Outlaw UK folk singer Beans on Toast and American roots rocker Jeshua Marshall have announced a 4-week coast-to-coast co-headlining trek that sees them on the road from September 26 to October 20. Building on a successful handful of U.S. shows last fall, the like-minded cohorts will play twenty shows in total, canvassing every time zone.
It’s a camaraderie that developed quickly. An instant connection as if rediscovering an eons-old friend. Beginning at revered haunt Dante’s in Portland, the pair will traverse the Western U.S. for several weeks before jaunting through the Southeast on their way up the Eastern seaboard with a final two-night stand at Faces in Boston. Alternating headline slots depending on the market, Marshall will tour as a duo with Miguel Mendoza on Trumpet while also playing upright bass with Beans on Toast who will also be joined by piano virtuoso Matt Millership.
Essex-born folk songwriter Beans on Toast is a truly unique performer. He twists an age-old genre with a DIY approach and contemporary concerns, earning him the title of a cult figure who tells it like it is. A festival favorite (he’s played Glastonbury every year since 2005) and a prolific writer and performer, he has written and recorded 16 albums and played at every bar, club, venue, pub, festival, party, and honky-tonk you can think of.
He’s a hippy, a punk, a poet, a drunk, a die-hard romantic, and an eternal optimist, singing simple songs that tackle big issues. His repertoire includes political protest songs for the modern day, as well as honest and open love songs. His songs will make you laugh, but they’ll also make you think, delivered with no-holds-barred honesty and quick wit.
Beans is constantly writing, recording, and releasing music, putting out a new album every year on December 1st - his birthday. Each album is recorded with different producers and musicians. Over the years, he has worked with the likes of Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons), Blaine Harrison (Mystery Jets), Frank Turner, and Kitty and Lewis Durham (Kitty, Daisy & Lewis).
In addition to making music, Beans has released two highly acclaimed books: Drunk Folk Stories (2018) and Foolhardy Folk Tales (2021), both collections of tour stories, festival high jinks, and insights into the life of a musician. Most recently, Beans has released 10 children’s books, each accompanying a track from his 15th album, The Fascinating Adventures of Little Bee. Earlier this year, he released an acoustic rendition of “Send me a Bird,” the heart and soul of his 2023 LP, The Toothpaste and the Tube. He often directs his own music videos, and along with his wife and muse, Lizzy Bee, they run Beans' own record label, carving his path as a one-man band of the modern age.
He tours constantly, gigging and playing festivals all over the world. The Beans on Toast live show is an unpredictable and memorable experience. A singer, songwriter, and storyteller, his self-deprecating quality is rare, breaking down the barrier between musician and audience and creating a sense of equality “Brimming with energy and infectious charm" [Clash Magazine] while Louder than War crowns him a “Cult legend and all-round hero.”
For Oregon-born Marshall, Jeshua lives the music that he sings. From the time he was nine, when he was first inspired by a visit from Jimi Hendrix in a dream and subsequently gifted his first guitar, through to the formation of his band Larry and His Flask and now, some 20 years later, music has been mainstay of his life, the thing that’s inspired him, driven him and now, brought him to the precipice of the recognition he so decidedly deserves.
He’s worked tirelessly to get to this point. He and his band toured relentlessly, performing in all 50 states in the U.S., every providence in Canada, no less than 15 European countries, and in parts of the Middle East. A multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, he conveys both passion and purpose in equal measure, a culmination of the hopes and aspirations that first fueled him as child in a family that split their time between the upper realms of the States and the sprawling southern environs of British Columbia.
The road has been equal parts consult and equal parts home. Beginning at age 16, he and his older brother Jamin formed the raucous and rebellious folk punk/speed bluegrass band Larry And His Flask, a high-energy large ensemble that left audiences spellbound. The undecet, with its 11 band members, eventually gained fame for its fusion of reckless abandon and indie folk finesse, touring relentlessly until calling it quits in 2019. In the aftermath of its dissolution and the world-changing events to come, Marshall took the break to channel his energies into a style that seemed better suited to the more measured and reflective songs that were quickly becoming part and parcel of his newfound particles, ones powered by cosmic phenomena.
Over the course of two critically-lauded solo albums, 2021’s Shoot the Moon and last year’s more groove-oriented reggae-infused opus, The Flood, Marshall is truly finding his rhythm in only the way that decades make. The Texan Chronicles describes him by saying, “Marshall is in a songwriting sphere all his own. His brilliant command of lyric structure is both off-kilter and genius” with Americana Highways adding, “Marshall’s music is a twisting mixture of flavors served up in a deliciously edible cone, making this a complete sonic treat worth a front-to-back finish.” The Source Weekly concurred, declaring, "Marshall bares a lot on the record and dives deep into life—leaving us with thought-provoking lyrics to dwell on after they play by.”
Fans will soon have some indelible memories to dwell on as the magic of Marshall music and the wry wit of Beans on Toast take center stage for an unforgettable evening of storytelling, spitballing, improv and thought-provoking revelry. It’s sure to fill your plate, your platelets and your palette.
Beans on Toast & Jeshua Marshall on Tour
9/26 – Portland, OR – Dante’s
9/27 – Seattle, WA – Blue Moon Tavern
9/28 – Bend, OR – Silver Moon Brewing
9/29 – Grants Pass, OR – The Haul
9/30 – Reno, NV – 40 Miles Saloon
10/1 – Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
10/2 – San Diego, CA – Patrick’s Gaslamp Pub
10/3 – Los Angeles, CA – Redwood Bar & Grill
10/4 – Crestline, CA – Stockade
10/5 – Tempe, AZ – Yucca Taproom
10/7 – Pueblo, CO – Walter’s Brewery
10/8 – Fort Collins, CO – Surfside 7
10/9 – Denver, CO – EastFax Tap
10/11 – Nashville, TN – The Cobra
10/12 – Atlanta, GA – Smith’s Olde Bar
10/13 – Richmond, VA – The Camel
10/17 – Philadelphia, PA – Do It Now T-Shirts
10/18 – New York, NY – DROM NYC
10/19 – Boston, MA – Faces Brewing Co.
10/20 – Boston, MA – Faces Brewing Co.
Beans on Toast
Listen: https://beansontoast.bandcamp.com
Watch: “Send me a Bird (live)” https://youtu.be/giybYTUbYUM