Kieran Webber
Director and Founder of CLUNK Magazine, CLUNK Events, and other CLUNK affiliate businesses. You’ll probably find me tucked away somewhere sending emails, listening to music, and creating content.
Bristol’s best muckers have announced they are to end their musical conquest leaving us with heavy hearts
If you follow CLUNK, in any capacity, you know that there are a few bands that we have bonded with and become close, in some cases friends, this is the case with Saloon Dion. This Bristol based band was one of the few who supported CLUNK’s overarching mission from the beginning, to create a scene in a place that deserves it, bringing touring bands from outside the county and help cultivate our music scene. They’re one of the first bands to take a punt on CLUNK, making the journey from Bristol to play at The Cornish Bank, Falmouth. Safe to say, the night was a complete success and introduced us to their wild, infectious, and daringly brash sound (not to mention frantic stage presence).
After the show, we became friends and remained in contact, it was as if fate was smiling on us both, as the following months would see us BOTH be invited to SXSW in Austin, Texas. It was a landmark moment for both parties and one that we will remember to our days end. Naturally, we linked up with the Saloon Dion boys, who had a rough start to their US debut by being scammed out of accomodation, thankfully, southern hospitality is real and a passerby offered them a space to rest their weary heads for the duration of the American expedition. We watched them play BBQ smokehouses, dive bars, cowboy bars (technically opening for Renee Zellweger) and of course, sank way too many beers, especially on our final night at a bar round the corner from our accommodation. Our experience at SXSW is closely tied to this band and one that was completely enriched by their kindness, wild antics, and wholesome attitude, it really was an unforgettable experience.
Following on from this we kept in contact and brought them down to Cornwall several times, including an impromptu set at leopallooza, replacing Kid Kapichi after they had to unfortunately pull out. Another wild night ensued of course. Most recently we had them play at Newquay’s Project 83 to celebrate the first birthday of local clothing company Surf City Cycles.
We actually had planned to bring them back down to Kernow as part of something big we are currently planning, which is where the band informed me of the bad news. It was incredibly hard to read and one that completely side swiped us. All good things must come to an end as they say, but Saloon Dion‘ ending has come far too soon. A band that is put together by some of the best geezers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. A band that brought so much happiness and unbridled energy to every performance. They really were one of the best bands in the southwest and it is a travesty that ‘big music’ is overlooking artists like them. We’re losing an alarming amount of bands at the moment, with at least 10 others ending their ‘careers’ in recent months. Please, support grassroots music, buy bands merch, grab that gig ticket, we NEED artists like Saloon Dion in our airwaves.
To Dave, Taryn, Tom, Luke & Ben… thank you for the good times and for being a part of CLUNK’s history!
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