Music / Interview
Interview: Todd Wills – River Town Americana Festival
Todd Wills, Head of Programme at Colston Hall has taken a few moments to give us the lowdown on the third Americana Festival, starting out with an explanation of the Festival’s re-brand. Anyone who attended previously will know what a great event this is, and as you’d expect there are some great acts already announced with more to come.
So, you’re back once again for your third year but with a new identity, what’s the background?
Colston Hall and St George’s Bristol established the festival two years ago and when pulling it together this year we felt that the original name – ‘Bristol Americana Weekend’ – was perhaps a bit Ronseal. If we were to move forward with establishing this festival in the Bristol calendar we needed a more imaginative name. River Town captures the landscape of our city and has that down-home kinda feel. It’s the Deep South-West if you like…
is needed now More than ever
Three years in, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt about running the festival?
Get organised. There’s no dedicated team running this – Colston Hall and St George’s Bristol do it alongside running and programming our respective venues day-to-day. It’s quite a logistical undertaking getting numerous acts from across the pond over in the same time frame, and obviously we’re competing against a host of other festivals in the summer, so conversations start early.
What do you think has been the biggest achievement of the festival?
We had a good sense of timing when establishing the festival in 2015 I think. Americana music has had something of a renaissance in recent times; it’s continuing to grow in popularity. The first year we were able to book a small-ish duo who had done very well at Country to Country called The Shires to play to 350 people in The Lantern. Now they’re a huge act, and this year we’ve got them back along with Ward Thomas on the bill in the 1,800 capacity main hall.
If you had the chance, what would you go back and do differently?
We nearly got Sturgill Simpson last year but it didn’t quite line up… maybe I’d go back and offer more money!
Do you see the festival growing to include more “sister” venues?
Well Colston Hall is closed for its much-needed redevelopment next year, so River Town may need a temporary home alongside St George’s. We’d be keen to explore suitable options.
What can we look forward to at this year’s event?
It kicks off with a launch night on Friday 19 May at St George’s Bristol, with Carleen Anderson performing a moving testament to her gospel roots. Then in July we have soul power in the form of legendary singer and activist Mavis Staples. Then alongside The Shires and Ward Thomas we’ve also got icons Nick Lowe, Paul Carrack & Andy Fairweather Low uniting for an eclectic stroll through their respective back catalogues as well as various Lantern shows we’ve yet to announce.
Which of the acts are you going to make a particular effort to see?
I’ll be at every one if I can but I’m looking forward to seeing Mavis at the hall.
Is there a particular artist or band that you’d really like to have appear at a future festival?
Ryan Adams, Neil Young, Ry Cooder, T Bone Burnett….the list is pretty long.
What impact will phase two of the transformation have on the festival?
Well in the long term it will mean having a world-class venue that acts will be absolutely desperate to perform at. Once their own building work is complete, St George’s Bristol will be able to continue to host events, and who knows maybe we can get the programme out and about across the city a bit more.
More information available here but don’t be tardy the events will sell out.
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