Miranda Swift & Fiona Raggatt - guitar, violin and vocals
Tom Everett - drums and vocals, Roy Jackson - bass, piano and vocals
BOOKING: contact@sabaifolk.com
Influences
The Shins, Gomez, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Feist, The Indigo Girls, Badly Drawn Boy, Bjork, Kate Bush, Cowboy Junkies, Manu Chao, The Stone Roses, The White Stripes, Sublime, Slayer, The Levellers, The Cure, Fela Kuti, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Stefan Grapelli,and many many others, including various musically talented friends
Sounds Like
Beth Orton and Belle and Sebastian jamming in a pub in rural Scotland
’I have seen Miranda Swift and Fiona Raggatt perform as a duo on a couple of occasions in the past, so when Miranda informed me that they would be playing the back room of The Carriers Quarters as a four piece I was interested to see how they would sound. As a duo they seemed able to combine eclectic musical styles and clever vocal harmonies in an effortless and interesting way, so adding a back line made me wonder how their style might have evolved.
What I found was a rhythm section provided by Tom Everett (Drums) and Roy Jackson (Bass) that have afforded Miranda and Fiona the luxury of being able to relax and enjoy what they do, even more than before. Throughout the entire evening the drums and bass provided a solid and rhythmical driving backbone that has now supplied a template for both girls to give their songs so much more and as a result actually improve their performance.
Sabai have a style that is solidly rooted in folk, but during the course of the evening they weaved a varied and tangled path through jazz, reggae, Latin and rock without sounding disjointed or messy. On the contrary, it was very clear that they ’own’ their own sound and furthermore, understand where to take it.
The original material was cleverly arranged, with honest and at times gritty lyrics, sang with good old-fashioned feeling and honest emotion. "Smokey Bar" which, judging by her performance, Fiona enjoyed singing immensely and "Arisaig", introduced as a song about pirates, were the standouts for me.
It will be interesting to see where the influence of drums and bass will take Sabai. On this showing I’d say onwards and upwards. In the slightly cramped but warm atmosphere of The Carriers Quarters, they delivered an energetic and accomplished performance, which was enjoyed by an engrossed audience. I for one look forward to their next gig.’
Craig Richie - Leither magazine
Sabai's founding members Fiona and Miranda met at a house party while both living in Northern Thailand 8 years ago and have been playing music together ever since. After years on the road they decided to bring their music to the western world where they hoped to find more inspiration, and ultimately, a wider audience. Two years ago the duo moved to Edinburgh, and have been on the scene locally since then.
December 2007 saw the addition of Tom and Roy, and since their first gigs together it's become obvious that the 4 have created a sound that really works. They've been going from strength to strength, recently performing at the Acoustic Festival of Britain 2008 before a very appreciative audience.
Sabai is a brilliant band to watch live. The interaction between the 2 girls is something that can only have come from many years of playing together. And the bass and drums carry the tunes, making you want to sway, clap your hands, or just get up and boogie.
Sabai is a Thai word which is often used, meaning take it easy, relax, feeling fine.
Thank you so much for playing Drop guys! You really got us off to a good start, despite my 'technical' hitches, you were professional and FANTASTIC!! Much Love and hope to catch you on at Carriers. xxxx (one each!) Duffy
oOo a fellow knitter! Solfest was a good gig - bit big though. Knockengorroch is alledgedly a beautiful setting and a nice friendly festival - weird that, Chumbawumba are playing and I soooooooo want to see them too. Maybe I'll just have to go too! Lx
Here is the forth comig shows at Rockers for July 2008 Tickets are on sale at www. ticketweb. co. uk and www. seetickets. com all these shows there is limited tickets left for please buy in advance to avoid dissappoinment with sold out shows on the night.
.
Make sure to make it out and don't miss out on some great July Shows
Rockers Sponsors Rock Radio Scotland 96. 3FM Tom Russell's God Father of Rock 10am till 2pm weekdays
Hi it would have been lovely to see you guys last night, wish I had seen this posting yesterday. It went really well turned out that we kind of hogged the lime light a bit as we we're on for longer than anyone else.... I guess that's the advantage to being able to go on stage cold, whilst the others wanted a bit of an alcoholic warm up. Glad you all had a good time in London. Hope Tom passed on the message re Leith Fest and the meridian open mic. Please don't feel the need to avoid it on my account. It'll be great to see you at the gig at Bert's if your not busy yourselves. Sx
Hello you lovely Creatures, shame you can't make the Ark, would have been a riot to see you guys there. Still we have a couple of toher gigs to choose from this month should the mood take you;-)
Aww ya wee scone. Dont think I'll be able to make The Carriers. Might catch up with you on Friday though if you manage to haul yourself down to The Village. Take care, Craig
