News

And my my, we’ve made a lot of love (well, you know what we mean!)

So, after four years of extensive touring, recording and meeting some amazing people (you know who you are!), we’re going to wind The Threetles down this year. We’ve had an absolute blast from starting out in early 2019 squeezed into The Golden Slipper on Goodramgate in York (still sitting down in those days!), to being booked for countless festivals and shows, including, of course, getting to play at The Cavern Club as part of Liverpool’s International Beatlesweek in 2021 and the wonderful Beatlenight in France during March 2022. We never dreamed it would ever be as successful as it has been – we only formed it as a threepiece, with no drums so that we could fit easiy into York’s tiny pubs. It’s a real testament to the Fab Four’s great songwriting that we’ve had as much joy as we have done. Altogether, we’ve clocked up nearly 200 live performances since we’ve been together, and the memories that we will each take away from these shows and experiences will stay with us forever, as well as the things we’ve learnt along the way (and, no just just the words and chords!) From long car and train journeys, lugging equipment around Liverpool (and London Hard Rock Cafes for that matter) and sharing hotel rooms (and yes, even beds – we certainly were a threesome that night!!), we really have packed a lot into the last two years, especially considering that three lockdowns were in the middle of it all! Well, three is the magic number after all!

And of course, what has evolved from The Threetles is something even more special (to us anyway), and that is our originals project, One Iota, which began during the first lockdown when we decided to write songs of our own, given that we couldn’t get out to play live at that point. We really surprised ourselves with the outpouring of music, and even got to visit the legendary Abbey Road recording studios to make the album (thanks to the kind support of so many of you by preordering our album – More Than You Take).

We are actually currently writing the next album for One Iota (Shadows In The Shade) and this is one of the reasons why we’ve decided to wind down The Threetles, so that we can really develop our originals project. If you’re interested in following our progress with this and helping us out by ordering a copy, then do join our One Iota newsletter to be the first to know what we’re up to. We’d love to carry on the journey with you.

But all things must pass (ahem..) and now that James Brown has successfully begun his career as a cruise ship musician, and is seeing the four corners of the world (although mainly the Caribbean!), we thought it was time to bring this chapter to a close. We can’t thank James Gibbs enough for stepping in and taking on the John Lennon role, and there are still a few shows left before we hang up the Hofner for good, but after March of this year, there will be no more public performances of The Threetles (peace and love, peace and love, no more autographs etc etc)

However… there will be ONE LAST CHANCE to see The Threetles in its original lineup, as James Brown will be back in Blighty during June of this year. So, we’re putting on a really special show to finish in style before he jets off again; we’ve hired the Bishopthorpe Social Club in York for Friday 16th June, where we’ll be putting on a show with a slight difference from the usual. As well as having one or two guest appearances on certain songs, we’re also going to mark the anniversary of 60 years since The Beatles’ first LP was released (Please Please Me) in 1963, so we will be performing songs from this iconic album in the first half, before returning to all the usual hits for the second half. The venue has limited capacity, so this show will sell out, but tickets are available now, so don’t miss out – click HERE to get yours now!

We really hope to see as many of you at the next few shows as possible, and we’d really love you to carry on the journey with us with One Iota (click here to join the newsletter) but for now (and who knows what the future holds) we’re going to call it a day for The Threetles.

Friday 24th Februrary 9pm – Acomb Conservative Club, York

Sunday 26th February 9pm – Kennedy’s, York

Sunday 26th March 9pm – Kennedy’s York

Friday 16th June 8pm – Bishopthorpe Social Club REUNION FINALE SHOW

Exciting news indeed! This week we heard from Abbey Road studios to say that we can definitely record there in September as we’d hoped. Their restrictions are easing over the coming weeks and they will be welcoming us in, with no restrictions, on 18th and 19th September so that we can get the album finished!

Needless to say, we are delighted at this news, and it means that we can have the album mastered, the album artwork printed, the CDs pressed and the jiffy bags stamped and posted out during late October or early November. It’s not quite the summer release we were hoping for, but we hope you’ll bear with us for a few months longer.

The album will feature 14 all-original songs, which are all very harmony-led pop songs. The three of us have each written songs for the album, and each take lead vocals on different songs, but you’ll hear the recognisable harmonies weaving throughout all of the songs, as well as the songwriting twists and turns we’ve picked up from getting inside The Beatles’ music in recent years. It’s by no means a Beatles pastiche though (that sounds like something you might get from a novelty bakery!) and there are many more influences you’ll hear in the music. If you’d like to sample some of the music we have already recorded, pop along to http://thethreetles.co.uk/shop to download our latest single (Summer Daze) for absolutely free!

As we have really enjoyed writing and recording our own material, we have decided to create a new band, called One Iota. So, going forwards, The Threetles will just be about the celebration of the music of The Beatles, and One Iota will have its own website and space to explore our own compositions.

In the meantime though, as we get everything in order, the place to pre-order the album is right here, at http://thethreetles.co.uk/shop, where you’ll be able to choose from lots of customisable options. In fact, these are now the last few weeks that you’ll still be able to have your name printed in the album booklet as a thank you and recognition for your kind support; once we hit September, we’ll need to be sending the artwork off to the printers.

Looking a little further ahead, we have a really exciting launch show planned for Friday 21st January at the Joseph Rowntree theatre, York. This will likely be the only live show One Iota will perform next year (unless we get the chance to do any festivals in the summer) so we will be going all out to make it really special. We’re currently in the process of arranging for some orchestral accompaniment for the songs, along with the best sound and lighting system we can source, so if you like the music, this will be a show not to be missed and we would love you to join us. In fact, if you have already pre-ordered the album, and have chosen one of the packages that gives you a complimentary ticket to one or more of our shows, you will be entitled to use this at the album launch show – we’ll be in touch directly with more details about this when the tickets go on sale next month.

Well, we’ll be taking plenty of photos when we’re at Abbey Road (including the zebra crossing, of course!) but until then, please check out our live dates (including August’s legendary Beatleweek in Liverpool which we can’t wait to perform at) and we’ll hopefully see you at one or more of the shows.

http://thethreetles.co.uk/upcoming-events/

Best wishes for the summer!

Adam, James & Andy

After a few fraught months of not knowing whether we’d be able to raise the finances to record at the legendary, world-famous Abbey Road studios in London, the waiting game is finally over. We are absolutely delighted to annouce that due to people’s overwhelming kindness and support, we have now secured enough preorders to safeguard the project – the worry at first was that if we didn’t have enough money to pay for Abbey Road, we would have to cancel the project, lose our deposit and then refund everyone who had ordered, which would have cost us more in Paypal fees than we would have actually had in the pot, so thank you so much for helping us to get over the line – Abbey Road, here we come!

We’re now fully immersed in pre-production: adding the finishing touches to 12 original tracks, polishing lyrics and wittling harmonies into place and we’re really pleased to be working on 12 very different-sounding songs. Obviousl, The Beatles are a big part of the inspiration, including the solo years, but it’s been fascinating hearing other influences in the grain of the songs too, including other songwriters from the ’60s but also BritPop flavours as well as some less-expected overtones. We’re looking forward to hearing what you think when we get the album mastered and produced in the spring of 2021.

So, once we hit Abbey Road on 23rd and 24th January, it’ll then be time to master the tracks as an album and send this master to be glass-mastered and have the CD produced, so it should be hitting your letter boxes by March, if there are no hitches between now and then. What could possibly go wrong!

So thank you so much for being a part of this journey with us – it means the world to us and we can’t wait for you to hear the final product!

If you’d like to see a glimpse of us in rehearsal talking about how excited (and grateful) we are – pop along here and hear a little snippet of how the harmonies are coming along on James’ song ‘The Otherside’.

If you’d like to get in on the act and snag a copy, pop along to our boutique and order yourself a copy. You can even have your name in the booklet if you chose the ‘Paperback Writer’ option.

http://thethreetles.co.uk/shop

Hi! We hope you’re keeping well, enjoying the sunshine and getting back to some sort of normality!

We’re delighted to announce that we are now over halfway to financing the Abbey Road album project, through the kindness of those who have preordered our album. Thank you SO much if you are one of those people – it really has bowled us over that so many people are keen to hear new, original music, and we are so humbled to share this journey with you.

As you’ll no doubt be aware, we booked some recording time at Abbey Road for next January long before lockdown, thinking that we’d use money from the live shows to fund it. We knew we wanted to write original songs influenced by The Beatles, with strong melodies, catchy hooks and rich harmonies, and this seemed like a perfect way to achieve something quite remarkable – then COVID struck and put an end to all live shows (and income) but Abbey Road studio still requires the balance paying on the studio time, otherwise we risk losing our deposit and being blacklisted from recording there again. So we decided to offer the chance to preorder our album upfront and then we’ll post it out as soon as it has been pressed next spring.

If you enjoy original music, and you want to support independent artists like The Threetles, and you like music inspired by the fab four, then we think you will really love this opportunity to be involved with this album; we are incredibly proud of the songs we’ve written during lockdown, and we want it to be the very best it can be (hence the trip to Abbey Road to record it!). We are looking into glass mastering and CD pressing at the moment (using one of the commercial CD pressing facilities in Holland) and so rest assured that the product you will receive, if you decide to preorder, will be of the highest quality. 

We’ll need to start paying the balance on studio time next month, along with new deposits for things like mastering and CD manufacturing, so we’ll give it until then to continue the fundraising, but if we don’t make it to the finishing line, we’ll have to abort the project and issue full refunds. We’re really hoping we won’t have to do this; not only will it be a real shame creatively, it will be crippling financially due the Paypal fees we have incurred on all orders, and the fees that we would then need to cover when issuing refunds, so we’d be in a worse position than we were before we started taking preorders.

So, if you have preordered, thank you so very much – you really are part of something very special and something which we hope you will treasure (we know we certainly will). Please continue to spread the word for us – it really does help.

If you haven’t yet preordered an album, please do consider doing so – we know you won’t be disappointed with the songwriting or the production, and you’ll be part of making something very special happen, which we won’t forget in a hurry!

The only thing left is to decide which option you fancy…

Have a look in our online store and choose from one of the following options:

Love Me Do – £12

One pre-ordered copy of The Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021

P.S. I Love you – £15

One signed copy of the The Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021

Paperback Writer – £22

One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support.

Day Tripper – £50

One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support, along with two tickets for any one future ticketed event of your choice.

*The two tickets are for any future ticketed show of your choice, with no expiration date, although you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements to and from the venue.

Ticket to Ride – £80

One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support, along with a lifetime pass to all future ticketed shows.

*The lifetime pass entitles you to access any of our future ticketed shows, but you will need to to be responsible for your own travel arrangements to and from the venue(s).

Baby You’re a Rich Man – £300

One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support, along with two tickets for any one future ticketed event of your choice, and The Threetles will play (at no extra cost) at a venue of your choice and at a date and time which is mutually agreeable. This could be a house party, a pub/club or other venue, as long as you have permission from the venue owner.

*The two tickets are for any future ticketed show of your choice, with no expiration date, although you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements to and from the venue.

Her Majesty – £500

This package is something very special and will be as much of a bucket list item to some as it is to us! As well as a signed copy of The Threetles’ debut CD, with your name in the booklet, a lifetime pass to all future ticketed shows, and having The Threetles play at a venue of your choice (at a mutually agreeable date and time), you will also get to spend a day at the legendary Abbey Road studios with The Threetles during one of the recording sessions in January 2021. You will also get the chance to perform tambourine, hand claps or other parts on one or more of The Threetles’ songs. As space for guests is limited at Abbey Road studios, this offer is only available to one person, so it’s first come, first served.

*Please note that you would need to be responsible for your own travel and accommodation arrangements.

We literally can’t do this without you and thank you so much to you if you’ve already preordered; we really do appreciate it and we think you will love what we’ll be sending through your letterbox next spring! If you think you would enjoy hearing an album full of original, Beatles-inspired music, please do consider preordering as soon as possible and it really will save our bacon!

Thank you so much for your continued support; we can’t do this without you.

Adam, Andy & James

P.S. If you’re not sure about pre-ordering an album just yet, then don’t worry – there are other ways you can still support us. In our online store we now have a range of limited edition merchandise including some brand new badges; the sales of which are all going towards the Abbey Road fund.

We’re nearly halfway across the zebra crossing already!

We’re already well over a third of the way towards getting to Abbey Road, but read on to get the full gist of the story and how you can help…

Ok, so here’s the crisis! Long before lockdown, we decided to book some recording time at the famous Abbey Road studios next January, to follow in our heroes’ footsteps and record some original music in the very place where The Beatles laid down so many of their great songs. So far so good – we knew we had nearly a year to save the money from live shows to pay the balance for the studio time…BUT then COVID put a swift end to all of our live shows from March this year and even if gigs start back up soon (which personally, we don’t think they actually will for us, or many others, as pubs and venues slowly get themselves back on their feet), there is no way for us now to earn enough to pay the balance for the Abbey Road sessions from live shows. Abbey Road has been less than sympathetic and have insisted that we keep the booking, or find someone else to fill the time we have booked….SO, after much consideration, we have only two choices. We can either not show up for the recording sessions, lose our deposit and potentially get blacklisted by Abbey Road from ever recording there again, OR we offer the chance to pre-order the debut album upfront to those who would want to buy it, and therefore help us to raise the money needed to pay for the sessions. If you enjoy original music, and you want to support independent artists like us, and you like music inspired by the fab four, then we think you will really love this opportunity to be involved with something very special indeed. Have a look in our online store and choose from one of the following options:

• Love Me Do – £12
  One pre-ordered copy of The Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021
• P.S. I Love you – £15
  One signed copy of the The Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021
• Paperback Writer – £22
  One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support.
• Day Tripper – £50
  One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support, along with two tickets for any one future ticketed event of your choice.
  *The two tickets are for any future ticketed show of your choice, with no expiration date, although you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements to and from the venue.
• Ticket to Ride – £80
  One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support, along with a lifetime pass to all future ticketed shows.
  *The lifetime pass entitles you to access any of our future ticketed shows, but you will need to to be responsible for your own travel arrangements to and from the venue(s).
• Baby You’re a Rich Man – £300
  One signed copy of the Threetles’ debut CD, due for release in spring 2021, with your name in the CD booklet to acknowledge your much appreciated support, along with two tickets for any one future ticketed event of your choice, and The Threetles will play (at no extra cost) at a venue of your choice and at a date and time which is mutually agreeable. This could be a house party, a pub/club or other venue, as long as you have permission from the venue owner.
  *The two tickets are for any future ticketed show of your choice, with no expiration date, although you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements to and from the venue.
• Her Majesty – £500
  This package is something very special and will be as much of a bucket list item to some as it is to us! As well as a signed copy of The Threetles’ debut CD, with your name in the booklet, a lifetime pass to all future ticketed shows, and having The Threetles play at a venue of your choice (at a mutually agreeable date and time), you will also get to spend a day at the legendary Abbey Road studios with The Threetles during one of the recording sessions in January 2021. You will also get the chance to perform tambourine, hand claps or other parts on one or more of The Threetles’ songs. As space for guests is limited at Abbey Road studios, this offer is only available to one person, so it’s first come, first served.
  *Please note that you would need to be responsible for your own travel and accommodation arrangements.

We literally can’t do this without you, and thank you so much to you if you’ve already preordered; we really do appreciate it and we think you will love what we’ll be sending through your letterbox next spring!
If you think you would enjoy hearing an album full of original, Beatles-inspired music, please do consider preordering as soon as possible and it really will save our bacon!

If, for any reason, not enough people pre-order the album, and we have to cancel the whole project (at the risk of Nile Rogers blackballing us!), then full refunds will be issued. Thank you so much for your continued support; we really can’t do this without you.

We can make it to the Abbey Road Studios. We’ve started our journey, and we really hope you’ll be able to give us a little help along the way.

We’re setting off to follow in the footsteps of the Fab Four and actually record an album of all-original Beatles-inspired songs at the legendary Abbey Road studios. We’re hoping to to record during early 2021 and have the album released by late spring. If you are interested in supporting us with this venture, please do have a look in our shop and choose from one of the packages we have available. Without the support of music lovers like you, we literally can’t do what we do, so your interest and support is very much appreciated. You can also support us by joining our newsletter so that we can keep you appraised of what’s in the pipeline – you’ll also be entered into a free prize draw just for signing up!