Dr Butlers Hatstand Medicine Band

Dr Butlers Hatstand Medicine Band

Dr Butlers Hatstand Medicine Band are a three-piece band from Manchester. The line-up features Dr Andrew “blind boy” Butler on banjo-ukulele, harmonica and washboard, Papa John McKay on guitar, mandolin and vocals, and Black Jack Barnet on double bass and vocals.

The group describes itself as a “good-time” band with two aims: to make people dance and to make people smile. It performs in vintage clothing and uses old-style instruments associated with early jazz, blues and vaudeville traditions. Its songs use vaudevillian timing and draw on the musicianship of older blues and jazz performers.

The band plays in a wide range of venues and has performed across the UK and in Europe. It has also appeared at festivals including The Big Chill and the Lynton and Lynmouth Folk Festival.

Music for Parlours and Promenades is the band’s first release. It is recorded at Cutting Rooms Studio by Mick Routledge, who is associated with Jah Wobble. For the recording, the band expands from a trio to a seven-piece, with Aiden Smith, Nick Walters, Tullis Rennie and Mush of The Bottom Feeders joining the session.