The Payroll Union - Paris of America Pre-Order LISTEN first single The Mission Field

Members: Pete David, Ben Fuller, Paul Heath, Tom Baxendale

For those of us blown away by one of the best Americana bands to come along, The Payroll Union, since the 2012 debut EP Your Obedient Servant and the 2013 full-length The Mule & The Elephant we've been watching and waiting in anxious anticipation for the next album, As part of the project Faith & Fear in Philadelphia how the past can be explored through music, film and art, and two years in the making, the album is now finalized as Paris of America,
With an obsession for American history, the UK Americana band teamed up with The University of Sheffield to chronicle with music religion and violence in antebellum Philadelphia and the adjacent districts of Kensington and Southwark a series of riots that took place between May 6 and 8 and July 6 and 7, 1844,
The Philadelphia Nativist Riots (also known as the Philadelphia Prayer Riots, the Bible Riots and the Native American Riots)  The riots were a result of rising anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants.

Their outsider take on American history provides a unique perspective on the American experiment and uses the rich melting pot of American music to tell the tale. If you're a history buff, as I am, follow along with the continuing project.

Since its inception with the arrival of the Puritans, America was seen by English Calvinists and Evangelists as a massive mission field ripe for harvest and conversion.

Listen to the dark, gothic single The Mission Field

Watch The Mission Field Video
Pre-Order Paris of America Release date 6/29/15


Andrew Heath from the Department of History and Pete David, musician and lead singer for Sheffield band The Payroll Union discuss their collaborative project which will culminate in an album of songs based on historical research into 19th century Philadelphia.

The Payroll Union Faith & Fear in Philadelphia Project Launch

Faith & Fear in Philadelphia
The Payroll Union / David J Roch / Gregory S. Davies Band
Monday 21st October 2013, at The Harley, doors 7.30pm
Tickets £5 (£4 NUS) available from The Harley, The Wick at both Ends, Record Collector, The Old Sweet Shop

In an unexpected collaboration, Sheffield Americana band, The Payroll Union, have teamed up with The University of Sheffield for a project on religion and violence in the mid-19th Century American city. Launching their project at The Harley, the band will perform new songs that will form the basis of an album that re-interprets the stories and characters of Philadelphia at its most eruptive. On the night, there will be illustrations by Samuel Paul Skillington and film-makers Optical Jukebox will be filming for a short film on the project.

They will be joined by two great songwriting talents. The Gregory S Davies Band, whose debut album, Santiago, explores gypsy jazz, country, latin and blues. Having only formed at the beginning of the year, they have already headlined a stage at Tramlines this summer and recently were played on BBC Radio 2's Dermot O'Leary Show. Both inventive and melodic, the band's explorative nature makes them a real treat to discover.

David J Roch will be familiar to many, both in his Sheffield home and beyond. His debut album, Skin & Bones, produced in part by Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Grinderman), demonstrated the incredible power of his voice and the heartbreaking nature of his songs. As the Guardian said, his voice "can soar to ethereal heights as effortlessly as it plumbs re-raw depths." Most recent single, 'Don't Let Go Yet', was used in the American TV show, So You Think You Can Dance, and his new album is due in early 2014.

Their debut LP 'The Mule & The Elephant' released January 19th '13, lead by singer Pete David and backed by Ben Fuller, Paul Heath and Tom Baxendale, they have a refreshingly honest outsiders take on U.S History, set to deliciously dark, Americana and Country with an occasional touch of Ennio Morricone.