Peggy’s Spotlight Feat the Barnacles, Cows Hit Bingo and Eleanor Mcgregor

Peggy’s Spotlight

We’re back for another Spotlight event, welcoming emerging musicians to the stage! This month we’re excited to feature Pete Beardsworth’s cosmic space jam band The Barnacles as well as Cows Hit Bingo who blend funky, retro instrumental grooves and Eleanor McGregor playing music from her new EP Muscle Memory.

The Barnacles

DIY psychedelic and cosmic space jam band The Barnacles are fronted by producer, writer and multi-instrumentalist Pete Beardsworth. His experiments in 2023 with a 4-track tape recorder form the bedrock of the band, the results of which were released in 2024 as the album Happy New Year. From there a domestic lineup began to emerge: a session at Pete’s house in Nottingham with keyboardist Ryan Stevenson (composer and producer of Zopp), drummer Jesse Barrett (formerly with Mammal Hands) and introducing trumpeter Mitch Probert-Watt, led to This Feeling Inside EP. Recorded live on tape with Pete on rhythm guitar and vocals, this set the tone for future Barnacles endeavours. The record was self-released in autumn 2024.

The band’s line up was completed by the bassist and multi-instrumentalist Tim Baker on bass, whose project Niwid Pete became partially entangled with upon first listen, and by Tawanda Kambeu on drum kit.

Line up
Pete Beardsworth – guitar and vocals
Mitch Probert-Watt – trumpet and vocals
Ryan Stevenson – organ & vocals
Tim Baker – bass guitar
Tawanda Kambeu – drum kit

Cows Hit Bingo

Blending the hypnotic basslines of Stereolab and the Dada funk of Can, Cows Hit Bingo ‘play music from some of the best 70s TV shows never made’ (and, on occasion, one or two that were). More Sprout Rock than Kraut rock – their particular brand of psych has an English whimsy to it borrowed from the likes of Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt. Expect instrumental grooves with jazz-tinged guitar chords, big retro keyboard sounds and a funky rhythm section.

A regular live act in Nottingham for 20 years, the Cows emerged from lockdown with guitarist and founding member Faz joined by a new line-up featuring long-time collaborator Mark Scoones (drums), Simon Buttenshaw (bass/vocals) and TQ (keyboards). They share the bijou Sherbrook Studio in Daybrook with Rust for Glory and Zopp among others. The band’s most recent studio output March of the Tiny Soldiers can be heard now on Bandcamp.

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Eleanor McGregor
 

Eleanor has been making music and playing gigs in Nottingham for the last few years. Her debut album Humour Me came out in early 2024 with a successful launch gig at Rough Trade! A few tracks were played on BBC Introducing and she went in for a live interview after Wantable did particularly well.

Her EP Muscle Memory came out in January this year, with a sold out show at The Grove in Nottingham. Her music has a folk/pop sound – the lyrics are very personal and explore things a lot of people find relatable. It’s a successful show if someone cries – but she enjoys performing and adding silly things like kazoo solos too!

Line up
Eleanor – vocals & electro-acoustic guitar
Twig – drums

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Photograph taken by Rae Dowling
Instagram – @raedowling