Latest News

August

As you may have noticed, we are having problems with the website and the Red Grape shop. This is because of technical problems on the server so please accept our apologies while we sort it all out. We should have everything up and running and EVEN better within a week. While our shop is temporarily off-line you can of course still buy all Red Grape products from Amazon or your other favourite on-line store. You can also get all our CDs from real live record shops, if you're fortunate enough to live near one.

'England' by Broadcaster has now had the distinction of being played on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 and 6, which we think is something of a record. We're aiming for plays on Radios 4 and 5 now to claim a BBC 'Full House'! Many thanks to all the national, regional and online DJs who are supporting Broadcaster.

FISH! are playing a one-off London gig this month, supporting Nizlopi (remember the JCB Song) at MS Calling on August 19th at the legendary 100 Club on Oxford Street. This is a charity gig in aid of Multiple Sclerosis so come and join us for a great evening and to raise some money.

June 8th

"Come on, me old beauty - and off we go." Colin Murray has just made 'England by Broadcaster' his Radio 1 Record of the Week. Thanks Colin!

FISH! have been selected for this week's Undiscovered slot on XFM. Click on the link HERE to vote for them.

Hafdis has been busy filming a new TV ad for Mercedes. Watch it on YouTube HERE:

Congratulations to all artists ......

June 5th

"England - and there's nowhere like it at dawn" .......... It's been a fantastic week for Broadcaster. The single 'England' by Broadcaster has been played on Radio 1 (Colin Murray), Radio 2 (Janice Long) and 6 Music (Tom Robinson)! Here's what Radio 1's Colin Murray had to say about it:

“Going to play you something new now that’s ‘stand out’. Its one of those songs that when you hear it the first time your ears do a double check. You have to make a decision whether you like it or not.  There’s very few tracks that I send personal emails about to other djs, “Huw you got to listen to this”, “Giles, you got to listen”, “Rob you got to listen” cos they’re the 3 presenters most likely to get this.  Their listeners will make sense of it. It’s a real stopping you moment. We’ve fallen in love with it.  I loved it when I first heard it and now I adore it even more after hearing what it sounds like on the radio.  An amazing track.  Very special indeed, very special music.  It deserves to be played all over Radio 1.  Cant say enough about it. I’m very tempted to hit play on it again straight away. But I’m going to put it in again tomorrow night 2nd record, straight in, at the top of the show.”

I think he likes it! Click the Broadcaster picture on the left to listen for yourself.

May 25th

Broadcaster has transmitted and we have received - the official release date is now June 9th for download (iTunes etc etc) and June 23rd for physical CDs (Amazon, old-fashioned shops, etc). BUT if you'd like to get your mits on a copy before they hit the shops, just go to our store and order one now. We'd prefer it if you use Paypal, but we know that some of you would rather send us a cheque, in which case please make it payable to Red Grape Records and send it to Red Grape, 82 Chestnut Grove, New Malden, KT3 3JS.

It'll cost you just £6.99 which includes p&p.

May

FISH! played a storming semi-acoustic gig at the Troubadour in Earls Court, London last week. Read a review of the gig on their page HERE.

We were honoured to be asked to be part of the panel of judges at the recent Indy Music Awards. The standard of entries was incredibly high and we discovered a whole bunch of new artists that really impressed us. Congratulations to all the winners.

April

The Broadcaster mini-album is just about ready to go - release date is now 9th June. Doktor Music has been busy in the studio doing some very tasty radio edits of the tracks and though we can't promise that any of them will make it to radio playlists, we think that SOMEONE should be brave enough to give them a spin. (Go on, Radio 2, we dare you ...) The CD has had a brilliant review in Bearded Magazine which you can check out on Broadcaster's page. When you've done that, take a look at Bearded Magazine on-line as they've got some great stuff there.

On a practical level, we've changed our distribution arrangements. We'd like to thank Vital/[Pias] for all their support and help over the past couple of years. They will still continue to handle all our digital releases. Distribution of physical CDs is now being handled by Proper Distribution and we're looking forward to working closely with both them and [Pias] in making sure that all our tracks are available worldwide in whatever format you prefer.

February

It's been a busy year so far - and we're only in February.

We're delighted to welcome brand new band FISH! to Red Grape. FISH! are four 17 year olds from the wilds of Surbiton who have already been attracting attention from the likes of Lauren Laverne and The Sunday Times (no less). Their energetic brand of pop is full of hooks and despite their age this band sound like they've been together for years. We're really excited about them and we'll get some tracks up here very soon for you to hear them for yourself. Their next gig is Petroleum @ Embargo in London's Chelsea on February 12th.

We've just finalised details on licensing Hafdis Huld's rendition of Boo Hewerdine's song 'Weatherman' for a TV ad which is running throughout this year in Eastern Europe and Russia. A full version of the track will be available as a single later this spring. 'Weatherman' is taken from Boo's album 'Harmonograph'.

Hafdis, Boo and Eliza Wren Payne have all played some great gigs, and tour plans are shaping up nicely for the rest of the year. Click on their photos for current gig listings.

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January

There have been many very moving tributes to Christie Hennessy in the press, radio and online, following his deeply sad and untimely death last month. It is ironic that this gifted and talented singer and songwriter's audience has increased greatly since his death, as people have been led to his music through his obituaries. Christie would have probably shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile, "I don't mind as long as they like what they find - and buy my records!"

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December

It's with a heavy heart that we bring you the deeply sad news that Christie Hennessy passed away early this morning. An extraordinarily talented singer, songwriter and teller of stories, Christie really was one in a million. He was an inspiration to everyone who knew him and touched many thousands of lives through his songs and gift of communication. He was one of the good guys.

We'll miss him hugely and we extend our love and thoughts to his family.

Calum & Kerry
Red Grape Records

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7th November

We've cracked it! The new business model that the whole of the music industry has been waiting for is here. Right now. It's our all new 'Pet of the Month' page. We're going to feature lovely fluffy kittens and puppies and all sorts of cute cuddly things that live with our artists, their managers,other lovely people we work with, and who knows, maybe even you. So send us pictures of your pets and we'll put some of them up on our Pet of the Month page. Maybe.

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5th November

A great review of Eliza Wren Payne's debut mini-album, 'Utah', just came in. The reviewer calls her "the most exciting female singer-songwriter in years"! Click on Eliza's image on the top left of this page to read it in full.

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24th October

Hafdis just came back from a storming gig at Iceland Airwaves Festival. An in-store gig at the biggest record shop in Reykjavik had people crammed into the shop, hanging off the stairs to the store-room and standing on the counters trying to get a better view. Her main set at the Reykjavik Museum of Modern Art was sold out, with some members of the audience even removing articles of clothing in their excitement. And remember, this was Iceland in October - that gig was HOT! ......

Interviews and excerpts from the set were broadcast on Rob da Banc's Radio 1 show and Jim Gellatly's show on Xfm.

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4th October

HURRAY!! We've sorted out our player problems and we can now bring you some fab new songs for your delectation and listening pleasure:

Eliza Wren Payne - Click HERE to listen ....

In Her Own Words - Click HERE to listen to a selection of our favourites ....

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1st October

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and to mark this, we're delighted to bring you In Her Own Words, a fabulous compilation album of some of today's most talented female singer songwriters. Featuring songs by Janis Ian, Katie Melua, Karine Polwart, Amy Rigby, Never The Bride and Rosie Oddie as well as some lesser well known, but equally moving singers such as Abby Lathe, Janis Haves and Liz Simcock.

10% of the profits will go to Breast Cancer Haven.

Click HERE for more info and to listen to some of our personal favourites ....

Also worth noting for those of you in the south London/Surrey area is Eliza Wren Payne's gig at 'It's a Girl Thing' at the Grey Horse in Kingston-upon-Thames on 27th October.

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28th September

My my, vodka is a wonderful thing - as those of you who made it down to Reykjavik Nights at the Luminaire will know! It was a fab night and we were treated to some great music from, amongst other Icelandic exports, our own Hafdis Huld. We were hoping to get some video footage of the night, but it proved too difficult to take advantage of Reyka Vodka's generosity in providing free shots AND film at the same time....

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17th September

We're absolutely delighted to introduce Eliza Wren Payne. Arriving from the US with just a maxed-out credit card, £200 and a party dress, Eliza is not a person to do things by halves. Determined to forge a career as a singer, Eliza taught herself to play guitar and honed her craft by playing songs to travellers on London's Tube. Her remarkable voice and striking looks soon got her 'real' gigs and fans across London.

She's been working in the studio with our own Calum MacColl, resulting in the stunning debut mini-album, UTAH which you can hear on her MySpace page, her Website and here (as soon as we sort out the slight player problem - don't go away .....).

UTAH is currently ONLY available at Eliza's gigs and HERE

It will be available in the shops and from on-line retailers from October 30th. May we humbly suggest that you buy it now and savour the feeling of well-being and smug-ness that comes from discovering a fabulous new artist.

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7th August

Hafdis played a fabulous set at The Big Chill Festival two days ago, and made a number of startling discoveries:

1.Even big strong men with beer bellies like wearing tutus from time to time.

2. There is a very strange war going on between people who like blue and people who like orange. ( She didn't have to get involved since she is obviously not going far away from pink anytime soon).