William The Conqueror Tickets

Formed by a well-respected figure on the folk music circuit, William The Conqueror is the brainchild of Ruarri Joseph. The band constitutes Joseph's alter ego, some might say, and is an indie rock alternative to his traditional folk playing style. Joseph formed the band as a three-piece with a reasonably retro style. William The Conqueror come from Newquay in Cornwall originally, but their sound has little to do with the surfer rock you might expect of such as a hometown. Joseph's vocals and playing style mean that the band has been compared to the later Doors albums, when Jim Morrison's voice had become raw and even bad tempered. When performing with William The Conqueror, as opposed to his solo folk work, Joseph has been likened to a 1970s version of Bob Dylan.

William The Conqueror's music

Having played at venues all over the country before, Joseph got together with fellow multi-instrumentalists Harry Harding and Naomi Holmes to form a new musical project that would channel classic blues with indie rock and even harder-edged grunge influences. Joseph had already shown his leanings towards a rockier edge as a folk songwriter, with tracks such as “More Rock 'n' Roll”, taken from his Tales of Grime and Grit solo album.

Still performing as a solo singer and songwriter, William The Conqueror began working on material that would be influenced by electrified artists such as Ryan Adams or the Lemonheads, for example. Throughout the 2000s, the musicians began gigging and recording. Joseph said that the initial incarnation of the band went about laying down tracks in his garden shed to get their sound right. Since then, the group has played all over the UK and even made their mark across the Atlantic, performing in Nashville and taking to the stage at the prestigious Americana Fest, where their sound fitted in perfectly with all of the American bands on show.

William The Conqueror's reception

William The Conqueror has been described by the Guardian as playing stomping country rock that veers into stoner grunge. The trio has produced three albums, which they have pretty much come up with themselves, from songwriting and arranging to recording and performing. Joseph has gone on the record as stating that he wants people to hear his stories from a different perspective than he would have been able to offer as a solo folk performer. Joseph is the band's main vocalist and he sings in a rich baritone, which sounds as though it has experienced something of life. This is matched by some of the band's lyrical content, which is often wise without falling into whimsy.

Similar to William The Conqueror

You can find alternative indie-folk gigs at StubHub by looking for acts such as Of Monsters and Men or The Men They Couldn't Hang.