Our Story

High Shelf Remedy have been on quite a journey since they first jammed together in a Dorset field, high on sunshine, cider, and folk music. Back then, Lu and Rich just happened to be camping next to Lauren and Ben at Wonky Donk festival. It was the perfect setting to get to know each other, and it wasn't long before they were merrily singing and playing old folk songs together around a campfire. 

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Finding that they all lived around the corner from each other, they started Thursday night jam nights, just for fun, which after a while turned into a group of 4 people with an hour's worth of material. It was time to take this set up out of the lounge! They decided on the name The Fox and The Owl and started to book gigs around Bournemouth. Back then, they played folk covers and a few originals written by Lu and Lauren. No one had settled on their chosen instrument and so they would pass an array of instruments between them including banjos, bouzoukis, ukuleles, a mariachi style guitarron bass converted into a small upright. Nevertheless, The Fox and the Owl became regulars at prime Dorset events including Chaplins, Ojo Rojo, and the Purbeck Valley Folk Festival. 

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Time moves on and so did Ben after a couple of years who went on to form Dr. Beetroot Bluegrass Band. Lu, Rich, and Lauren envisaged a change of direction and invited James to join them to play some percussion, having jammed with him at house parties and deciding him to be a thoroughly good chap. Shortly after, veteran wizard of the Bournemouth music scene, Paul, appeared out of a 'magical puff of smoke' to help their vision take shape. Paul took on bass guitar and lead guitar duties, sharing this role with Lu. They settled on their instruments, upgraded Rich's ukulele to an electric version, and popped James on a drum kit. What emerged was an exciting, more experimental sound with electronic and dub influences, whilst still using their folk songwriting style.    

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Still known as The Fox and the Owl, the band started to play bigger gigs and festivals, thoroughly enjoying the busy summer of 2019 where they played 12 festivals, including Camp Bestival, Into the Wild, Seed Festival, and the main stage at Purbeck Valley Folk Festival . After this flurry of gigs the band decided to change their name to High Shelf Remedy to reflect their evolving sound.  

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In 2019 Lu set about producing the band an album. Having never recorded anything before, this was quite a challenge but her determination, plus a few helpful friends with the knowledge and equipment, helped her to create a studio setup and to gain some skills to make the album happen. As well as the band recording their parts, Lu invited her sister Lorna to play cello on four tracks, stand in bassist Romeo to play on one track. Ben returned to play banjo on Bonnie and Clyde. Luckily, all the parts were recorded and before the March 2020 lockdown. High Shelf Remedy asked Bristol based Ben Capp to do a wonderful final mix and master on the tracks. The self titled album was released in October 2020.  

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Like many bands have found, 2020-2021 has been quiet for High Shelf Remedy on the gig front. A small window of opportunity to rehearse occurred in the autumn, and High Shelf Remedy were able to throw an album launch at their local music venue, Boscombe's Cellar Bar. This was a beautifully intimate chance to share music and stories with close friends after being apart for too long.      

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The summer of 2021 has seen a change to the line-up with Paul being so busy with his other band 'The Mother Ukers' that he has taken a back seat and we have recruited Romeo Kennedy to fill his shoes.  High Shelf Remedy now have a handful of gigs in 2021 and we are in the process of writing a new EP