Playing with The Second Hand Marching Band joining the regular WH band for a tune or two in Glasgow. 🙂

Here’s a recent feature by Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman newspaper that appeared in the Arts Supplement on 20th March 2012.

Click here to read it

A tiny memento of a crazy three weeks across Europe, from Rotterdam to Vienna and many beautiful places inbetween. In the company of the delightful Benni Hemm Hemm. Thanks to everybody who came to the shows, listened, bought records, showed kindness, and just said ‘hi’….

Belated, unexpected, but welcome 4* from MOJO magazine (March 2010)

Deceptively downhome 10 tracker, part-funded by the Scottish Arts Council

Fans of Viking Moses ‘Crosses’ and Sufjan Stevens ‘Seven Swans’ will warm to the rustic instrumentation and visionary undertow of Edinburgh’s Withered Hand. And at times on this impressive debut Dan Willson’s alter ego attains the celestial lustre of that holy grail of lapsed evangelical folk nouveau, the first Palace Brothers album. The individual lines which jump out on first hearing – from the sardonic “Why did Nirvana ever bother to play here?” to the frankly disconcerting “I beat myself off when i sleep on your futon” – settle back luxuriously on subsequent listens into beautifully constructed lyrical frameworks. And while Withered Hand may lack the commercial clout of previous Scottish Arts Council beneficiaries Snow Patrol and Belle and Sebastian, converts to his banjo-tinged brand of Caledonian gospel will sing its praises with a zeal worthy of John Calvin.

Ben Thompson

Here’s a wee video featuring ‘No Cigarettes’ (the You’re Not Alone EP version), spliced with footage taken at Fence Records’ Halloween Weekender 2009, by Forest of Black.

Good News, Withered Hand’s first full-length album, was released on September 14th 2009. Isn’t that great news? Part-funded by the Scottish Arts Council, the album was recorded by Pete Harvey (The Leg) and produced by cult indie rock hero Kramer (Low / Galaxie 500 / Daniel Johnston).

“It is quite some time since a debut release has placed 10 such perfect songs back to back.” (The Herald, *****)

“Willson’s sing-a-long afflictions and satirical narratives are marvellous. ‘Lord… won’t you listen to me, your unfaithful servant’s filthy fucking language’, he importunes on ‘Love in the Time of Ecstasy’, a sonorous ‘so-what’ to the hereafter.” (The List, ****)