Capacity crowd for Aylesbury's Callow Saints EP launch

Aylesbury's own Callow Saints drew a capacity crowd on Friday night - at the launch of their brand new EP.

The five track offering, entitled Twisted Hazel is the first ‘proper’ EP that the band has put out, and lead singer Ruby Lewis says that they can’t wait to see where the coming year will take them.

Last year the band won a competition to play at Camden Rocks Festival, and their last record featured in Vive Le Rock magazine in a round-up of great releases for 2016.

A string of gigs - including headlining the prestigious 
02 Academy in Oxford followed.

And after spending time at XYZ Studio on the Westcott Venture Park, recording the EP with producer Dan Daley - Callow Saints are ready to get out on the road and promote it. Fresh from performing at last weekend’s Beautiful Alice Festival, which is held each year in memory of former Sir Henry Floyd student Alice Barnett, Ruby said: “The Friday launch show was totally wonderful - I don’t know what happened but something happened and everyone just went crazy.

“This is the first time that we have played any songs from Twisted Hazel live, so we were really nervous but it went so well.”

Ruby, who runs the Rock and Kook vintage store in Aylesbury town centre alongside mum, Kay, added: “We’ve got festivals coming up – we are playing Cornbury Festival which is with Kaiser Chiefs and The Pretenders, we hope to get back in the studio to record a single this year too.”

Callow Saints was formed by Mandeville School friends Seb James and Oran Green, who wrote songs together over Skype while Seb was receiving cancer treatment in America.

At that time Seb met with members of classic indie rock outfit Suede, and received a masterclasses from session musicians as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust’s 14th annual gig at the Royal Albert Hall.

Drummer Alex Chadwick was soon enlisted after the pair met him at a local jam night, and former Cottesloe School pupil Ruby, signed up on vocals as soon as she had finished university.

The striking artwork for the record was also produced by a former Cottesloe pupil – Anna Stevens who now works as a tattoo artist out of studios in Maidenhead.

And the launch gig on Friday also served as a relaunch of a different kind too. The formerly named Shoot Pool bar - which is owned by Seb’s mum Susan and step dad Alston has been rebranded and will have a whole new look – with the mission of being a dedicated music venue for Aylesbury.

The town centre space will boast a green room for bands, a brand new layout and a permanent merchandise stand - and will host a daytime accoustic and music sessions in a cafe bar . Complete with a new name – Shoot Live – the venue will officially launch soon – and comedy and spoken word nights are also planned.

To find out more about Callow Saints and get your copy of Twisted Hazel go to www.callowsaints.com And to find out more about the new look Shoot Live go to www.shootpoolaylesbury.com

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