Beat about the Bush is the fourth studio album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. Originally released by Twah! Records in 1994, it was their debut studio album to be released on CD, following the discontinued cassette albums that are Show of Hands from 1987, Tall Ships from 1990 and Out of the Count from 1991. It was their only studio album on Twah! Records, and was subsequently re-released in 1999 on the duo's own label, Hands on Music.

Following Mike Trim's successful recording engineer work on Show of Hands Live, the joint vision on Beat About the Bush was to produce an elusive "radio friendly" folk/roots album that retained the band's live sound whilst adding a rhythm section. However, despite positive critical reception, radio reaction was minimal, and the duo subsequently moved towards a stripped down folk sound, and would not return to bass and percussion until 2006's Witness.

The track "The Galway Farmer" would later be a staple on every live performance by the duo (and Steve Knightley solo). It is one of the band's better known tracks, and would end up being on various other albums in different recordings (such as its appearance on the band's well known live album of their 1996 performance at the Royal Albert Hall, where it closed the main set.) The song "Day Has Come" would be completely re-arranged for future live performance. "The Oak" has continued to be played live amongst other songs on the album, including the traditional "Blue Cockade".

Show of Hands, a duo of Devonian folk musicians Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, formed in 1987. The musicians had known each other for a long time. Their first recorded collaboration featured on Beer's first live album with Paul Downes, 1980's Live in Concept. Show of Hands formed whilst Beer was a member of The Albion Band. The duo's first album, Show of Hands, was released on cassette in 1987, followed by Tall Ships in 1990.

Later on in 1990, Beer left The Albion Band, letting Show of Hands become a full musical partnership, recording another cassette album, Out for the Count in The Old Court in 1991. This was their last cassette album, and marked a hiatus for the duo as they formed the band Alianza with Dave Townshend with three Chilean musicians, exploring world music. For Alianza's only album, released in 1992 on the record label Road Goes on Forever, Knightley wrote tracks Show of Hands would later perform, such as "Santiago", as well as re-recording an older Show of Hands track, "Tall Ships". The band disbanded and the duo returned to performing as Show of Hands. Featuring a contribution from Beer's earlier collaborator Paul Downes, a live performance from the duo from 8 June 1992 at Bridport's Bull Hotel was released on The Road Goes on Forever in 1992 as Show of Hands Live, produced by Mike Trim, and their first album released on CD. Trim's work for the album inspired the duo's next project; on TWAH! Records, the duo prepared for Beat About the Bush, their first CD studio album. Their only studio work in 1993 was the Columbus EP, but the duo would return to the studio to record the new album with Trim in January 1994.

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