The Hanging Stars bring cosmic Americana to The Wedgewood Rooms following a triumphant trip to Nashville | Interview

The five-piece, who won this year’s prestigious Bob Harris Emerging Artist trophy at the Americana UK Awards, were playing a run of shows at Americanfest in Nashville.

Now they are back and preparing for a UK tour which kicks off here, at The Wedgewood Rooms on Sunday.

Speaking about the Nashville trip, frontman Richard Olson says: “It was brilliant, we did really well and we did our UK fans proud. We did three showcases, one for the British Underground who helped fund the trip, the main one at The Blue Room – (ex-White Stripes frontman) Jack White's gaffe, and then one at this cool little bar called The Vinyl Tap run by a bunch of pretty groovy people. It was a right adventure.

"I don't know what's going to come out of it, but people had driven from Atlanta and New York to come and see us – it was kind of crazy. And there were some fans from the UK which was even more mental.”

Aside from a one-off gig in LA back in 2015 when they were making their debut album, these were their first US shows.

"We've always had this steady gang of people from America who buy stuff off of our (online music platform) Bandcamp – there's a few in California, a few in Illinois, some in Virginia – all over.”

Does it ever feel like they’re selling coals to Newcastle, though?

Richard laughs: “We kind of adapted our set accordingly because we've got such a back catalogue now that we went in there and said: ‘We're going to be The Hanging Stars and nothing else’. We're not a 'country' band, we're some sort of psychedelic, folk, rock'n'roll, band – I don't know...

“We tailored the set to include everything from songs on the first album up to the next single.”

And the trip to Nashville has inspired the band as a whole.

“We felt really proud to be there and representing. I don't know if we fitted into the Americana scene, the psych scene or whatever it might be – it doesn't matter any more. We just need to be The Hanging Stars, and that's what we did and I think we really succeeded.

“We stuck out – in a good way!

“Nashville is a really inspiring place. I've spent some time there before, I've got some good friends there, and it's an insane place. Everybody, and I'm talking everybody, is a musician – the guy serving you at the bar, the guy driving your cab, the guy serving you at the supermarket, whatever, they're all musicians, so you end up meeting some incredible people. It lives and breathes music.

"I'm not sure about the mainstream side of things but the underground is very inclusive and people helped us out. We didn't go out there with any instruments – we borrowed everything off of friends, and people were so accommodating and so kind.

“You come away from there going: 'I need to get better!' But that's a good thing.”

New single Happiness Is A Bird came out this week, the first new material since last March’s Hollow Heart, their fourth album.

Does this mean there’s a new album pending? “Quite possibly,” says Richard coyly, but won’t be drawn further on the subject.

The band played a sold-out gig at The Edge of The Wedge in 2022 and performed their first ever acoustic shows at The Corner Collective in Southsea back in February. The first of those acoustic shows sold out so fast a second was added, which also swiftly sold out.

This forthcoming show marks their debut in The Wedge’s main room.

"We can't wait to come back to Portsmouth,” says Richard, “we feel like part of the community there and are really welcomed every time we come there.

“I wasn't expecting Portsmouth to become such a friend to us!”

Square Roots Promotions’ Ken Brown has been instrumental in bringing the band to Portsmouth.

"Where I grew up, you called people like that ‘fire souls’ – people who really burn for it and makes things happen. I like the bravery and enthusiasm of Ken. It's a great room and the sound's going to be great.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ And we’ve got some new songs and some new antics...”

Support at The Wedge comes from The Wonky Folk. Tickets £15. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.