Not Exactly Royalty: Sir Richard Bishop

Considering the shifting around of independent music over the last twenty to thirty years, it’s really nothing less than shocking that the Sun City Girls still exist. This past spring found them embarking on a tour to commemorate their recently departed drummer, Charles Goucher. On that tour, the brothers Bishop worked up renditions of the Sun City Girl catalog in acoustic form while drinking as much wine between songs as the applause would allow – it was a great deal of wine.

Having been lucky enough to see the duo in their adopted home town of Seattle most likely allowed me a more relaxed view of the pair before the rest of their nation wide tour. And really, that might be the last time that some of those songs are performed by the Sun City Girls.

Between running their own label, Sublime Frequencies, and creating new and stunning guitar music, the brothers have a lot in front of them. No doubt, the esoteric world music that the label releases will continue to sell due to the new found love of all things re-release and compilation. And of course those discs deserve to sell, but moreover, the guitar of Sir Richard Bishop deserves to be heard.

Being associated with a noisy and at times schizophrenic band probably hasn’t helped endear SRB to the folkies, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get a chance. With the busy release schedule of Tompkins Square and the never ending barrage of laughable Devandra Banhart releases, the antics of the SCG should really be taken in stride.

My estimation of the cultural import of Arthur is probably greatly over stated – maybe it shouldn’t be, but those folks have recently posted an interview with the always moving SRB. It most likely won’t grant him legions of new fans, but it’s just another step forward in his career. So, maybe after his rather lengthily European tour, we’ll find good ole SRB playing alongside Leo Kottke or some other well regarded finger picker. After the fifty or so releases from the Sun City Girls, SRB probably deserves the accolades that the mainstream press has avoided handing to him – for now at least.