Shonen Knife are a ground-breaking all-female Japanese, pop-punk rock trio formed in Osaka in 1981, when Naoko Yamana first heard late ‘70’s punk-pop, particularly The Ramones. Inspired, the band crafted their own idiosyncratic songs, fashioned brightly coloured outfits and DIY albums.
In 1985, K Records released ‘Burning Farm’ in the United States. Deals with Sub Pop and various majors followed. 1989 saw the crème of the alt. rock scene (including Sonic Youth, L7 and Redd Kross) covering their favourite Shonen Knife songs on the tribute album ‘Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them’. They toured with Nirvana (on the ‘Nevermind’ tour), The Breeders, as part of Lollapalooza, wowed the Reading Festival and Roskilde, recorded sessions for John Peel and appeared on MTV’s ‘Beavis and Butthead’. The band returned to the UK after a gap of 16 years in 2009 and since toured regularly throughout Europe gaining many generations of fans.
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Courtney Marie Andrews
Thu 19 Apr 2018Courtney’s been a session and backup singer and guitarist for nearly 40 artists, from Jimmy Eat World to Damien Jurado. She never stopped writing her own material, though. Picking up admirers like Jurado and Ryan Adams along the way, she has quietly earned a reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter.
