Lincoln-based duo Pheasants And Their Enemies are among the performers at Platform Live in June 2013.
Made up of Stewart Aisthorpe & Luke Dawson, the band play commercial folk music in venues across the city and busk on the streets.
Having met at a karaoke night at The Bottle and Glass in Scothern, the duo “didn’t really play together much to begin with”, Aisthorpe explained.
He continued: “Luke picked up the banjo, I picked up the guitar, Luke picked up the harmonica and the mandolin. We learned a lot of songs, then we started writing for fun really and formed on that.”
Aisthorpe also explained where the name for the duo came from: “My dad’s a gamekeeper and we stumbled across one of his books called ‘Pheasants and their Enemies’ by James O. Fitzsimons. We were like ‘yes, that is definitely the new band name!’”
Pheasants And Their Enemies have played the Bailgate Busking Festival and Live And Unsigned – a competition where they got to play at the likes of Sheffield City Hall and Huddersfield Town Hall.
Despite being regulars on the Lincoln music scene, Dawson said that the music scene in Lincoln isn’t great, but he believes “it’s a good place to go out and play, try and put what you’re doing across”.
Aisthorpe agreed: “I think you’ve got to try and get as much of a following as you and then push further afield. There’s not a great deal of places in Lincoln that give the option of original artists. They’re all sort of based on cover bands and they want to hear a lot of tribute bands which is very difficult, especially for us.”
Pheasants And Their Enemies are on the line-up for “Platform Live” – a music event which showcases local talent at The Platform on Saturday, June 8th, 2013.
Dawson said: “It’s a really good idea. Because of the nature of the venues that we play, we sort of hit the older audience quite regularly. Obviously, Lincoln is massively based on its university. That is something that we have struggled to get gigs we’ve played at. It’s a good opportunity and something we’re looking forward to doing.”
Tickets are priced at £4 and can be purchased from the Engine Shed box office and website.