Scrumpy & Western

The definitive guide to the West Country music

What is Scrumpy & Western music?

Scrumpy and Western refers humorously to music from England's West Country that fuses comical folk-style songs, often full of double entendre, with affectionate parodies of more mainstream musical genres, all delivered in the local accent/dialect. The name refers to scrumpy, ubiquitous strong cider ("hard cider" for Americans) often required for the performers to give of their best.

Exact styles vary by band or musician, and very few are known outside the West Country. The main exceptions to this are The Wurzels, who had a number one hit in the UK with Combine Harvester in 1976 followed by several other hit singles. This followed an earlier hit single with Drink Up Thy Zider, an unofficial West Country anthem, especially among supporters of Bristol City FC. This gained notoriety when the BBC refused to play its B-side song, Twice Daily, due to concern about the unseemly subject matter (a shotgun wedding). Combine Harvester itself was a re-worded version of Melanie's hit single Brand New Key and other songs borrowed the style and made fun of British popular music genres.

Other Scrumpy and Western artists include The Yetties from Dorset, The Plonkers from Hampshire, Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers from Gloucestershire, and The Yokels from Wiltshire.

Feel free to browse through the new Scrumpy & Western Audio Library.

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...and what is NOT Scrumpy & Western music

There is more to Scrumpy & Western music than being born, bought up or living in the South West. For this reason we are unable to include such musical dignitaries at Matt and Luke Goss from Bros who lived and grew up in Cheddar, Peter Hammill from 70s prog rock cult heroes Van Der Graaf Generator, who lives in the Limpley Stoke Valley near Bath, and rock guitarists Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple/Rainbow) and Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) who are both Weston-super-Mare-ites. Or indeed the various other South West musicians and songwriters whose musical tasted run rather differently to the Scrumpy & Western genre.

In saying that Richie will, of course, get his page if the next Blackmore's Night album has some reference to scrumpy and pasties rather than mulled cider and mead!

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