LATEST NEWS Looking forward to our gig at Cafe Kino in Stokes Croft, North Bristol on Dec 7th - great news is that we will be sharing the evening with the Rock and Roll Angels, an acoustic songwriting project based around the intimate and reflective songs of Bristol musician Shaun McCrindle.  Shaun writes lovely songs, sensitively arranged and played by his band.  It's going to be an amazing gig.

Our band really enjoyed performing at the Bristol Fringe in Clifton Village, Bristol recently as part of a songwriter's showcase evening, held on the 4th Tuesday of each month.  A very encouraging and welcoming venue worth visiting.

We enjoyed our gig at the Victoria Park Festival last Saturday 14th September.  Always a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and a delight to play to a crowd of folk enjoying the sunshine and friendly company.  Here we are singing Re-Invent Me with guest fiddle player Kate Fletcher in full flow!

A very enjoyable gig at The Topsham Brewery, Exeter, August 2019
Set right beside a beautiful canal in Exeter, this is a lovely venue with lamplit performance space and a bar selling a full range of local brews.  Every Sunday they host musicians from across the city and we were lucky to be invited to play a full set of songs.  A very appreciative and attentive audience and it will be a delight to return, hopefully alongside Evie's accapella singing group Tess & the d'Urbervilles.  Watch this space for a return date and thanks to Mike for inviting us and hosting such a great venue. 

A special evening at The Rising Sun open mic, Windmill Hill, August 2019

The Rising Sun is fast becoming one of Bedminster's key music venues, offering a wide range of music throughout the week in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.  We popped along to play a few songs with just Barry, Glyn and Rich and ended up playing a full set for a very appreciative crowd, and an invite to come back for a full gig sometime soon!  Playing as a 3-piece suite was great fun.  We missed Jon, Evie, Ce and Paul of course, but it allowed Rich's amazing guitar and Glyn's fine percussion playing to shine through.  Looking forward to returning soon with the full band to this fantastic local venue.

Barry and the Fridges at Keynsham Music Festival - July 2019

We had a lot of fun playing on the Abbey Folk Stage at Keynsham Music Festival on Saturday July 6th with a full band line up for this gig;  including fiddle player Kate Fletcher who joined us for some of our songs, playing alongside Paul, our resident fiddle player (see top banner)

Watch!
Why not visit our new Watch section to see some more videos of the band performing at various festivals and clubs. Including, some older sessions of Barry performing with various retired members of the Fridge Mechanics at the now closed Valindra Open Mic in 2015.  Some great instrumental playing from Jamie Hill and James Anderson.  Also, videos of the band performing at Keynsham Music Festival 2019 and the Rec House, Bath in June 2017.

Gigs in 2019?
We look forward to some of our favourites, but especially an appearance at Bath Festival Party in the City on the 17th May and a booking for Keynsham Festival on July 6th - Several others in the pipeline, so watch this space as gigs unfold!

A new CD in 2019!
Creating music and lyrics is always an amazing experience and new songs have continued to arrive over the past few years.  .  Our last CD was Indian Ink, made in December 2014, and we have booked studio time in November 2019 to record another CD with our usual musical suspects, plus some special guests.  Really looking forward to it, and more news as it unfolds.  Watch this space!

Animations and Videos

 IF I HAD THAT SHIRT VIDEO - SONGSHEET #1

I have always been fascinated by the possibilities of integrating visual imagery with music and over the years have sometimes used films and slides when performing some of my songs.  Some of you will know The Shirt Song, a song I wrote about a tramp I used to see gazing longingly at a shirt in a shop window in Saville Row, London.  The song is all about dreaming and wishing and I always imagined a cartoon o r animation to bring this story to life.  In 2015, I hired an Australian animator Durand Greig http://is.gd/hG2KsV to interpret the song for us.  He did a wonderful job, there is a still from it on this page.  You can play it on this page, also here is a Youtube link to it if you want to view it full screen;  https://youtu.be/WJ8YlSxt-M8  Hope you enjoy it!  Let me know?  Leave some comments on YouTube!  I like the idea of sharing songs like this, with lyrics and images combined with a recording, so this will be Songsheet #1 of a series I will publish on Youtube this year.  I will be asking some other animators to produce some more interpretations of the songs we do.

NAILHOUSE - SONGSHEET #2
Some of you will have heard a new song, Nailhouse, we performed last December at the Cafe Kino and at the Square Club in Clifton.  This song is about Chinese people who refuse to move their homes when a motorway or office block is bu ilt, s o the authorities build them around their houses, until they eventually flamethrow or bully them out.  Their homes are called Nailhouses because they are 'nailed' to the ground.  I was moved and fascinated by the images of Nailhouses on Google, so I wrote a song about it.  A film maker called Diana Taylor, in Clifton, Bristol UK http://is.gd/0Lam7K heard us performing this song, and has made a film based on the song lyrics and story of Nailhouses.  The film is an apt and powerful interpretation of the lyrics and music.  We are proud to present this song, and Diana's moving film.

 

A CD of new and regular songs recorded with Dutch concert cellist Mieke de Laure in December 2014.  Sung and played by Barry Lane with guest appearances from the Fridge Mechanics band. Available as a CD or individual tracks via Paypal for £5 from the STORE (please have credit card ready)  listen to demo tracks from the CD HERE Cover artwork by Sarah Parkinson. Calligraphy Mollie Meagre www.molliemeagre.co.uk

DIDN'T WE DREAM Barry Lane and the Fridge Mechanics Available as a CD or individual tracks via Paypal for £5 from the STORE (please have credit card ready)  listen to demo tracks from the CD HERE    Cover artwork conceived and designed by Barry Lane and Sarah Parkinson.