Trowbridge is one of those festivals where you can come away disappointed from the Main Stage, only to find a fantastic band playing in the bar. But, unlike Glastonbury, the site is small enough to make it worth hanging around to see if you like what you’re hearing, and if you don’t, to get to another gig in good time. After listening to Andy Fairweather Low on Sunday evening, we didn’t know what to expect from the Hard Travellers. The blurb in the programme sounded good – but they always do. So we decided to wait. And how we glad we were that we did!

Once in a while a band comes along that has a unique chemistry. The Hard Travelers is just such a band. Each member is an artist in his own right, but together they created a performance that was extraordinary in its power, virtuosity and creativity. It’s impossible to pick out a performance that towers over the others. Whether it was Dave Sharp’s raw driving sound on vocals, Henry McCullough’s amazing guitar break, enhanced by Gary Fletcher’s contributions on bass guitar, Zoot Money’s dazzling keyboard-playing with the occasional vocal, or the drumming from co-founder of the British Blues Quintet, Colin Allen, five unique talents came together to create a wall of astonishing sound that for me was simply the best act of the festival.

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Keith Clark talks to Dave Sharp about his new band, which has been inspired by the music of Woody Guthrie, and is playing the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival

In the 1940s, Woody Guthrie sang:
"I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin', I've been havin' some hard travelin', Lord"

Ever since punk-rooted band The Alarm acrimoniously split in 1991, guitarist Dave Sharp has also been doing his fair share of "hard travelin'" on both sides of the Atlantic.

And it is to the music of Woody Guthrie that he has turned with brand new project, The Hard Travelers, a band dedicated to celebrating the music and the life of the dustbowl troubadour who died in 1967.
"The point when I first heard Woody Guthrie it felt as if it was already inside of me," he said. "I'm not sure when that point was but I felt I had almost had Woody's songs in me before I even started."

If a punk musician from The Alarm and Stiff Little Fingers playing the songs of one of the seminal figures in folk music is a little unexpected, then so is the band of high-profile musicians who have formed around him.

There's Henry McCullough from the Grease and Wings and the keyboardist Zoot Money of the Big Roll Band.
Add to this Gary Fletcher from the Blues Band and drummer Colin Allen who has played with almost everyone including Focus, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan's band, and you have an eclectic bunch of musicians.

"I think that the wonderful thing about Guthrie is that he lends himself to so many different interpretations but I think the sad thing is that so far a lot of people have understood Guthrie in only one light," said Sharp with the passion that typifies this man.

"Guthrie is not an exclusive spirit, he is an inclusive spirit and I think the spirit of Woody Guthrie has been there through Woodstock, through punk rock, through glam rock, through grunge, through rave and back and then back again. I think that Woody Guthrie was the original punk. What we are trying to do with Hard Travelers is not try to define Guthrie. So many people have tried to define him and every time that's happened it hasn't hit me right. I don't think it has hit anybody right. What we're trying to do is... well, we ain't trying to do nothin', you will have to take us as you find us," he added with a laugh.

Prior to the decision to form a band to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Woody Guthrie's death and try to bring his music to a new audience who perhaps had not come under the iconic songwriter's spell, Sharp had never met the other musicians.
Of course, he knew them by reputation.

"We had all been aware of each other because we were all part of music, we're all fans, but as far as I was concerned these were all people I'd read about in the newspapers.
"One by one, as Noah discovered the animals coming into the ark, I think we realised that we loved Woody Guthrie's songs and that we all had this within us. When it became evident that it was Woody's 40th anniversary since passing, we were all thrown together by a mutual party, by somebody with a bit of wisdom who realised that there was something going on here."

The band did their first gig in January and the general consensus of opinion was that something rather special was being forged.
After the Alarm split up, Dave Sharp, who had become seriously disillusioned with the music scene in the UK, decided to move to the States and follow the trail of Woody Guthrie.

"I knew that I could either hang around the UK and be negative or get off my backside and do something positive. I decided to follow my instincts and go make some music and go be happy."

Within a year his first album had been recorded and released, produced by Bob Johnson who'd worked with Dylan and Leonard Cohen. The album was called Hard Travellin'. And, in 1991, he was invited to perform at the Woody Guthrie 80th anniversary concert in Central Park, New York, where he met Guthrie's sister Nora, and the songwriter's manager and friend Harold Leventhal.

For 10 years he toured as an acoustic performer, becoming friends with long time heroes such as Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, both of whom have appeared on his widely acclaimed solo albums.
"A little Limey from Salford, I found myself on a global stage, meeting like-minded people who had wisdom beyond what I could even imagine. I was fortunate enough to accept that there was wisdom beyond what I know but I am an optimistic person and if you can act on your belief then wonderful things can happen."

In 2002, however, he decided to return to Britain and begin touring as a solo performer before forming the band The Soul Company.
But always alongside him of every project there was the spirit of Woody Guthrie and, eventually, The Hard Travelers wre formed.
"You know, we're a bit like The Band but instead of Bob Dylan we've got Woody Guthrie. We are just the band and we don't have a lead singer, all we have got is his spirit.
"The spirit of Woody Guthrie never dies, you know. "

Western Daily Express

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It is not often that Portsmouth has the honour of witnessing the formation of a supergroup. Last night, The Cellars at Eastney hosted the Hard Travelers’ first ever gig. This supergroup, made up of musical legends Dave Sharp, Henry McCullough, Zoot Money, Gary Fletcher and Colin Allen, have between them a collection of credentials including work with The Alarm, Wings, Bob Dylan and The Animals and, despite the fact that they had only gathered for the first time at 10am the day before, they did not disappoint.

The Hard Travelers’ raison d’etre is to celebrate 40 years of the music of the late Woody Guthrie and to bring the spirit of his music to a new generation. The inspirational Guthrie, who died in October 1967, was known as “The father of American Folk” and “one of the patron saints of American rebelliousness”.

Dave Sharp opened proceedings, impressive on lead vocals, with “Lonesome Day” and, half way through the first song, I realised that something very special was unfolding before my eyes. The onstage chemistry between these five legends was electric and the quality of the music was - at the risk of sounding like an over-enthusiastic teenager - awesome. Every note of these classics, (songs, such as “This Land is Our Land” and “This Train is Bound for Glory”), was delivered with energy and not one syllable was thrown away. And, if you didn’t know a song at its start, you sure knew it like an old friend by the end. Zoot Money on keyboard and bass player Gary Fletcher also took their turn on lead vocals, equally impressive. Colin Allen on drums and Henry McCullough on lead guitar completed the line-up, both also oozing with stage presence and helping create the over all effect that you were witnessing the birth of something incredible - something that truly touched the audience. Sharp and Money took advantage of the intimacy the venue provides and took every opportunity to banter with the crowd, Money making reference to the warmth of The Cellars’ audience that he was experiencing not for the first time. The fun atmosphere onstage was infectious and the band were more than worthy of the standing ovation they received after the encore. This band is bound for glory!

It truly was an historic event and, as if that wasn’t enough, every member of the audience will be treated further. All who attended will receive a free live EP recording of the event.

This addition to an impressive programme of events was billed as “a great honour for The Cellars” and is no less than this remarkable venue deserves.

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Dave Sharp, former member of '80s punk/ folk band The Alarm, has formed a new band which will make it's debut live performance at the Cellars on Tuesday.

The Hard Travelers, also features Zoot Money (Big Roll Band, The Animals), Henry McCullough (Wings), Gary Fletcher (The Blues band) and Colin Allen (Bob Dylan/ John Lee Hooker), and will be recording some live tracks for their forthcoming album, a celebration of the music of Woodie Guthrie.

Says Dave: 'We've got four decades of British rock 'n' roll that we want to bring together, and it's 40 years since Woodier Guthrie died. I've always been super-influenced by him - his sense of the human condition moves me a great deal.

'I've been feeling more and more that the human, spiritual side of music has been overlooked. Music has become so corporatised.'

Dave reckons he's not alone in his thinking. After spending 10 years living in America, he says he noticed a change in audiences' attitude to music which is now happening in the UK.

'On a human level, audiences are disillusioned with the smoke and mirrors of corporate rock and want something more honest and meaningful,' he says.

This gig is a prelude to the band's full national tour , The Spirit Of Woodie Guthrie, in the spring and summer.
Adds Dave: 'Portsmouth is the best place to launch our tour. The music scene is very vibrant right now and there are lots of talented musicians here. It's a very real place and I was really excited when I came to the city at the end of last year.'

Says Cellar owner Steve Pitt: 'To be chosen by a band of this pedigree as the venue for a gig this important is truly incredible. Everyone present will be a part of something which I'm sure will become the stuff of legend.'

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