Mike Gibson and the City Farmers profile picture

Mike Gibson and the City Farmers

The City Farmers

About Me

We wrote about ourselves and it was crap so we asked our journalist friend if he could do better. This is what he wrote about us. It's all pretty much the truth but it still makes us blush...

The members of the City Farmers have nothing left to prove.

Theyve been around. Theyve been in bands before. Theyve played The Ritz in New York and the pub on the corner. Theyve hung out with hookers and hustlers, and with David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker and the Pixies. Theyve had teams of roadies to coil their leads, and theyve stood in the snow at 2am trying to start the van.

They dont play music to meet girls, make money or annoy their parents. They play music because they love it, because when the bass and the drums are just there, when the guitars are riding the groove, when the slides talking to the singer, and when the crowds drinking and dancing and whooping, its the best feeling there is.

And the music they play is the music they love, the music that meant something to them when they started, and still does. Theres a whole lot of rock nroll in there, some country, some folk and some blues. Theres punk attitude, rockabilly fervour and pop suss. Theres Vince Taylor and Joe Strummer; Nick Drake and Johnny Cash.

But all of this would amount to little more than a superior bar band if it wasnt for the songs. Former Godfathers guitarist Mike Gibson put the City Farmers together in 2004 because he needed a band to promote his first solo album, City Farm. The album pulled together a collection of Mikes material from the past few years, mature meditations on the shapes modern life forces people into, the need to resist those pressures, and the possibilities for escape.


Everyone who heard those early City Farmers gigs knew there was something special going on, a chemistry that took Mikes songs to unexpected places. And the band knew it too. Theyve carried on working together, gigging, growing into their sound. And you can hear the results for yourself via the downloads available at http://www.cityfarmers.co.uk and myspace.com/cityfarmers, taken from the bands recent show at St Marys Church in North London.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/22/2006
Band Website: cityfarmers.co.uk
Band Members:
Mike Gibson - Vocals, guitars
Al Kenning - Bass guitar and vocals
Mathew Wig - Guitars, acoustic and electric
Martin Fieber - Lap steel and slide guitars
Neil Findlay - Drums and percussion
Influences: Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Nick Drake, I am Kloot, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones, Country Rock, The Died pretty, Iggy Pop, Glen Campbell (Jimmy Webb), the Monkees, the Arctic Monkeys, Surf, Rock and Roll, Gene Vincent and the Bluecaps, early/mid Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Richard Thompson, Hayseed Dixie, AC/DC, Early Status Quo, Joni Mitchell, early Roxy Music, Frank Sinatra, Matt Monroe, Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Pulp, Echo and the Bunnymen, 13th Floor Elevators, the Nomads, the Waterboys, James Brown, Bobby Bird, Candy Statton, most anything on Stax or Red Atlantic especially Booker T and the MG's, and Otis.
HATE: Whitney Houston and the other over-singers of neutered 'soul' (Sorry but R&B is on Stax to us), Goa trance. Imagination-free dance music/bland techno.
Sounds Like: They say:-
"Like Syd Barret meets Waylon Jennings" Charlie Boogie

"carries on the whimsical tradition of Messrs Crosby, Stills and Nash, and does it very well indeed." Maverick Magazine

Record Label: Mad Village
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Bardens - thanks

Thanks to everyone that came to Bardens last Thursday. We had a great time and it was a strong bill with The Mysterious Benefactors kicking things off and Morning Bride closing the evening. A proper, ...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:37:00 PST

Thurday

Hi All.Just a note to let you know Mike and Al of the City Farmers will be performing an acoustic duo set opening for the very fab Spekki Chris combo at Reflectionsssh on Thursday.here’s the det...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:48:00 PST

Shows with the Godfathers

Well Spain was, as ever, great fun. Met some old friends in most of the cities and even had a small posse of English mates turn up in Valencia. Plenty late nights and long drives so was absolutely bea...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 03:25:00 PST

My Valentine

Well....Here we go. The Godfathers re-union shows are steaming full ahead with a short tour in Spain, taking in Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid and Bilbao and then to London's Forum on Feb 14th for the tr...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:04:00 PST

Godfathers shenanigins

Well, the (seemingly) impossible seems to be happening! The Godfathers - all five original members - have convened twice now and had relaxed and productive rehearsals of the old tunes. Amazing how it ...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:38:00 PST

An Awakening

Fear not, we haven't joined a cult, just woken up after a bit of a sleep. A quiet winter sleep for the City Farmers is now over and we have gigs coming up all over plus, a brand new track on the fresh...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:29:00 PST

Is it spring yet?

Well folks, it's been along cozy sleep in the City Farmers burrow. As we emerge blinking into the light, we see three gigs and an album plus a radio session. Yikes!First up is The Birdcage,a local fre...
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Tue, 06 Mar 2007 01:19:00 PST

LIVE ON RESONANCE 104.4 FM THIS SUNDAY

Mike will be doing a solo acoustic session on BONANZA, Martyn Myers Americana show on Sunday 2nd April 12am to 1.30 pm after opening for the Morning Bride the night before.
Posted by Mike Gibson and the City Farmers on Thu, 30 Mar 2006 03:01:00 PST