Darlington ska band, The Skapones, is celebrating ten years of making music by touring the East Coast of the USA, showcasing their new album, and releasing a new single.
After playing on the picket line at St John’s Academy in Darlington during the teachers’ strike on February 1, the band played their own version of The Specials’ ‘A Message To You, Rudy’, changing the lyrics to reflect the current political tension.
The North East ska legends are releasing ‘A Message To You, Rishi’ as a single with all proceeds going to the National Education Union (NEU) Trust Fund for hardship.
A video of the performance was shared to The Northern Echo’s Facebook page and has, as of February 8, reached nearly half a million views.
Skapones frontman, Paul ‘Willo’ Williams said: “The Darlington branch of the NEU invited us to play at the picket line and we said yes straight away because it’s something we really believe in and support 200 per cent.”
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The band supported The Specials on a USA tour back in 2019, and this year the Tees Valley locals are heading back out there.
The 2Tone ska band will be performing at the Supernova International Ska Festival in Hampton, Virginia, this September.
They are staying close to their roots as well though and English fans can see them performing over the next few months a little closer to home, including a gig at The Vaults in York on Saturday, February 11, and The White Horse in Derby on Saturday, February 18.
The new album, Northern Gods, is being pressed at Press on Vinyl in Middlesbrough. The album is available to pre-order from theskapones.co.uk now.
Read more: 'A Message To You, Rishi': Teachers strike across Darlington over working conditions
Paul continued: “We’re really looking forward to going back to the states. Supporting The Specials in 2019 was a big deal for us and we loved it. The Specials are obviously a big inspiration for us. We’re touring the UK before going to America in September and we’ve got some dates lined up.
“Covid obviously really affected us but we did some online festivals which were good but it’s not the same as being in front of an audience with them in the room with you.
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“We loved putting the new album together, you know you’ve made it when there’s an ‘explicit content’ label on your record!”
The band supported The Beat on a UK tour last year, playing to a very receptive audience at The Riverside in Newcastle last June.
Following their tour of the USA IN 2019, Paul wrote a book documenting the band’s experiences while on the road called The Skapones – Way Out West 2019, The Specials & Stuff, with a forward written by none other than The Specials’ Horace Panter.
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