Description
John Otway is an English singer-songwriter who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.
He first came to the attention of the British public in 1977 after a memorable appearance on BBC TV’s Old Grey Whistle Test when a daring leap left him landing painfully astride his guitarists amplifier, followed the same year by A Hit Record Cor Baby That’s Really Free.
And although he had to wait 25 years for another Hit record Bunsen Burner in 2002 his live shows enabled him to grow a large fan base. In 1998 he sold out the Royal Albert Hall and a grassroots campaign saw his song Beware of the Flowers Cause I’m Sure They’re Going to Get You Yeah voted the seventh greatest lyric of all time in a BBC poll.
As well as his songwriting, his shows are noted for his self-depreciating style of humour which he employed in his Autobiography Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure and in his film Otway The Movie which is currently on Netflix.
He still currently tours and celebrated his 5,000th gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire in April 2022
The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican are a British comedy folk and parody band from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Formed in 2006, they claim to be the hardest working comedy band in the UK, having played over 1300 shows throughout the UK.
They are best known on the UK’s festival scene, having played at major festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival, Beautiful Days, Bearded Theory, Rebellion Festival, Wychwood Festival, Kate Rusby’s Underneath The Stars Festival, Towersey Festival, Wickham Festival, Shrewsbury Folk Festival and to an audience of 20,000 at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention
