The Rockingbirds - Gradually Learning
For a moment in 1992 the indie press were all agog with the wonders of a country group. Signed to Heavenly, and labelmates to the likes of St Etienne and Flowered Up (the three acts joined forces on The Fred EP, covering Right Said Fred tracks to raise money for the Terrence Higgins trust), The Rockingbirds generated plenty of good ol’ interest with tracks like “Restless”, and “Gradually Learning”. Despite the pedal steel and sincerity, authentic indie credentials and acceptance was granted, not surprising for a band that recorded a song in tribute to Jonathan Richman (“Jonathan, Jonathan”) and which could trace its family tree back via The Weather Prophets to early Creation Records signing The Loft (whose track “Up the Hill and Down The Slope” is an indie-pop classic).