Important Information

Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer.
In recent years they have been accompanied on tour and in the studio by double-bassist Miranda Sykes.1990sTheir first album was, unusually, a live album.
Recorded at the Bull Hotel in Bridport, Dorset, and titled Live '92, the excellent reviews it garnered helped them break into the festival circuit of 1993, and later that same year they toured with Ralph McTell on his autumn tour.During 1992 Knightley and Beer were invited to join an inter-cultural music project which involved working with three exiled Chilean musicians.
Out of this the band Alianza was formed and an album made.
Alianza toured throughout 1992 and 1993 and influenced the duo greatly.
They were introduced to a new range of rhythms and instruments and Steve was inspired to write songs that are now favourites with Show of Hands fans including "Santiago", "Armadas" and "Columbus Didn't Find America".
Some of these found their way onto the first Show of Hands studio album Beat about the Bush, which was released in 1994.In 1995 Show of Hands released their second studio album Lie of the Land.
The album proved a turning point as it gathered in reviews from major publications hailing it as a masterpiece and a classic.
Mojo said the album created "a powerful, fresh sounding music with both integrity and widespread appeal", while Q magazine called it a "startlingly good" album and went one further in voting it their folk album of the year in 1996.With thousands of fans on their mailing list, Show of Hands had long wanted to play a concert big enough to gather all those fans together.
Different ideas were brought up but none seemed right until London's Royal Albert Hall was suggested; the perfect venue, prestigious and big enough! The undertaking required a huge gamble by the duo and their management, but the show sold out in advance and took place on the evening of 24 March 1996.In 1997, they released their third studio album, Dark Fields, which contained fan favourite "Cousin Jack".
They released Folk Music in 1998, which contains traditional songs.
It was only available through post and at the band's concerts at the time.2000sAs is implied by the album name, Covers, the studio album released in 2000, contained only cover versions of songs by other artists.
The songs were selected from ones that the duo had performed at concerts or sound checks over the years, and included music from artists such as Jethro Tull, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan and Ralph McTell.In 2001 Show of Hands celebrated their tenth anniversary with another sell out show at the Royal Albert Hall.
The concert was recorded by Carlton TV for network transmission and was shown as two dedicated half-hour programmes.Their next studio album Cold Frontier was released in 2001 and was the first album to be recorded by Mick Dolan, who took responsibility for the Show of Hands sound after producer/manager Gerard O'Farrell returned to his native Australia.
The following tour consisted of unreleased new material.
The new material was presented in the live album Cold Cuts, as almost all of its tracks were never released as studio material.
The Path, the first instrumental album by Show of Hands, was released in 2003 and is a celebration of the sights and sounds of the West Country coast.
Each track is named after a different location, and creates an atmospheric musical portrait of the sea, and the seaside.
In October 2003, the album Country Life was released.
This studio recording of Knightley's most recent songs also featured a special bonus CD with alternative mixes of selected tracks.Show of Hands won the Best Live Act award at the 2004 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
The winning of that particular award was especially pleasing to the duo as for that year it was voted on by the public and not by the usual panel of judges.
At the 2005 awards they were nominated for Best Duo and were part of the Oysterband Big Session group that won the 'Best Group' award.For their extensive tour in autumn 2004 the duo temporarily became a trio when they were joined by Miranda Sykes on double bass and vocals.
Although initially reluctant, audience enthusiasm convinced them that the time was right for another Show of Hands live album.
"We realised that we had the raw material to create a double album that would hopefully capture a song, a set or a moment in all of our musical lives." - Steve Knightley.
As You Were, a live double-album, was released in 2005 and comprised 22 tracks recorded at various venues during the autumn tour.
Miranda has since toured extensively with Show of Hands, and there were few shows in 2005 and 2006 where she was absent from the lineup.In May 2006, Show of Hands released their ninth studio album Witness.
The album was produced by Simon Emmerson and Simon ‘Mass’ Massey from the Afro Celts.In November 2006, they were voted the "Greatest Devonians" in Devon County Council's competition, with more than a third of the votes.
Other contenders included Sir Francis Drake, Charles Babbage, Agatha Christie and Muse.
Their support of local good causes has ranged from continued fundraising for a children's hospice in the county to playing a special St George's Day concert in Sandford to raise money to save the village Post Office there.Recent workShow of Hands played London's Royal Albert Hall for a concert on 8 April 2007, which was their third performance there.
This was to celebrate their 15 year partnership as Show of Hands.In July 2008 Show of Hands played at the first folk proms concert in the Welsh Proms season in St Davids Hall, Cardiff.
On 26 July 2008, Show of Hands played at the Evolve 08 festival in Lodmoor Park, Weymouth, along with Miranda Sykes.
Steve Knightley returned to the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival in July 2009 without Phil Beer, due to Beer's sailing at the time.
As such, he played songs from his then-new solo album Track of Words - Retraced.
Show of Hands returned to the festival in July 2010 with both members.In October 2009, the band's tenth studio album, Arrogance Ignorance and Greed was released.In February 2010, the group won both "Best Duo" and "Best Original Song" for the track "Arrogance Ignorance and Greed" at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.Previously unreleased Show of Hands compositions before 1987 (and some from after 1987) appeared on Phil Beer's box set, Box Set One, in 2010.In November 2010, they released their eleventh studio album, Covers 2, also their second covers album after Covers from 2000.
The album was credited to Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes, the first time for Sykes to get a leading album credit.
Following the album's release, the band toured with Texan guitarist Rodney Branigan.Their song "Roots" appeared on the compilation album "The Best of British Folk".
But it was also used, without permission, by the British National Party in a campaign video.
The band successfully had their music removed from the campaign video and showed opposition to the BNP by joining the "Folk Against Fascism" movement.The duo's next album had the working title Who Gets to Feel Good, the title eventually being confirmed as Wake the Union, and upon its release in October 2012, it is their most commercially successful album to date.Show of Hands are festival patrons at the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival, The Sidmouth Folk Festival, St Ives Festival and The Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.
Knightley is also patron of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival.