Bemis are Gareth Howells and Ritchie Leo - Both play guitar, with Ritchie filling the sound with a twelve string acoustic. Both have decades of playing behind them, with their friendship and commitment making their vocal harmonies tight and expressive. They sing songs they believe in, mostly that they write themselves, about issues they care about or their own personal life.
Bemis recently won the award for Best Folk/Roots act in the 2008 Portsmouth Guide Awards, beating tough competition with their growing reputation in the South.
Bemis are becoming more and more visible, with regular gigs in London, appearances at venues like the Halfmoon in Putney and the 100 Club in Oxford Street. They have also been seen at The Brook in Southampton, Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, the Cyder House Inn near Guildford, No.10 Cafe in Bridport and Centre Stage in Bournemouth. They played the Stokes Bay Festival and the Longest Day festival in 2008, a 5 week residency in Thailand in 2007 - and this year have already made a big impression at the Bearded Theory festival in Derbyshire, the Secret Garden festival in Farnham and a returning appearance at the Hampshire Green Fair near Petersfield.
They have supported artists like Phil Beer, The Men They Couldnt Hang, Megson, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Ella Edmondson, Kirsty McGee, Kaki King, and many others.
In their live sets, they play a wide range of other material besides the long list of songs they've written themselves. These range from rock n roll songs from the fifties; acoustic rock from people like Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Simon and Garfunkel; pop artists like the Beatles, the Everly Brothers, Prince, Kate Bush, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel and David Gray; artist from the roots tradition like Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright, John Denver, Phil Ochs, The Men They Couldn't Hang and Tracy Chapman.
These artists that they cover are influences in their own music, and their lyrics inspire them to write about how we relate to eachother and what matters in life.
Live, Bemis can show the dynamics of their sound, the passion in their performance and the pleasure they want to share from what they do. With some great events planned for 2009, they look forward to meeting you at a gig soon!!!
CHECK OUT THEIR NEW CD "TIME ENOUGH AT LAST" AVAILABLE FOR ONLY £5
THEY ARE CURRENTLY RECORDING THEIR SECOND ALBUM WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER IN THE YEAR.
'you've gotta see bemis. the songs churn into little hurricanes, the sweet parity of their vocals so reminiscent of latter day CSN&Y' paul simmonds/the men they couldn't hang
"BEMIS are a folk duo from Portsmouth with mesmerising lyrics, great vocal harmonies and lots of enthusiasm." - The Hive Bar in London
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