The Trials of Cato to play Birmingham and Shrewsbury shows

Fresh from a frantic year touring their award-winning debut album Hide and Hair across two continents, The Trials of Cato are descending on venues across the UK to debut new material from their hotly-anticipated second album, due out later this year.

The band will be coming to Henry Tudor House, Shrewsbury, on March 15, and to the Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham, on March 19.

Though originally hailing from North Wales and Yorkshire, the trio in fact formed in Beirut, Lebanon.

While living there, the band spent a year boiling the roots of their sound to create a hybrid of traditional influences that aroused the curiosity of Lebanese audiences in some of the country’s biggest venues. Within a year of returning to the UK they had gained the attention of the likes of Cerys Matthews (BBC 6 Music) and Mark Radcliffe (BBC Radio 2).

In early 2019 they won Best Emerging Artist at the inaugural Wales Folk Awards and within six months they were double BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominees. Hide and Hair was voted Best Album by BBC Radio 2 listeners at the 2019 Folk Awards, gains frequent national airplay and has cemented their reputation as one of the most exciting acts on the UK folk scene.

Singing in both English and Welsh and playing some Welsh tunes interestingly blended with other music, they have been described as “The Sex Pistols of folk” by music producer John Davis, who worked on the remastering of Led Zeppelin’s music.

By paying obvious tribute to the traditional they turn old bones into something exciting and modern, with an energetic sound and memorable stories. Having gone from busking to playing major shows in only three years, the Trials of Cato are a force to be reckoned with, and their upcoming local gigs are set to delight folk fans young and old.

For more info visit www.thetrialsofcato.com