightening video for his first single "Give It Up, Son" which you should watch, with the lights on, on the YouTubes.

Look forward to a White Tail Falls album coming soon, too.

You may also remember those jokers Felix and Lee, and their wannabe fake-news band Felix and the Scootermen talking about themselves incessantly up at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this summer. Well, it turns out they actually released one of their sorry songs, so should you be interested in a taster of what all that was about, we SUPPOSE you could check it out on a music service of your choice...

Plenty more always in the works, but we'll let you know when those works go public.

Enjoy the sale, and speak soon!

Al & Irwin

It's been good to see some of you at our various festival-tivities over the last few weeks, and sure we'll see more of you in the weeks to come. Why is that?

Well by now you'll have heard of our alter-egos Felix Scoot and Lee Delamere, AKA Felix & The Scootermen, and our music-comedy show Self Help Yourself Famous which will be premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe festival this August... in only a few weeks time (NOT PANICKING NOT PANICKING).

To make sure our delivery is razor-sharp, we've been doing warm-up/work-in-progress shows across London this month, and only have 4 more of these to go before the big time. But what we need now is an audience to riff off of to try out the newest finely-tuned material... so we're giving you, dear readers, free tickets to any of the 4 upcoming shows!

If you want to bag yourself a pair of tickets, go to the Facebook events for the show (links below), post the comment 'Make Me Famous!' and we'll add you to the list. Yes, it really is that simple. So come along and laugh with us, at us, or even behind our backs.

• July 17 - The Old Queens Head, London - Free Tickets
• July 18 - The Hen & Chickens Theatre, London - Free Tickets
• July 22 - Rosemary Branch Theatre & Pub, London - Free Tickets
• July 23 - Rosemary Branch Theatre & Pub, London - Free Tickets

If you want to see the real deal up in Edinburgh, we'd love your support there, too - we're performing a whopping 26 shows in August, full details and tickets can be found HERE.

To celebrate the big premiere in Edinburgh, we've packaged up a 'best of' CD full of your favourite Hoosiers tunes that we'll be selling at the shows. To make it more interesting for you, our long-time fans, we've gone back into the studio with the live band and re-recorded 4 of our most famous tracks just for this album!

You can pre-order "The Hoosiers Greatest Hit(s)" CD from our shop, or find the album on the usual streaming services from August 2nd.

Looking forward to seeing you in London and Edinburgh!

Al & Irwin

Felix & The Scootermen. Who are they, you may ask?

Well, they look like Al and Irwin, don’t they. Technically, they're Felix Scoot and Lee Delamere. But all is explained in this fantastic article in the Edinburgh News.

Ahead of their big Edinburgh Fringe debut, though, they are working swiftly through their material, honing and refining, sanding and polishing. 

To do this, MANY work-in-progress shows have been booked throughout (mostly) London, throughout (mostly) June and July. The first preview show is NEXT WEEK, so have a look and come on down to see comedy evolve before your very eyes!

• June 19 - South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell - TICKETS
• June 21 - Canal Café Theatre, London - TICKETS
• June 24 - The Hen & Chickens Theatre, London - TICKETS
• July 2 - The Star Of Kings, London - TICKETS
• July 3 - Museum of Comedy, London - TICKETS
• July 17 - The Old Queens Head, London - TICKETS
• July 18 - The Hen & Chickens Theatre, London - TICKETS
• July 21 - Rosemary Branch Theatre & Pub, London - TICKETS
• July 22 - Rosemary Branch Theatre & Pub, London - TICKETS
• July 23 - Rosemary Branch Theatre & Pub, London - TICKETS

Also, it may not feel like summer in rainy England just now, but our "spring into summer" sale is still on and ends on the solstice next Friday!

So head over to the SHOP and use discount code RPM2019 to get 33-1/3% off of EVERYTHING in the shop (yes, everything in the shop is on sale...)

Back to rehearsals now, and I'm sure we'll see several of you soon.

Felix & Lee

Good morning our fresh-faced friends!

It's that time of year, when the sun stays out a bit longer, and the bees start a-buzzing. It also means it's time for us to clear out the merchandise warehouse and make some room for stuff that's coming later this year (CLANG! That's maybe a hint...)

If you head over to our online shop now, we're giving everyone a musically-themed 33-1/3% off of everything. Yes, that's right, absolutely everything is on sale, from posters to hats to mugs to music to shirts. This is even money off already-discounted shirts (we've been told you can get even a shirt for only £3.33 if you're quick)!

You'll just need to enter the code *RPM2019 *when you check out to apply the discount. Our 'spring into summer' sale will last from now until the first day of summer itself, 21 June, so get spring-ing!

Thanks to those of you who popped in to see us - sorry, Felix & The Scootermen - in Brighton earlier this month! There is more work-in-progress madness to be had in London next month; best to check out said Felix et al on the Facebooks and Instagrams to keep up-to-date with their particular goings-on.

Finally, we're going to be popping up here and there at some funky little festivals over the summer - perhaps in your neighbourhood! Check out the full list of dates and perhaps we'll even see you next weekend in Leeds!

Hello you fine fine people.

It's been a while since we spoke, but that's because we've been so busy we haven't had time to write. Busy with what?

Well, if you're in Brighton next week, you can come find out! Messrs. Sparkes and Sharland have rolled out their alter-egos Felix Scoot and Lee Delamere (from the surprisingly-similar-to-the-Hoosiers band "Felix & The Scootermen") to present their new musical comedy stage show "Self-Help Yourself Famous".

Yes, that's right, Ir and Al have written a musical comedy show, and will be performing the work-in-slow-progress at the Brighton Fringe festival next week on 8 and 9 May, 2:00 pm at Junkyard Dogs: The Kennel, Brighthelm Centre, North Road, BN1 1YD - and even better: the show is free!

So why not come down, check out the show, chat to the chaps, and possibly get a ride on a space hopper.

The final show will debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival throughout August (tickets for that are already on sale), but this is your chance to "hear the demos" as it were. (Speaking of hearing demos, have you been watching Hoosiers social media? Did you notice we've been in the studio, too?)

Right, that's all we have time for as we're still learning our lines (that’s not an exaggeration), so we hope to see some of you next week at Junkyard Dogs: The Kennel in Brighton.

Irwin & Al

Good morning everyone in Hoosier-land.

Spring is just about sproinging now, despite a bit of snow, and there are plenty of Hoosiers-shaped blossoms starting to appear.

The first and biggest one is unfortunately the least exciting but also the MOST IMPORTANT: we're moving our email list!

If you want to keep getting updates from us on new music, tour dates, other projects and updates, you will need to join our new email list here. We'll send a few more reminders before we shut down this one at the end of May, but want to make sure you DO sign up otherwise you may miss out on some big news.

What KIND of big news? Well those spring-like blossoms may or may not include something to do with brand new music, something to do with summer festivals and shows, something to do with the theatre, something to do with a musical, and even something to do with the mystical far east. Does it sound exciting? Yes it does.

So don't miss out, join our new, improved, fresher-scented email list and you'll be hearing more from us soon!

All the best as always,

Ir & Al

PS - sign up to the new list at http://eepurl.com/do6Qdz pass it on!

Hello one and all...

It seems like only yesterday we were stepping off stage at the end of the tour, but we've been in such a daze it's taken us this long to recover! What a TOE-MELTING tour it was, too... the fun, the frolics, the sights, the SMELLS!

A massive thank you from all of us - me and Al, plus our loyal cohorts Bradders and General Zoe - you made it a tour of tours to be remembered. Let's do it again next year shall we??!!

In the meantime the lovely people at the Komedia in Bath filmed the show (a standout for us) - have a look at Goodbye Mr. A and Pristine to reminisce (or see what you missed and prompt a few “self-reflectory” questions).

And finally, all the new tour merchandise is now on the warehouse shelves ready to ship. We know it's pretty close to Christmas but thought - in what we think is a world-first - we're actually going to give you a DISCOUNT for a few days to help out with your holiday budget. Merry Xmas, ya filthy animals.

We're calling it "Brown Thursday" - use the code BROWN17 and get 25% off EVERYTHING in the store from Thursday through to Sunday (and if it goes well, we might even extend it on to "Website Wednesday", another totally new idea...)

Again, big love to everyone who came and joined in, and if you couldn't - watch a video, have a cuppa, and look forward to more in 2018.

Al and Ir

It's you chance to support us. And we don't just mean buying tickets to the 10th Anniversary tour so we can feed our children (budgie). We're offering you the chance to take to the stage on our upcoming tour!

If you are a Karaoke king/queen ("Love and Pride"/"Who Wants to Live Forever" are both excellent options) all you have to do is reply to our post on Facebook including your name, the venue at which you will be seeing us, and your choice of karaoke tune. Crucially (and befitting of the evening's entertainment) you don't have to be that good...!

We will be picking and contacting winners in advance of each show in a Facebook love draw/announcement (details schmeetails). You get the drift.

The generous, the ever-giving,

The Hoosiers

In an age that feels like we're getting more disconnected, if we can get involved with something that helps bring people together - AND helps raise money for refugees who are the ones who could use the most compassion - it may be a small gesture on our part, but as part of a bigger global event, and with your support, we can help make a bigger impact collectively.

We’re playing a secret, tiny, acoustic show in London on September 20th with Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds in support of Give A Home and refugees worldwide. Donate here for a chance to win a pair of tickets: http://bit.ly/GAHTheHoosiers and check out other shows world-wide at http://bit.ly/GiveAHome-Mainpage

Hello our beloved Hoosiernauts,

It seems armies of you have been planning group outings to our Trick To Life 10th Anniversary tour this autumn. All the shows from late September to early November are now on general sale at 10years.thehoosiers.com - get your tickets before they sell out (several are on the verge already!)

Other exciting news - as of YESTERDAY the vinyl master lacquers have been shipped to the manufacturing plant, to bring to life the TRICK to life on vinyl for the very first time ever. We're only pressing a limited number of these, so if you haven't pre-ordered your copy with your concert tickets, you can now pre-order it directly from our website shop.

The 2CD expanded anniversary edition of the album will include a bunch of bonus tracks, B-sides, live sessions, AND instrumental versions of all the tracks for you karaoke enthusiasts out there. The 2CD version is also on pre-order on our website - both are set for release on the 29th of September, the first day of the tour!

Finally, we've ALSO added a new/old range of TTL merchandise - a rainbow selection of shirts featuring original album artwork sketches from the brilliant Stefan Uddholm. There are five in total, and if you pre-order them now, together, you'll get all 5 for the price of 4.

That's all for today, plenty more to come...

The Hoosiers