Getting in Tune - Wigtown Bookshop band releases new album with help from rock legend
Their new album is to be released at the end of the month.
Last updated 10th Jun 2024
A member from The Who has taken a different approach to music and is to be a producer of Wigtown Bookshop Band’s new album.
This once in a lifetime opportunity came about when guitarist Pete Townshend heard and enjoyed Ben Please and Beth Porter’s music and got in touch asking about creating music with them.
The dynamic duo jumped at the chance to work with the rock legend and even recorded songs in Townshend’s own studio.
Now, they are just finishing putting together the finishing touches on their special album.
Beth Porter says their journey started four years ago when the pair stayed at Townshend’s house thanks to a mutual connection whilst they were touring and as a thank you, they left some of their work for him to listen to.
“We left some of our old albums just on his door mat when we left saying thanks for letting us stay and about a month later, he sent us an email saying he had actually listened to them and really enjoyed them and if we ever wanted to come back and stay the next time we were on tour, we could stay in one of his cottages so it was really nice.
“I really cheekily wrote back and said “That’s great Pete. Could we come back and record the songs that we wrote when we were staying there?” and he said that was “absolutely fine, you know where the studio is, go for it.”
“So, about a week before we were due to pass through and record these songs, not thinking he’d be there at all, we got another email from him saying “should we just do an album together?” and we were like okay!” Ben Please explains.
Townshend, also formerly a bookshop owner, said he was “blown away” with the set of CDs he was left.
He said: “I listened to the CDs in my car as I was travelling. I was blown away, completely blown away. I got into the whole Bookshop Band technique, which is just two people making this sound like a symphony orchestra. It's quite extraordinary. Each song was special in its own way. So, I reached out.”
Not only is he acting as producer, but he also plays on every track.
From there on, the three have been working on Emerge, Return which is consists of 13 original songs written by Ben and Beth.
Porter says she’s enjoyed working closely with the rock legend but has managed to narrow down her favourite memory:
“Just things like where we could just watch Pete just doing his thing, I think that was probably one of the highlights for me, that’s what excited me and when he’d get all these pedals and start working things out on the keys, that was really exciting.”
“I think people are surprised because we sound nothing like The Who, let’s face it. We are very acoustic, we write these songs to perform in intimate, small bookshops which is a very different venue to the sort of outpouring of The Who.
“But you can certainly hear Pete’s influence and his sounds and the way he plays on the tracks so it’s a really interesting moulding, an interesting marriage of two quite different styles coming together in a hopefully nice way.” Says Please.
The release date is 28 June, and the pair will soon begin their full, 71-date UK tour starting in Glastonbury Festival.