Morton Valence | |
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Background information | |
Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
Genres | Urban Country [1] |
Years active | 2001 to present |
Labels | Cargo Records (UK) Cow Pie Bastard Recordings Soulfood Monika Enterprise Cheap Date Records Whipwray |
Members | Robert "Hacker" Jessett Anne Gilpin |
Past members | Chuck Whobrey aka Chuck E Peru Daryl Holley Alan Cook Joe Udwin Leo Fernandez Gigi Chang Alejo Pelaez |
Website | http://mortonvalence.com/ |
Morton Valence are a London-based rock band based around the vocal pairing of songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Robert 'Hacker' Jessett (ex-member of The Band of Holy Joy [2] and Alabama 3 [3] ) and Anne Gilpin. They term their music as Urban Country [4] and were described by The Guardian as being "one of the most intriguing bands on these shores". [5]
Founded in 2001 by Robert Jessett, Anne Gilpin and Chuck Whobrey, the band won the 2006 Fopp Award for best new band [6] and went on to sign a record contract with Cheap Date Records. After the release of the single "Sailors" - described by the BBC as being "the best single you've never heard of the past decade" [7] - they split from Cheap Date to form their own label, Bastard Recordings, and are an early example of an independent band who entered into a crowd funding agreement with their fans. [8] Their 2009 single Chandelier was a BBC Radio 2 Record of the Week. [9]
They have recorded eight full-length studio albums, all of which have been highly acclaimed in the music press, [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] including four star reviews in Mojo Magazine [17] Q Magazine [18] Uncut Magazine [19] Classic Rock Magazine [20] and an album of the year on the Chicago-based website Consequence of Sound. [21]
In 2020 Jessett and Gilpin wrote and directed an autobiographical film documentary entitled This Is A Film About A Band that was premiered at the Doc'N Roll Film Festival in London. [22]
Their eponymously titled eighth album was produced by legendary pedal steel guitar player BJ Cole, [23] who also appears on the album and plays with the band intermittently.
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Official website mortonvalence.com