Tony and Una

Some short biogs for festivals/introductions

Musical Troubadours Tony and Una both live a stone’s throw from Shaftesbury, they have to ........ the ASBO say so! Una comes from County Louth in Ireland while Tony escaped from Manchester. Together they play acoustic music straight from their hearts. Be it happy or, rip your heart out music. Una has the Irish lilt that only comes from the windswept shores of Ireland. Add Tony’s guitar and they paint music like Picasso painted art. Join them in their detours from the main highway and find a path the Sat Nav will never find. 
 

Una Walsh and Tony Dean have crafted an eclectic series of songs that will also shake a few prejudices and preconceptions. Opener What Did I Do, with its Wonder Stuffed intro, instantly showcases Una's angelic voice.  Clear as winter ice, it is cultured enough to host its own late-night Radio 4 arts show. And for those that thought folk was fit only for fey subjects and whimsy, Kebab Crazed Nutter will catch them like the business end of a broken beer bottle. It's a slice of contemporary realism, served in pitta bread, with extra chili sauce. Then there's the left-field arrival of Modern Life, a piano-led jazz track that oozes class and features a stunning trumpet line. The intimacy of Absent Friends draws you in impossibly, so you're left holding your breath as though eavesdropping outside the confessional. You can sense the craftsmanship that has been put into these songs. Every performer adds only what the song requires, nothing else. And that display of taste and restraint is something which louder, more gregarious members of the family could do well to emulate…

Philfy Phil Derbyshire Times.

Tony and Una, a musical duo rolling down the hillside like an explosive hiccup. Una, red-haired, Irish. Her voice, crystal sharp with dangerous emotional edges. Tony, gritty northerner, six-stringed failed bankrupt.

Together they frog march emotions into your heart for a sleepover. History of gigs wider than the Amazon river. More support slots than a truss. Songs scattered badly while on a drunken walk home. Too old to be young, too young to be dead. Comparisons and relations can be drawn to the likes of Joni Mitchell while drunk, Bruce Springsteen before the operation, James Taylor after a haircut. This is serious stuff, single malt Islay whisky aged over 30 years. Drink responsibly, you have been warned!