Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls (UK)

JO CARLEY AND THE OLD DRY SKULLS (UK)
European bookings

BOOK JO CARLEY AND THE OLD DRY SKULLS

Tourdates 2021:

05/09/2021 - Sunday Arts & Roots festival - Belgium - Aarschot
06/09/2021 - Monday De Floeren Aap - Belgium - Mechelen
07/09/2021 - Tuesday Kulturrampe - Germany - Krefeld
08/09/2021 - Wednesday Q - Germany - Marburg
09/09/2021 - Thursday Rote Res - Germany - Bodenmais
10/09/2021 - Friday Blau - Germany - Mannheim
11/09/2021 - Saturday Kerrigan's Tavern - Switzerland - Martigny-Bourg
12/09/2021 - Sunday Lukas Bar - Switzerland - Sankt Gallen
14/09/2021 - Tuesday Sonic Ballroom - Germany - Köln
15/09/2021 - Wednesday Heile Welt - Germany - Münster
16/09/2021 - Thursday Barzoen - Belgium - Turnhout
17/09/2021 - Friday JH Aurora - Belgium - Borgloon 
18/09/2021 - Saturday The Grand Canyon - Belgium - Nazareth
19/09/2021 - Sunday Rock´n Roses Outdoor Belgium Liège
23/09/2021 - The Flowerpot - UK- Derby
25/09/2021 - The Globe - UK- Hay-on-Wye
26/09/2021 - Three Horseshoes - UK- Bradford on Avon
02/10/2021 - Leek Blues Festival (mainstage in afternoon) - UK- Leek
03/10/2021 - Filey Americana Festival (headline) - UK- Filey
16/10/2021- The Green Note - UK- London
29/10/2021 - The Dorothy Pax - UK- Sheffield
30/10/2021 - Louth Blues CLub (with the Achievers) - UK- Louth
31/10/2021 - Voodoo Festival / Jenny Lind - UK- Hastings
13/11/2021 - Tenby Blues Festival (mainstage) - UK- Tenby
08/12/2021 - The Robin2 (with Big Damn Band)  - UK- Bilston


Tourdates 2022 - more to be announced soon!
17/03/2022 - Thursday Kulturrampe - Germany - Krefeld
19/03/2022 - Saturday Buchholz Saloon - Germany - Altlandsberg
22/03/2022 - Tuesday Tortuga - Germany - Unna
23/03/2022 - Wednesday Kofferfabrik - Germany - Fürth
24/03/2022 - Thursday Duycker Americana (Poppodium Duycker) - The Netherlands - Hoofddorp
25/03/2022 - Friday Broken Necks festival - Belgium - Arlon
26/03/2022 - Saturday Subrosa - Germany - Dortmund
27/03/2021 - Sunday Den Heilige Cornelius - The netherlands - Roermond
31/03/2022 - Thursday Le Hangar - Belgium - Liège (TBC)
01/05/2022 - Sunday  Alternative Maifest - Germany - Lubeck
05/05/2022 - Thursday Monkeys - Germany - Hamburg 
06/05/2022 - Friday Flöz-K - Germany - Werne

Jo Carley and The Old Dry Skulls combine the voodoo sounds of the blues with old-timey vaudeville cabaret. Music that makes people wanna shake their bones!

Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls 11

Dedicated to the subversive, the world of Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls is dark, animated and unusual. Seeking to amuse and draw the audience into an underworld filled with wonder, the macabre and the imagination they combine elements of Vaudeville, Skiffle, early horror films, early ska, calypso, old-timey country, and the Blues. This trio play a unique hybrid of early 20th Century music infused with dark Cabaret.

Voodoo has found its way onto the British shores and Jo Carley is the voodoo queen sent to predict hell in a way to entertain and amaze you. This demonic music-hall mistress tells tales of terror in old-timey fashion. She is backed by her song-writing partner and husband Tim Carley, a man of considerable size who plays “syncopated rhythms to shake your soul” on a beaten up archtop guitar, kick drum and rattlin’ shoe, with friend and fellow fiend James Le Huray providing the final ingredients of the spell, in the shape of double bass and banjo.

‘Voodoo Bones & Vaudeville Blues’ (the bands third album) was recorded during lockdown in the bands tiny shack of a house on the East Coast of England. When the pandemic hit, they threw out the couch and the TV, turning their living room into a recording studio, laying down twelve new songs using only old school techniques and a few good microphones. There they waited out the Lockdown until they could mix and master the recordings to ¼ mono tape with Ed Deegan at Gizzard Recordings in London. This analogue and primitive way of recording totally captures the bands unique sound and the result is the bands most retro and authentic sounding record to date. Rooted firmly in a bygone era when Voodoo and Black Magic were rife, it has all the vibe, sounds and character of the old Blues, Old-timey Country, Skiffle, Calypso and Rock n Roll records that inspired them to make this album.

  • “… On ‘Voodoo Bones & Vaudeville Blues’, Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls do what they do very well. They continue to brew their unique concoction of voodoo and vaudeville and skilfully season it with some blues, rock and other fine spices that taste for more after dark…“ (ESC for Rootstime.be)
  • “…a steaming broth of cabaret, blues, ska, Vaudeville, voodoo and skiffle. Horror stories are the main course, with a side orders of sex, trouble, and all-night parties” – Hans Werksman – Here Comes The Flood
  • “…riffs and rhythms, stomp and tap, crazy woman on vocals you find yourself waiting for her to cast a spell on you” – Alan Pearce – Blues Matters Magazine
  • “…a macabre fairytale, …Naughty creepy, full of sarcasm, this album predicts a wonderful performance when the band also visits Belgium during their tour in 2021, “So let’s shake those bones together”!” – Luminous Dash (Belgium)
  • “9/10 …invigorating macabre blues to keep you warm this winter” – Viola Noir (Russia)
  • “…Het was een avond vol zombies, ratelende botten en wil je wat gedaan hebben, dan kun je Jo Carley even aanspreken, maar deze voodoopriesteres vraagt wel een hoge prijs. Het werd een heerlijke bezwerende show waar lustig met magische liedjes werd gestrooid.
    Het zijn liedjes die een heerlijke retro feel hebben, de spanning erin houden, maar ook nu en dan een flinke lach op gelaat toveren. Prachtig zijn ‘Shake Them Rattlin’ Bones’ en na het creepy ‘Wolves’ met sterk banjo spel van James Le Huray en het oudere succesnummer ‘Dance ‘Til You’re Dead’. Dat gebeurde gelukkig niet, maar een bijzonder goed, sfeervol en fijn optreden van Jo Carley & The Old Dry Skulls leverde een juichende ovatie op en de hoop dat deze band toch gauw weer Noord-Nederland aandoet.” – thenextgig.nl
  • “…riffs and rhythms, stomp and tap, crazy woman on vocals you find yourself waiting for her to cast a spell on you” DR. EADNIGHT – Blues Matters Magazine
  • “A spooky slab of backwoods punk, mixed with medicine show huckster and old timey roots music. JCODS make deliciously devilish sounds. Something wicked coming this way. Highly recommended” – Folkcast
  • “That nailed it, good stuff. Left of field stomper. A wonderful fusion of trad, old timey, New Orleans Voodoo Queen ” – Mike Harding / Mike Harding Folk Show
  • “London Junkyard Punk or Punk-yard London Junk?? Multi genre, non specific, absolutely great. Its brilliant!” – Punky Radio
  • “Jo Carley & The Old Dry Skulls were a joy to behold. Rooted firmly in a bygone era when Voodoo and Black Magic were rife, the audience were all spellbound by the performance and its originality” Adrian Blacklee – Blues Matters Magazine (UK)
  • “… a creepy-mischievous touch. Sarcasm is no stranger to her. It seems as if she predicts hell in such a way that you have to laugh about it” – Cultuurpakt.be (Belgium)
  • “The rhythms are uplifting, Jo Carley’s voice remains mysterious with a mischievous twist. Nice deep bass rhythms, screeching strings and ominous, rattling percussion chase a person through the land of the living dead.” Cultuurpakt (Belgium)
  • “… a wonderfully enchanting show where magical songs were scattered.” – thenextgig.nl (Netherlands)
  • “… Een heerlijk album …. maar als je wel van een horrorverhaal houdt zou ik zeker naar het oude vaudeville theater gaan om dit verhaal te beluisteren.” – Bluestown Music (Netherlands)
  • “…a magic potion made up from early 20th century blues and old-time, post-war skiffle and rock’n’roll, Don’t be scared, notwithstanding these weird times it’s only
    entertainment and we like it!” – Tom Keller / Folkworld (Germany)
  • “Tongue firmly-in-cheek they provide a full set of old school entertainment, a sideshow where vaudeville, blues and skiffle conspire to get their audiences to dance their asses off.” – Hans Werkman / Here Comes The Flood (NL)
    “… they’ve conjured up some delicious spells in their cauldron of verse, complete with wing of bat and tongue of snake” – Graham Munn / Blues In Britain Magazine
  • “Don’t fight it, let your soul be taken by the voodoo and soothed by these irresistible bluesy rockabilly rhythms. Turn to the dark-side, even if its just for half an hour or so…” – Neil Hodge / Louderthanwar
    “With great lyrics and the combination of haunting ragtime blues they create a stupendously enjoyable jaunt into the darker recesses of voodoo, … It’s superb fun and a real pleasure to just
    “Folk instruments deployed with maximum attitude” 9/10 – Vive Le Rock Magazine (UK)
    “…medicine show huckster and old timey roots music. JCODS make deliciously devilish sounds. Something wicked coming this way. Highly recommended” – Folkcast (UK)
    “That nailed it, good stuff. Left of field stomper. A wonderful fusion of trad, old timey, New Orleans Voodoo Queen” – Mike Harding / Mike Harding Folk Show (UK)
    “There are dark warnings, powerful accusations, gritty observations and singular attitude… this is a musical heist that robs you of ordinary and replaces it with exceptional” – Folkwords (UK)
  • “Let’s be honest. In this dark age, Jo Carley gives us positive energy with The Old Dry Skulls. Vintage music poured with a modern sauce. Perfect for a good feeling and a must in every club, any festival” – Keys and Chords Magazine (Belgium)
  • “Being scared has never been so much fun. Eyes closed, lights out, music on. Then tremble and shake and then laugh.” – Cultuurpakt (Belgium)
  • “…you will soon be dancing to the dead beat. An excellent album to keep you awake at night” – Shirl / Blues Matters Magazine

Links:

LockTown Sessions: Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls recorded 2 EXCLUSIVE LockTown sessions as a duo at their home (live session in times of lockdown). Watch it here.

LockTown session May 2020
LockTown session April 2020

Interview:

Recent Live Videos:

Official Music Videos:

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