The Croftsmen Go Stateside!

7 November

The Croftsmen today announced CD Baby as its exclusive online record distributor. "We are very happy to be working with the CD Baby team," commented Pervis Van Peters, bass player in the band. "Our North American fan base will benefit the most because the 'Mr Ginger' album can now be purchased in dollars. People often get bewildered when they see a product for sale in someone else's currency."

Listeners can hear several of the Mr Ginger albums 18 tracks direct from the CD Baby website. Hurry while stocks last!

The Croftsmen Support the UK Film Industry

3 November

The Croftsmen today revealed that earlier in the year they had anonymously provided the soundtrack to the controversial, yet critically acclaimed film, Merrick.

Mr Tooting, guitar player and vocalist, said, "This film is bleak and we wanted the music to echo that - it represents something of a departure from our folk roots but indicates possible directions we might lean towards in the future. The music is haunting and has a unique beauty that we think folk fans will really identify with."

According to Pervis, bass player, the soundtrack for Merrick will probably be the first track to make it to the next album. He said, "We are currently whittling the track list down from 57 songs but Merrick will definitely feature - the band all agree on that!" Track choice for any Croftsmen album is a notoriously difficult affair so this statement is a ringing endorsement of the track.

While the film itself has ruffled some feathers in the UK film industry, the music has been received with unanimous approval.

The film Merrick is available direct from Smoothgroom on DVD but can also be viewed from the BBC website.

Croftsmen Revisit Some 'Classic' Croftsmen

21 October

The Croftsmen, today announced their intention to release a new EP, Remoulds, around Christmas of this year. Mr Tooting, lead vocalist and guitarist said, "Many of the fans have been asking us to re-record our best known songs. Over the last few years, the songs have grown into something much greater than what was originally captured on the 'Mr Ginger' record." He continued, "Often an album is recorded before its ever been out of the studio and tested on the fans. These songs have sweated for nearly four years and they're ready to be basted!"

According to Len Brittle, the band's drummer and driver, 'Peter and Rene' will feature the missing verse that was lost just days before the 'Mr Ginger' recording sessions. Mr Tooting's notepad of lyrics was stolen while on an away day excursion to Ravenglass, although some of the band believes that he simply left the pad on the miniature train "La'al Ratty" after he got a bit distracted. Len said, "We are also going to record versions of 'Peter and Rene' in different languages, in response to our growing international fan base." He added, "We are working on German, Polish and Danish versions of the classic. This time we have our own purpose-built studio and have unlimited tracks available. The Remoulds EP is going to be something very special."

The EP is expected to feature the 'The Boy David', 'Peter and Rene' (multiple versions) and a brand new song, which according to the band is under the working title 'Ned brought the whiskey'.

Croftsmen Under Fire for 'Bad Luck' Christmas Theme

29 January

The Croftsmen have come under fire for not taking down their Christmas decorations! The band revealed today that several anonymous communications from a so called 'Concerned Christian Activist' were received late last week. The 'poison pen' style letters featured dire warnings, condemnation and poor spelling. The letters made bizarre allegations and apparent prophecies of doom relating to the fact that the Croftsmen Web site's Christmas graphics were still being displayed on the web site well after twelfth night. Though this fact cannot be disputed, the letter has angered Croftsmen piper Shamus Tanner. Tanner claims that the graphics are 'virtual', and therefore exempt from the twelfth night rule. "How on earth could a series of 1's and 0's be classed as Christmas Decorations? Perhaps this person decorates their tree with large sparkling novelty digits, but I prefer baubles and mini chocolate Santa's like any sane member of society." said Tanner in a statement this lunchtime. He later added that the sender of the note must be "demented".

Len Brittle went on to say that it had not been their intention to leave the 'nice Christmassy banners' up beyond twelfth night, but that a 'techno glitch' had prevented the normal graphics from resetting. Furthermore, Brittle stated that as a protest they would now be keeping the Christmas banners up for the foreseeable future, despite warnings from other religious representatives that this was tantamount to "inviting the devil to tea".

New Fan Forum

12 January

The long awaited Fan Forum Croftsmen message boards are now up and running.

Click here to have your say!

Happy New Year!

2 January

The Croftsmen would like to wish all their fans, acquaintances and sworn enemies a very Happy New Year! Last year was a bumper year for the band, and hopefully this will continue into the next. As is now traditional the band saw in the New Year while basking in the fine hospitality of the Tanner. It was by all accounts a fairly raucous affair, with 'She Was a Man' ringing the changes as the clock struck 12. Come the morning there was many a sore head, and bizarrely several guests had gone missing, including the Tanner. Same time next year!

'Have You Herd' - Rave Reviews

14 November

The long awaited new Croftsmen EP Have You Herd? is going down a storm! The latest in a series of rave reviews has come from the industry magazine Future Music.

Click here to read more.

Pervis Quizzes Bargain Hunt's David Dickinson Live on TV!

26 September

Pervis Van Peters, David Dickinson, Terry Wogan, ...and Tailors. This story's got the lot!

Click here to read more and see the video!

For more stories see the News Archive.