Tag Archives: folk rock

Interview with Greg Ireland of folk rock band, Green Diesel

Folk music, Interviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , ,

Ahead of the release of their fifth album Onward The Sun! which comes out on 25th April, I talk to Greg Ireland of Faversham-based folk rock band, Green Diesel.

We’ll move on to the new album in a bit but let’s start right at the beginning. Tell us how Green Diesel came about.

Well, it seems like a very long time ago now. I think we’ve probably graduated away from being a young new folk band. So, I guess in some ways it’s a continuation of the band I was in when I was at school. I played in a band with some of the guys who are still in the band today. It’s a completely different group, but it had the same name. And that kind of fell apart as school bands do. And we would just do an occasional gig here and there, where this ever-revolving cast of characters would play some covers that we liked at a local festival. And we could never think of another name, so we just kept going! And then I guess around 2009, that sort of time, I’d kind of gone fairly heavily down a kind of Fairport-esque path.

So, was that a departure from the original incarnation of Green Diesel then?

Well yes and no. We’d always kind of played vaguely rootsy music. So, we did some blues stuff, we did Neil Young-style songs and The Band. So, it wasn’t a complete 180 – but certainly the idea of doing music based around traditional music had been something that had been percolating in my head. And I managed to convince the other guys, again for one of the local festivals: “Oh, let’s get a violin player and as one of our numbers, we’ll do a set of tunes in the kind of classic Swarbrick style.” Which they were on board with. I think I’d dragged them along to a couple of Cropredies by this point, so they weren’t completely against the idea. So, we got Ellen (Care) in to do that and that went well and I took that as a good jumping-off point: “Oh, let’s go down this path.” And that became more of a serious band. And I started writing songs. A couple of the others had started bringing things in. We took the plunge and we got found on the street by Roger Cotton, who was a producer who liked us and said, “Do you guys want to come and make a record?” And so we did and that was our first album, Now Is The Time.  And somehow – there have been quite a few people in and out of the door over that time – we’re still here today.

And when you first put the band together then, did you have a clear idea of the sound you wanted to go for from the very start? Because let me just share this. I’ve got a theory about folk rock in that while the folk element can be fairly timeless, delving back centuries, the rock element usually reflects what’s contemporary at the time in terms of rock music. That was certainly the case with Fairport in the late 60s and early 70s. I would argue bands like Oysterband as well very much reflected the post-punk era in the rock element. But clearly you didn’t go for a sort of millennium-era indie vibe or anything like that. You delved back.

I think we’d always had that kind of retro taste in music. So, certainly there was always elements of that kind of late ‘60s, vaguely psychedelic rock. But I think when we started off, we were playing much more acoustic music. Not always but I rarely played an electric guitar. And although we probably weren’t vibing off what they now call indie sleaze (and at the time I called ‘horrible music without a tune’) – there were a lot of bands around at the time, like the Decemberists who were a huge influence on us. And early Arcade Fire. We just caught the beginnings of what came to be termed ‘new folk’ and so there was an element of that in there as well.

So, I wouldn’t say it was completely “we just want to go retro”. But then, equally, I grew up listening to Britpop-type music, which always had that very  ‘looking-back’ element to it. So, I guess we were the start of that musical generation who just sort of had everything – who grew up listening to their parents’ music and then had their own music. And the big genrefication that really lasted up to the early ‘90s was just starting to break down a bit. I think you see it more today with younger people who will listen to everything, you know, encompassing Disney soundtracks, to Steely Dan, to actual contemporary pop stars – which you’ll have noticed I haven’t been able to name any of! But I think guys our age were maybe at the beginning of that kind of change in music consumption that we see today, possibly.

Yeah, I think I think that’s fair. I think I did my own sort of 1980s teenage version of a Spotify playlist, which was just going to second-hand shops and buying ‘60s and ‘70s albums incredibly cheaply and discovering music that way. So, yeah, I think that’s right.

And then moving on, there’s been quite a gap between this new album, Onward The Sun, and the previous album, After Comes the Dark. Can you give us a quick update on what’s been happening in Green Diesel since the last album came out?

Yeah, in some ways it’s an even bigger gap than it might seem now. Because although After Comes the Dark came out in 2021, it was predominantly written and recorded in late 2019/early 2020 and then got stuck by COVID so we could never finish it. The material on that album feels very old, not necessarily in a bad way, but it really feels very different. So, I guess quite a lot has happened since then. Ellen’s had two children, which has somewhat made progress perhaps run a bit slower than it might otherwise have done. We’ve got a new drummer in. We had Paul (Dadswell) on the last album,  circumstances took him elsewhere in life. We were very lucky to very quickly find Ben Love, who is on duties for this album and he’s been a fantastic addition. So, there was a lot of just gathering together of material.  And I think one of the big things about this record that maybe is different to some of the others, it grew a lot more out of just jamming and playing around with ideas. I think in the past, it’s very much been the writer – be it me or one of the others – coming in with a song and, not everything charted out note for note, but a pretty good idea of “this is how I want it to end up”.

But this one, partly because we had long periods of time where Ellen wasn’t able to participate directly for children reasons, basically the four of us were bored. We quite liked to play something even if we weren’t able to get out and gig as much as we might have wanted to. And particularly that post-COVID period where you were able to do things again, it was a nice novelty to get together in a room and just make some noise.

So, there’s quite a few songs on this record that have grown more out of that. They’re kind of longer and a bit looser, maybe structurally. And then Ellen had a second child so we had the backings of the songs down and then we took a break. What I call her maternity leave. Then came back to it. So, it’s just a lot of playing. And I think it was particularly good when Ben Love came in on drums because it meant very quickly, we sort of found our groove, literally. It gave us a really good chance to work up that material. And I should say as well, Paul put in a lot of work on some of the songs. There were, I think, two or three that have been part of our live set now for two or three years. So, it’s very much been a group effort in that sense, which I really like about it.

So that accounts for some of the longer instrumental sections in some of the songs, which I know you’ve really gone for on this album?

Yeah. I think, jumping back to one of your earlier questions, we’ve got a lot heavier as a band over time. And that sort of lends itself to that kind of sonic exploration and just jamming it out a bit. And partly the way that our tastes have gone. I think still rooted around songs that work as songs. We write in a very hook-led way. But yeah, just that bit of freedom to keep going, I quite like.

Yeah, I like what you’ve done and, as you say, without losing the essential element of the song. I mean, some bands can jam so much that the actual purpose of the song is lost. You haven’t done that.

Yeah, we haven’t got to Grateful Dead so far. Who knows what comes next!

What do you want to tell us about the new album and some of the songs on the album?

So it’s nine tracks this time and there’s a couple of traditional pieces on there, but they’re predominantly from within the band. I’ve written some, Ben Holiday on bass wrote one, Matt on guitar has written one and we’ve got a cover as well. There’s a cover of  ‘The Maypole’ song from The Wicker Man soundtrack, which Matt bought in. That was quite good fun to work on.

It does seem a very good fit for Green Diesel.

Yeah, that soundtrack as a whole has always been a big, big influence for us. So, it kind of seemed right to go there. We haven’t done a lot of covers, traditionally, so it was quite an interesting challenge.

Yeah, so there’s a good variety of writers there. I wouldn’t say there’s a theme to the album, but it kind of builds on where we were going with After Comes the Dark. Although the majority of the songs are original, they’re very much rooted in a traditional folk idiom. And there’s a lot of folk-lore. The weirder end of folklore but I suppose the term that’s popular at the moment is folk horror. And that kind of really ticks quite a lot of our boxes. So, there’s some bits about witchcraft in there and some of the traditions around potion-making. And while I say it’s darker, I think there’s a kind of optimism there as well. Very rooted in the natural world and what we see and what we experience. And then we’ve finally managed to do our Moris On bit because the instrumentals are two Morris dance tunes, which is something that me and Ellen have both been keen to do for a while. And we’ve done that in our own way. It kind of wanders off a bit in the middle and, you know, bringing some of our – those of us who have them – slightly proggish leanings. So just to really, really sell it to the hipsters, it’s Morris dance music mixed with progressive rock – because obviously that’s a pretty big thing!

They’re so evidently Morris tunes from the moment you hear them, but yeah, they’ve been given the Green Diesel treatment so it definitely fits in with the album as a whole.

Yeah, I think I’d probably describe it as quite a confident album. It’s the album of a band who kind of know who they are. That partly comes from just playing together a lot, but there’s a real core strength there. I suppose it’s the one I feel, so far, that we’ve done that sounds most like us. It feels very much like everything’s been developing up to this point to, to get to where we are in 2025.

And on the live front, you’ve got some gigs coming up in Kent and Sussex. And I’m hoping to get to the Brighton one. But where I would really like to see you would be on the main stage at Cropredy. I think you’d go down a storm. And when I interviewed Dave Pegg, he told me that they’re not able to have the really big names, the Brian Wilsons and the Alice Coopers that they’ve had, because of the financial constraints that they’re now facing. They have downsized the festival to make it more financially viable so it could be the perfect opportunity. I think you would go down an absolute storm.

That’s what I’d love to think. So, if Dave’s watching this, then come and get me! Back when my brother was still in the band and we were at I think the 2007 Cropredy, that was always the goal. Unfortunately, the goal was to do it by 2014 so we’ve missed the mark a little bit there. But we’re always open to offers!

Well, let’s see, it would be good. Because you have played the fringe, haven’t you?

Yeah, we’ve done the fringe a few times. That’s always good fun. I mean, generally, just, just being able to play to people who are open to listening to what we do is always good. The reality of being where we are in our lives means, unfortunately, we’re not in a position at the moment that we can all  jump in the van and go around the country for three weeks. So, we have to be, I suppose, more, selective. And partly financial realities as well. I’d love to go to Europe, but to make it pay – or at the very least cover costs – it’s much more challenging now. And that’s just the reality of it. But, you know, and it’s probably what keeps us going, to be honest, there’s something about that kind of response from people who are listening to music that you’ve created. And it might be the first time they’ve heard it. They might have come to every show. Either way, there’s just a real kind base-level thrill to that.

Fantastic. Is there anything else you want to tell people before we wrap up?

So, the album that we’re discussing is called Onward The Sun. It comes out on 25th of April. It’s going to be available digitally and on CD. That’s it at the moment. Who knows, if demand is there we might look at doing a vinyl version some way down the line. You can pre-order it. If you go to the website, which is greendieslefolk.com, you can order a copy there. It’s got a lovely front cover. It’s made by an artist based in Margate, which is not that far away from us, called Matt Pringle. And I think he’s really got the core of what we’re doing. So yeah, please check us out. We love to reach new people. If you do happen to be promoters for a slightly more mature folk rock band than you would have had a few years ago, then do get in touch because we always love to find new markets. But yeah, please give us a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

You can watch the full interview on YouTube here.

Onward The Sun! is released on 25th April by Talking Elephant https://greendiesel.bandcamp.com/album/onward-the-sun-2

Related posts:

Celebrated folk rock band Green Diesel back with long-awaited fifth album: Onward The Sun!

After Comes The Dark: new album from Green Diesel promises folk in glorious technicolor

Green Diesel at The Albion, Hastings 2017

Green Diesel album review – Wayfarers All

Green Diesel at Lewisham 2016

‘Ring The Hill’ – new single from celebrated folk rock band, Green Diesel

Folk music, Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Single release: 11 April 2025

Following their critically-acclaimed 2021 album, After Comes The Dark, which saw Green Diesel pick up a slew of enthusiastic reviews for what became their best-selling release to date, the Kent-based folk rock band are finally back with a brand-new album.

Onward The Sun! is the band’s long-awaited fifth album and is scheduled for release on 25 April. The nine-track album features six newly-composed songs inspired by themes such humanity’s connections with the natural world, ancient folklore, the persecution of witches and Shakespeare’s Henry IV, as well as fresh interpretations of much-loved Morris tunes, a modern take on a traditional murder ballad and a cover of a Paul Giovanni composition from the cinematic soundtrack to The Wickerman.

Ahead of the release of Onward The Sun! a new single from the album ‘Ring The Hill’ is released digitally on 11 April: https://greendiesel.bandcamp.com/track/ring-the-hill-2

Discussing the single, ‘Ring The Hill’, guitarist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Greg Ireland, comments:

“Based on the Cornish legend of the white hare. It is thought that the creature is the spirit of a broken-hearted lady determined to haunt her faithless lover to the grave. This also got me thinking about the historical connections between hares and witchcraft – the chorus lyrics are an adaptation of some of the words used by Isobel Gowdie at her trial (she was tried as a witch in Scotland in 1662 and her testimony survives). The song follows the progression of our heroine from broken-hearted to vengeful and it seemed appropriately prog to divide it into two parts. The tune for the second part is a variant of the traditional tune for Dives and Lazarus.”

Showcasing Green Diesel’s masterful distillation of folk, rock and psychedelic influences, together with their usual exemplary musicianship and trademark vocals, the album was recorded at Squarehead Studios in Newington, Kent with producer Rob Wilks (Smoke Fairies, Lianne La Havas, Story Books) once again at the helm.

Green Diesel are:

Ellen Care – violin/vocals
Matt Dear – lead guitar/vocals
Ben Holliday – bass
Greg Ireland – rhythm guitar/mandolin/dulcimer/vocals
Ben Love – drums/percussion

About Green Diesel:

Hailing from Faversham in Kent, Green Diesel take their inspiration from the depths of English folk lore and legend, and the classic folk-rock sound of their predecessors: Fairport Convention and The Albion Band. Blending violin, mandolin and dulcimer with electric guitars and drums, Green Diesel’s sound is born from a love of traditional English music and a desire to bring it to a modern audience.

Green Diesel’s first three albums,  Now Is the Time (2012), Wayfarers All (2014) and The Hangman’s Fee(2016) all won praise for the quality of song-writing and musicianship. A major turning-point, however, came with the band’s last album After Comes The Dark (2021). The album entered the UK Folk Top 40 on release and saw Green Diesel nominated for FATEA Music’s ‘Group/Duo of the Year’ award and also saw the band pushing their sound further, bringing in elements of psychedelia and progressive rock whilst remaining rooted in their folk upbringing.

Green Diesel – What They Say:

“A cornucopia of sounds that blends classic folk-rock, prog and elements of stately Early Music into their own distinctive style’” – R2 Magazine

“4/5 stars – ‘(Green Diesel bring) a psychedelic, progressive edge to their interpretations of both traditional and original material” – Shindig!

“Evocative of early Steeleye Span and veined with prog-rock and influences drawn from early Genesis and the 70s Canterbury scene’” – Folk Radio

“Green Diesel has skyrocketed into my top few bands” – FATEA

Website: http://greendieselfolk.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greendieselfolk

Related posts:

Celebrated folk rock band Green Diesel back with long-awaited fifth album: Onward The Sun!

After Comes The Dark: new album from Green Diesel promises folk in glorious technicolor

Green Diesel at The Albion, Hastings 2017

Green Diesel album review – Wayfarers All

Green Diesel at Lewisham 2016

New book out this summer: ‘Steeleye Span 1970 to 1989 On Track: Every Album, Every Song’ by Darren Johnson

Book reviews, Folk music, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , ,

Following my ‘glam rock trilogy’ covering Slade, Sweet and Suzi Quatro, I now turn my attention to folk rock. I’m delighted to announce that my fourth book for Sonicbond Publishing will be coming out this summer. Steeleye Span 1970 to 1989 On Track: Every Album, Every Song will be out on 29 August 2025.

This latest book is part of Sonicbond’s ‘On Track’ series.

You can read the publisher’s blurb here:

When Ashley Hutchings broke away from Fairport Convention in 1969, he recruited two musical duos who didn’t seem to agree about very much at all. This fractious group imploded before their debut album was even released. Undeterred, two new musicians were enlisted and Steeleye Span carried on. Then Hutchings himself resigned. Rather than this being a disaster, however, it set in train what would become the band’s most commercially successful period. It was an extraordinary time for folk rock but it was not to last. The second half of the 1970s saw another change in line-up, disappointing album sales and a two-year hiatus. All was not lost, though, and the classic line-up reconvened at the start of the 1980s.

Covering a two-decade period, this book looks at every album from Hark! The Village Wait in 1970 to Tempted and Tried in 1989. The fascinating history behind the traditional songs on these albums is examined in detail, together with insights into how the band went about truly making them their own. Steeleye Span On Track is a meticulously researched celebration of the music of one the UK’s most important bands in the folk rock genre at the most crucial period in its history.

About the author:

A former politician, Darren Johonson spent many years writing about current affairs, but after stepping away from politics, he was able to devote time to his first love: music. His previous books for Sonicbond were The Sweet In The 1970s, Suzi Quatro In The 1970s and Slade In The 1970s. Following this glam rock trilogy, he now turns his attention to folk rock. A keen follower of both rock and folk, he maintains a popular music blog Darren’s Music Blog and has reviewed many albums and gigs over the past decade. He lives in Hastings, East Sussex.

You can pre-order the book on Amazon here

It will also be available from the publisher’s online bookstore and other retailers in due course.

https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/

Related posts:

‘Slade in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

‘Suzi Quatro in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

Celebrated folk rock band Green Diesel back with long-awaited fifth album: Onward The Sun!

Folk music, Music news, Rock music, , , , ,

Released: 25 April 2025

Following their critically-acclaimed 2021 album, After Comes The Dark, which saw Green Diesel pick up a slew of enthusiastic reviews for what became their best-selling release to date, the Kent-based folk rock band are finally back with a brand-new album.

Onward The Sun! is the band’s long-awaited fifth album and is scheduled for release on 25 April. The nine-track album features six newly-composed songs inspired by themes such humanity’s connections with the natural world, ancient folklore, the persecution of witches and Shakespeare’s Henry IV, as well as fresh interpretations of much-loved Morris tunes, a modern take on a traditional murder ballad and a cover of a Paul Giovanni composition from the cinematic soundtrack to The Wickerman.

Showcasing Green Diesel’s masterful distillation of folk, rock and psychedelic influences, together with their usual exemplary musicianship and trademark vocals, the album was recorded at Squarehead Studios in Newington, Kent with producer Rob Wilks (Smoke Fairies, Lianne La Havas, Story Books) once again at the helm.

Guitarist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Greg Ireland, comments:

“This is an album born out of playing together a lot!  Most of the pieces were developed through a lot of sessions together and really stretching out the jams into some of those elongated pieces we play live.  We then recorded the main tracks all live together in one room, no click tracks.  It’s really a celebration of what this band is and the sound we make together.”

Green Diesel are:

Ellen Care – violin/vocals
Matt Dear – lead guitar/vocals
Ben Holliday – bass
Greg Ireland – rhythm guitar/mandolin/dulcimer/vocals
Ben Love – drums/percussion

About Green Diesel:

Hailing from Faversham in Kent, Green Diesel take their inspiration from the depths of English folk lore and legend, and the classic folk-rock sound of their predecessors: Fairport Convention and The Albion Band. Blending violin, mandolin and dulcimer with electric guitars and drums, Green Diesel’s sound is born from a love of traditional English music and a desire to bring it to a modern audience.

Green Diesel’s first three albums,  Now Is the Time (2012), Wayfarers All (2014) and The Hangman’s Fee(2016) all won praise for the quality of song-writing and musicianship. A major turning-point, however, came with the band’s last album After Comes The Dark (2021). The album entered the UK Folk Top 40 on release and saw Green Diesel nominated for FATEA Music’s ‘Group/Duo of the Year’ award and also saw the band pushing their sound further, bringing in elements of psychedelia and progressive rock whilst remaining rooted in their folk upbringing.

Green Diesel – What They Say:

“A cornucopia of sounds that blends classic folk-rock, prog and elements of stately Early Music into their own distinctive style’” – R2 Magazine

“4/5 stars – ‘(Green Diesel bring) a psychedelic, progressive edge to their interpretations of both traditional and original material” – Shindig!

“Evocative of early Steeleye Span and veined with prog-rock and influences drawn from early Genesis and the 70s Canterbury scene’” – Folk Radio

“Green Diesel has skyrocketed into my top few bands” – FATEA

Onward The Sun! – Track-By-Track:

1. Venus Tree (Ireland): ‘Yarrow (the ‘pretty flower of Venus’ tree) is an interesting plant…!  The song is perhaps a slightly twisted take on a love song, based around some of the ways in which yarrow can be used for what you might call ‘love divination’ whereby sprigs of yarrow would be placed under the pillow of a young woman who would then dream of her true love to be.  One popular rhyme for instance reads:

‘Yarrow sweet yarrow, the first that I have found
And in the name of sweet Jesus, I pluck it from the ground
As Joseph loves sweet Mary and took her for his dear
So in a dream this very night my true love will appear!’

Like all good folk stories there’s a twist in the tale of course.  The yarrow plucked must be plucked from the grave of a young man dead before his time…’ Greg

2. Hotspur (Holliday): ‘Hotspur is the nickname given to Henry Percy, who was the 2nd Earl of Northumberland and led a rebellion against Henry IV. This rebellion culminated at the Battle of Shrewsbury, which is depicted in Shakespeare’s Henry IV. The night before the Battle, Hotspur is told that his various allies who agreed to fight alongside him aren’t turning up, but (in the play) he still delivers a fiery speech and declares they will go ahead and attack the ‘usurper’ Henry IV no matter what. The song tries to capture his mental state at night before the battle – he can’t sleep, he’s scared, but he knows he has to ‘front up’ and be the brave, fearless, fiery Hotspur that everyone knows.’  Ben

3. Huntress Moon (Dear): ‘This song is a spell of transformation. I’d been reading about Paracelsus, the history of alchemy, the occult, and the persecution of witches during the Reformation. I wanted to write something that drew on this symbolism, using the language of magick to craft a lament, an impossible dream, a transcendent fiction.’  Matt

4. Princess Royal/Dribbles of Brandy (trad arr Green Diesel): ‘Two English folk tunes learnt from our trusty companion Pete Cooper’s book of English Fiddle Tunes.  I’ve played Princess Royal with my dad for years – there’s actually two different versions of this tune: one in a minor key and one in a major key.   The minor one seemed to fit our style better!  The second tune is called Dribbles of Brandy and was one we used to have on setlists during our wild misspent youth before it took a quiet retirement.  It seemed time to resurrect!  This one always puts me in mind of late night gigs at Broadstairs Folk Week fuelled by too many ciders…’  Ellen

5. Hymn For The Turning Year (Ireland): ‘Written in the depths of the Covid winter of 2020 when, amidst all the chaos in the human world, the Earth was just doing the same thing it does every year.  The verses are individual snapshots of things I witnessed on my mandated solo walks and a reflection on ultimately how powerless we are against the natural world, a feeling which seemed to be mirrored on a human level by the situation in the world at the time.’  Greg

6. Maypole (Paul Giovanni): ‘A cover of one of  Paul Giovanni’s compositions from the soundtrack to The Wickerman.  The soundtrack has long been a favourite of mine, it was and remains a big influence on my songwriting. This song always struck a chord with me, and I’d always wanted to develop it into a longer song. It seemed to encapsulate my morbid attraction to the Summerisle cult, a return to a cyclical view of time, death and life entwined.’  Matt

7. Onward The Sun! (Ireland): ‘In some ways the sister song to Hymn…  a frequent walking route of mine was up Golden Hill in Harbledown, just outside Canterbury.  There’s a particular bench there where you can just sit and look across the hills.  The sun is such a part of folklore and folk imagery and I suppose that was in my mind on some of these walks – musing on our temporary status in the world.  We’ll all shuffle off sooner or later but the sun will go on and on.  Hopefully…’  Greg

8. Ring The Hill (Ireland): ‘Based on the Cornish legend of the white hare.  It is thought that the creature is the spirit of a broken-hearted lady determined to haunt her faithless lover to the grave.  This also got me thinking about the historical connections between hares and witchcraft – the chorus lyrics are an adaptation of some of the words used by Isobel Gowdie at her trial (she was tried as a witch in Scotland in 1662 and her testimony survives).   The song follows the progression of our heroine from broken-hearted to vengeful and it seemed appropriately prog to divide it into two parts.  The tune for the second part is a variant of the traditional tune for Dives and Lazarus.’  Greg

9. Wild Wild Berry (trad arr. Green Diesel): ‘A traditional song that appears to share similarities with the Lord Randall ballad.  Collected from the traditional singer Ray Driscoll who apparently learned it in Shropshire after being evacuated there during the war.  My own introduction to the song came from the version by the Furrow Collective.  I particularly liked the way that this version distils the essence of the long Lord Randall ballad into three powerful verses.  And, of course, I love the poetic ending of the murderer being hanged with the deadly nightshade entwined in her hair!  Musically I had been listening to a lot of drone-based composers like Alison Cotton and John Cale and wanted to try and extract the maximum mileage we could from one chord on this one’.  Greg

Website: http://greendieselfolk.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greendieselfolk

Related posts:

After Comes The Dark: new album from Green Diesel promises folk in glorious technicolor

Green Diesel at The Albion, Hastings 2017

Green Diesel album review – Wayfarers All

Green Diesel at Lewisham 2016

Live review: Fairport Convention at Union Chapel, London 22/2/25

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Both at their summer Cropredy Festival and on many of their winter tours, Fairport Convention have long striven to provide a platform for newly-emerging artists. This current tour is no exception. Support, this time, is the Liverpool-based singer-songwriter and finger-style acoustic guitarist, Danny Bradley, whose debut album Small Talk Songs has just been released. With a fine voice, some mesmerising finger-work, a great set of songs and some wryly, self-effacing stage patter (“This is the first time I’ve been on the bill with anyone that my dad’s heard of”) and he opens proceedings very nicely indeed. As is traditional on their winter tours, the Fairport guys join Bradley on stage to act as his backing band for the final song of his set, before launching into their own.

Fairport themselves then kick things off with a rousing rendition of ‘Come All Ye’ from their genre-defining 1969 folk-rock masterpiece Liege & Lief. “An opening song that’s had a few decades off” is how Simon Nicol put it. They then stick with the Sandy Denny era for a version of Denny’s ‘Fothingay’, with beautiful twin fiddles courtesy of Ric Sanders and Chris Leslie. In fact, with the band revisiting a couple of band-composed tracks from the post-85 Fairport, we are almost coming to the end of the first set before we hear anything that can be properly considered a folk song but an equally rousing ‘Claudy Banks’ finally inserts a bit of trad. arr. into the setlist.

That’s followed by Chris Leslie’s own ‘Banbury Fair’ before the band delve back into the early days once more and round off the first half with a magnificently sprawling, brooding version of ‘Sloth’ from the much-celebrated Full House album. As I was soaking up Dave Mattacks’ wonderfully-atmospheric drumming, such an integral part of that song’s epic status on the original album, I’m reminded that with the return of Mattacks (following the retirement and subsequent untimely death of long-time drummer Gerry Conway), we now have three of the five players from that classic 1970 album performing as part of the band’s regular touring line-up. There aren’t many bands who made an album fifty-five years ago who can still claim that sort of on-stage quota!

After a short interval, the second set kicks off with another trad. arr. offering in the form of ‘The Hexhamshire Lass’. When I interviewed Dave Pegg last month ahead of this tour, he told me that the band were prompted to include the song in the set-list for this tour as they would be playing Hexham on Valentine’s night – even though “it’s quite a complicated arrangement”! No matter, even without the legend that was Dave Swarbrick, they do have the incredible musical talents of Sanders and Leslie to draw on for a superb rendition.

Photo credit Kevin Smith

Indeed, as he shares with us when introducing the next tune, it’s now 40 years since Sanders played on his first Fairport album – Gladys’ Leap. Sanders tells the audience that he was phoned up by Pegg who had asked him if he was interested in contributing fiddle to three tracks but initially he had no idea he was being asked to contribute to a Fairport Convention album. Until he heard the tracks, and the distinctive drumming of Dave Mattacks, he assumed he was merely being asked to contribute to one of Pegg’s side projects. Sanders added his fiddle sounds, of course, and the rest is history. So to mark the anniversary of that significant moment in the Fairport chronicles, the band revisit the instrumental medley from Gladys’ Leap, along with a beautifully-evocative version of ‘Hiring Fair’ with some gorgeous keyboard flourishes from Mattacks. Written for them by Ralph McTell, it’s a song that has rightly become a fan favourite over the past four decades.

Back in 2011, the band revisited the whole of their 1971 concept album, Babbacombe Lee, the tale of the convicted murderer who was condemned to death but given a reprieve after the gallows failed three times in succession. Unlike other past albums it’s not usually one where odd tracks are performed live but here we get two, the contemplative ‘Cell Song’ and the exhilarating, death-defying ‘Wake Up John (Hanging Song)’. Just as he did back in 2011 when the band performed the full album live, Leslie does a fine job singing Swarbrick’s original lyrics.

The second set is beginning to draw to a close at this stage but there’s still time for a couple more numbers before the band finish proceedings with the inevitable show-closers. There’s a joyous rendition of ‘Rising For The Moon’, Sandy Denny’s celebration of the simple pleasures of touring and performing. And, after marking Sanders’ induction to the Fairport ranks earlier in the set, we are then reminded that it’s coming up to almost three decades since Chris Leslie joined. It was his second album with the band where he really started coming into his own as the band’s principal contemporary songwriter and they revisit the title track of that album, ‘The Wood and the Wire’, Leslie’s impassioned paean to coveting, cherishing and learning to play a stringed instrument.

As we come up to curfew time there’s normally three things that happen around this point. Firstly, a sales pitch from Simon Nicol about the band’s Cropredy festival in August, followed by two perennial crowd-pleasers ‘Matty Groves’ and ‘Meet On The Ledge’. This year, there’s less of a need for the sales pitch as the now reduced-capacity festival (a financial necessity in the current climate) is very close to selling out. So, after a brief exhortation to check the website in the coming days for the final few tickets, it’s banjo-at-the-ready and time for all nineteen verses of ‘Matty Groves’, some heartfelt applause from an appreciative audience and the inevitable ‘Meet On The Ledge’. Me and my group of camping friends got in nice and early with our Cropredy ticket purchases for this year so I’ll be looking forward to singing along to it once more, as midnight approaches on 9th August. It all comes round again.

Photo credit: Kevin Smith

Setlist:

First set:

Come All Ye
Fotheringay
I’m Already There
The Rose Hip
Claudy Banks
Banbury Fair
Sloth

Second set:

The Hexhamshire Lass
Instrumental Medley ’85
The Hiring Fair
Cell Song
Wake Up John (Hanging Song)
Rising for the Moon
The Wood and the Wire
Matty Groves
Meet on the Ledge

Related posts:

Interview with Dave Pegg 2025

Interview with Simon Nicol 2024

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2024

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2023

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2022

Book review: ‘On Track: Fairport Convention – every album, every song’ by Kevan Furbank

Fairport Convention at Bexhill 2020

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2018

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2017

Album review – Fairport Convention ‘Come All Ye: The First Ten Years’

Fairport Convention – 50th anniversary gig at Union Chapel 2017

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2014

Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 2014

Interview with Fairport Convention’s Dave Pegg

Folk music, Interviews, Rock music, , , , , ,

Ahead of Fairport Convention’s Winter Tour, I catch up with Dave Pegg. We discuss the making of the Full House album, the crucial role that Jethro Tull played in Fairport’s resurrection, changes afoot at Cropredy this summer so that the festival survives the financial pressures facing the sector and the forthcoming tour, starting 31 January.

We’ll talk about the Winter Tour and about Cropredy later but first I want to start right at the very beginning – well the very beginning for you. I was re-reading the Fairport by Fairport book and it was Swarb who really pushed for you to be auditioned after Ashley left. It seems that the others were a bit sceptical at first?

Well, what happened Swarb used to be in the Ian Campbell Folk Group and he’d left a couple of years before I joined them to go off to play with Martin Carthy. He knew of me through the Campbells because he joined the Campbells for an album that they did. It was just a reunion kind of album and I played on it. He was aware that I wasn’t really a double bass player, which I played with the Campbells. I said, “This isn’t really my instrument, mate. I can get away with it but I’m a bass guitarist. I’m a rock musician really.” He remembered this and when I saw Fairport on my 22nd birthday at Mothers Club, it was the last time the Liege & Lief line-up played together and I was blown away. I thought it was fabulous. I thought I’d love to play with that band and literally the next day I got a call from Swarbrick saying Ashley was leaving and they were looking for a bass player. And that’s how I got the audition. The others were a bit scared because when he said I’d played with the Ian Campbell Folk Group, they thought I’d be like the Aran sweater and the beard, like a proper folkie, but I knew absolutely zilch about folk music at all – and still don’t!

And when you did join did it feel like you’d found your natural home or did it take a while to settle in?

No, I kind of settled in pretty quickly. I mean because the Fairports are great players and they were from the same background as myself. Richard was an astonishing guitarist, even at that age. And the rhythm section, Simon and DM, they were just fantastic to play with. And then there was the added bonus of Swarb who was re-inventing the way that he played the fiddle. Because now he was kind of getting into rock music and was using his Echoplex and he’d got a really crude pickup on his violin made from a telephone (laughs). But it was very early days in terms of electric violin. But the weirder thing about it, we were rehearsing stuff, we’d moved into this place, The Angel at Little Hadham and we were rehearsing songs but without a vocal, without anyone singing. Because, of course, Sandy had left the band as well and it meant the band didn’t have a vocalist so it was a case of drawing straws to see who got the short straw. It was Richard and Swarb who did most of the vocals. Simon, after a while – Simon’s a great singer – but in those days Richard and Swarb hadn’t really sung at all.

Yes, it great how everyone’s confidence as vocalists grew.

Yeah – we made the Full House album. We recorded most of it in London and we went to New York to overdub the vocals. It was made at Sound Techniques in London, engineered by John Wood who was a fantastic engineer and Joe Boyd [producer] allowed us to do whatever we wanted, musically. But Joe kind of trusted the band. What was great about his production for Fairport was the fact that he’d allow us to do whatever we wanted. And he also he knew lots of people in America and we went to New York and we overdubbed most of the vocals in New York, in a studio where Dylan had recently recorded.

Now when I interviewed Simon this time last year, he said this was like being asked to name your favourite child, but I’m going to ask it anyway. What’s your favourite Fairport album?

It’s a very hard one for me because I’ve been involved ever since Full House, which was the first one I played on in 1970. There’s been so many different Fairport line-ups and I find it hard to compare one album against another one. Well, for me, my favourite album before I joined was Unhalfbricking, which I think is a remarkable album. Things like ‘Percy’s Song’ – it’s just incredible that song. I know Dylan really rates that version. Unhalfbricking was my favourite pre-joining Fairport. And the albums that I’ve played on, where there’ve been different line-ups, things like Fairport Nine mean a lot to me because it was a re-establishment with some great players and some great tracks on it. Obviously, Rising for The Moon is another great one for me because it was Sandy coming back. And things like Gladys’s Leap which was again…

Another coming-back album!

Yeah, another coming-back album. And the last one, Shuffle and Go, that we did which I think stands up as good as anything Fairport’s ever recorded. I can’t pick one album. It’s impossible, Darren, for me in that sense!

The second half of the ‘70s looked like it was all going pear-shaped for the folk rock genre. Steeleye Span split up in ’78; Sandy was dead, tragically; Richard and Linda had gone off to a religious commune. Do you think the Cropredy Farewell concert in 1979 played a big part in turning things round again?

Well in terms of turning things around, it was a kind of the end of Fairport as it was because we had split up. Swarb was going to live up in Scotland. There was no longer a working band. I went off and joined Jethro Tull, which was a lucky break for me and I was with them for like fifteen years. And what happened was Cropredy Festival kind of evolved as a get-together, because we’re all mates in Fairport. When we split up there was never really any animosity when people came and then left the band. It was always because they had ideas about what they wanted to do personally. And people like Richard, his talent was too big for Fairport Convention if you like – his ideas about what he wanted to do musically. The group was a bit inhibitive for him. We couldn’t do all the things he wanted. Same with Sandy. We couldn’t do orchestral arrangements. And they were both great songwriters. Well, Richard still is, obviously. But when they left the band the rest of the guys didn’t feel bad about it. We would do everything we could to encourage it. Because we were all mates, it was nice for us to get together.

And, basically, because of Jethro Tull I was in a better situation, financially. My ex-wife, Christine, and myself – we thought it would be nice to keep the band going, even just for a reunion. So, we would plan these things at Cropredy. And we started a little label, Woodworm Records in order to put out our own product and to put out stuff by people who we thought were really good – like we put out an album with Steve Ashley called the Family Album, which is one of my favourite albums. And we made albums with Beryl Marriott and, later on, with Anna Ryder, and Bob Fox. And with Simon Nicol we did two of Simon’s. This was all due, thankfully, to Jethro Tull. Ian [Anderson] and Martin [Barre] kind of adopted me and invited me to join the band and looked after me, financially. So instead of buying a Rolls Royce, I converted a Methodist Chapel – an old chapel next to our cottage in Barford St Michael – into a studio in order that we could make our albums.

In the Fairport book I think you talk about it being a hobby that got out of hand.

Yeah, it did get a bit out of hand (laughs) but it paid off in terms of having a facility where we could all make albums and we could rehearse at. In fact, it’s still a great studio, Woodworm. We’re there in a couple of weeks rehearsing for our tour. And we do record there still. Stuart [Jones] who runs it, the investment that he’s put into it is something that I couldn’t have done. Everything got kind of out of hand in terms of the cost of doing stuff and a lot of studios closed down. Basically, because of the invention of the laptop! And things like Garageband [software app]. My laptop that I’m looking at now seeing your face on it, has more equipment on and is a better studio than my studio in Barford St Michael that was. If only I knew how to operate it!

Primitive though the technology was at that time, it clearly provided, along with the festival, the foundation for the rebirth of the band.

Exactly, yeah. It was brilliant and the album, Gladys’s Leap – we’re looking at a few tracks that we haven’t played for years on this upcoming tour. It’s great for us. And it’s great having Dave Mattacks back on the tour because he comes all the way from America and the Gladys’s Leap album was such an important step in the reformation of Fairport Convention.

And another question on Cropredy before we move on to this tour. To keep the festival viable, you’ve made some changes. It’s funny because there was a group of us sitting in the camping field at Cropredy last August discussing this very thing and we all agreed that to keep the festival financially viable you’d have to downsize so you weren’t tearing your hair out about whether you’d get the numbers each year. And that seems to be what you’ve done, pretty much.

Well, luckily, Gareth Williams our CEO came up with several formulas for trying to make it pay. It’s always been such a gamble, the last couple of years especially. Because when you don’t know how many tickets you are going to sell, you can’t budget. You’re guessing about the number of people who are going to turn up. Gareth’s idea – we’re only going to sell 6,500 tickets and we’re only selling three-day tickets. Because we know we’ve got that lump of income and we can budget accordingly without the risk of going bankrupt. What happens to a lot of festivals is they overspend. Stuff like building the site at Cropredy is the most expensive aspect of our festival because you’re building a town in the middle of nowhere. There’s no electricity, there’s no water, there’s nothing. You’re putting everything on that site and as the years go by, it gets more and more expensive. And we could no longer risk it. We didn’t want to go bankrupt and it happens so easily and it’s happened to so many other festivals. The price of just the actual infrastructure for all these events went up so much. It went up like 30% over the space of a year and that’s why a lot of these festivals went down. And also, the fact that to get kind of headline acts is an absolute fortune nowadays. Little festivals like Cropredy can’t attract huge names.

So, we won’t be seeing the Alice Coopers any more but you’ve still got a fantastic line-up within the budget constraints. Within the world that you operate, you’ve got a fantastic line-up.

It’s a fantastic line-up and it’s a line-up of people that want to play at Cropredy and people that we want to see at Cropredy… But we’ve been very lucky that we’ve had people like Brian Wilson, for example, at the end of a European bash. Alice, for example, said Cropredy was the best audience he’d played to in Europe. But looking at it from a pure economical point of view, we can’t run the risk of doing that. So, what we’ve done now is rationalised things. Only doing the three-day ticket, which some people will complain about  because some people only want to go for one day. It’s a shame but we’ve designed the festival for the people who’ve been with us over all those years, who come for three days, who come for the fact that Cropredy means a lot more to them than having a huge act on that’s probably their only chance to see. And we’ve put acts on that we think are really good.

I think it’s reassuring because we’ve got happy memories of your flirtation with the big league, with acts like Alice Cooper or Chic or whatever. But at the same time, we’ve got that reassurance that we know the festival can go ahead and it’s not going to go bankrupt.

Yeah, that’s it. It’s the only way that we could carry on. It’s a kind of test year this year because if it works, we’ve got a formula that we can kind of stick to. It’s adaptable. We may be proved wrong. There might be such a swell of people wanting to come. Last year we sold something like 9,700 tickets which was 2,000 less than the year before. Cropredy, it’s like a mature kind of crowd you get there with all due respect. A lot of them are ageing. They don’t want to camp any more. They enjoy the glamping and a lot of them have got motor homes or caravans. That’s great. But there are very few hotels about available nowadays and a lot of people think twice before taking a bivouac out and roughing it in the field. Although as we all know, Darren, the weather’s always perfect at Cropredy!

We’ve never had any rain! The sun’s never been too hot!

I think we’re going to have a fantastic year and I’m really pleased about the line-up. There isn’t a bad act on it and I’m so pleased that we’ve got Albert Lee because we’ve been trying to get Albert for years. And Martin Barre coming back – Martin is a great guitarist. And we’ve got Deborah Bonham – I love Deborah’s singing. The Churchfitters are coming back. And Trevor Horn’s coming back. We missed him last year because he was poorly and he had to cancel so it’s great having Trevor back.

I think that within the financial constraints that you’re operating in, it’s still a fantastically diverse line-up which has some of the folky elements and some of the classic rock elements and I’ve always liked that mix. You’ve still managed to maintain that.

Yeah, the diversity musically is one of the attractions of Cropredy, I think, because it’s not all folkie and it never has been because we’ve always had a real mix of music, like reggae, rock. We’ve never really had punk bands but we’ve had some very diverse kinds of music on there – and that will always be. The criterion is whether we think the acts that we book musically fit the bill. If the bands are all really good, the only people that suffer are us because we have to follow them all. It’s not funny. Two years running I’ve sat out in the field and I’ve watched and I’ve thought, “This is fantastic. The sound’s great, the screens, you can see everything, you don’t have to move, the bar’s only like a minute’s walk away and everybody’s so friendly and having a great time.” And then when it comes to Saturday night, I’m like, “Oh hang on, we’re on now. We’ve got to follow that lot!” It’s not easy. There’s a lot of nerves when we get up on that stage, because we play for about three hours.

In fact, this year’s going to be really fun for us because when we open on Thursday, we do our twenty-minute acoustic spot. We do Chris’s song the ‘Festival Bell’ and then we’re going to be joined by Joe Broughton’s Folk Ensemble. So, fifty students from Birmingham Conservatoire who are monster players and we’re going to do the biggest version of the ‘Lark in The Morning’ medley from Liege & Lief. Which should hopefully set the mood for the rest of the weekend.

Let’s move on to the tour then. What do you want to tell us about the Winter tour, starting 31 January?

I think we’ve got 27 dates altogether. We try and cover the whole country. We start off in Nottingham and we finish up in Tewkesbury. We’ve only got one Scottish date, although it’s great to be in Edinburgh. It’s nearly sold out. The tickets are going really well which is great. And we still enjoy touring enormously and treading the boards has always been what Fairport is good at. We’ve had more success playing live than we’ve had making albums.

Thinking back to when you first joined it must fill you with a certain sense of pride, knowing you’ve helped keep the show on the road all these years. In spite of all the problems in the festival industry, in spite of, sadly, former members no longer being with us, you’re still getting out there. It must give you a certain sense of satisfaction when you’re about to head out on tour again.

Absolutely. It’s great to get in the van. Getting in the van is easier than getting out of it. We’re banned from making pain noises now when we get out the van. But, Darren, I can assure you, I’m really ready to get in the van again and get ready to go out on the road. All I’ve got to do is learn two hours of music! Or re-learn. You think, “Oh I know all that stuff. I’ve played it hundreds of times.” And then you go, “Oh-oh”. We might be doing ‘The Lass from Hexhamshire’. We actually play in Hexham – on Valentine’s night – so it will be a great opportunity to get that song in the set – but, of course, we’ve got to learn it. And it’s quite a complicated arrangement from what I can remember. So that’s this afternoon’s work. I’ve lit the fire here because it’s really soggy and cold in Brittany so that’s my afternoon – learning the set.

Well good luck with the preparations and I look forward to seeing you at Union Chapel.

Tour dates:

January
31st Nottingham – Playhouse

February
1st Edinburgh – The Queen’s Hall,
2nd Alnwick – Alnwick Playhouse
4th Milton Keynes
5th Southend – Palace Theatre
6th Bury St Edmunds – The Apex
7th Canterbury – Colyer Fergusson Hall
8th Farnham – Farnham Maltings
9th Worthing – Connaught Theatre
11th Wakefield – Theatre Royal
12th Newcastle under Lyme – New Vic Theatre
13th Manchester – RNCM – Royal Northern College of Music
14th Hexham – Queen’s Hall Arts
15th Colne – The Muni Theatre
16th Lytham St Annes – The Lowther Pavilion
18th Lincoln – The Drill
19th Sunderland – The Fire Station
20th Leamington Spa – Royal Spa Centre
21st Harpenden – The Eric Morecambe Centre
22nd London – Union Chapel
23rd Corby – The Core Theatre
25th Swansea – Taliesin Arts Centre
26th Exeter – Corn Exchange
27th Southampton – Turner Sims
28th Bath – The Forum

March
1st Bridgnorth – Castle Hall
2nd Tewkesbury – Roses Theatre

Tickets via: https://www.fairportconvention.com/

Related posts:

Interview with Fairport Convention’s Ric Sanders

Interview with Simon Nicol 2024

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2024

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2023

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2022

Book review: ‘On Track: Fairport Convention – every album, every song’ by Kevan Furbank

Fairport Convention at Bexhill 2020

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2018

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2017

Album review – Fairport Convention ‘Come All Ye: The First Ten Years’

Fairport Convention – 50th anniversary gig at Union Chapel 2017

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2014

Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 2014

2024 in Darren’s music blog – the ten most popular posts of the year

Folk music, Glam rock, Hastings music scene, Interviews, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Happy New Year and thanks to everyone who has visited Darren’s music blog during 2024. As usual, we have a nice eclectic mix of musical genres featuring in this year’s top ten most viewed posts: folk-rock, prog rock, glam rock and much more besides. Here’s to 2025! 

1. Live review: Saving Grace with Robert Plant & Suzi Dian, White Rock Theatre, Hastings 23/3/24

Of all the ‘70s rock gods, Robert Plant is perhaps the one who has most has steadfastly refused to be pigeon-holed in the superannuated, stadium heritage rock act persona. It’s meant he’s continued to surprise and delight with new musical ventures. And it’s meant I could stroll along up the road to see him and his band perform an intimate gig in my local theatre.

Read full review here

2. Interview with Fairport Convention’s Simon Nicol

Ahead of Fairport Convention’s 2024 Winter Tour, I caught up with Simon Nicol. We discuss Dave Mattacks’ return to the Fairport fold, the forthcoming tour, this Summer’s Cropredy and why he won’t be retiring any time soon.

Real full interview here

3. Farewell Frank Torpey – the last surviving original member of The Sweet

Frank Torpey’s role in the history of The Sweet was a small one but, nevertheless, an important one. Moreover, as well as continuing to play and record, he was always happy to engage with fans about The Sweet’s very early days. My tribute to Frank, who died in March this year.

Read full obituary here

4. Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2024

As things drew to a close with the familiar rendition of ‘Matty Groves’ prior to ‘Meet On The Ledge’ Simon Nicol confirmed that he’d been given permission by the ‘powers that be’ to throw in his usual ‘same time next year?’ invite, in spite of the festival’s future looking extremely precarious earlier this year. Phew! It will be going ahead in 2025 then. I’ll be there…

Read full review here

5. Bowie backing vocalist to reprise iconic ‘shopgirl’ role on ‘Absolute Beginners’

‘Oh, and I need to find a girl singer who sounds like a shopgirl,’ he said.

‘My sister Janet sings a bit, and she works in Dorothy Perkins,’ I ventured.

‘Great,’ he laughed. ‘Get her in.’

Read full article here

6. Live review: Oysterband & June Tabor, De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 5/10/24

It was almost exactly ten years ago when I last saw June Tabor and Oysterband at the De La Warr Pavilion, my first time visiting this stunning piece of 1930s architecture. I wasn’t even living down here yet but a friend had a spare ticket going and I came down for the weekend. So, when Oysterband announced their ‘Long Long Goodbye’ farewell tour with June Tabor, once again, as their very special guest I booked a ticket straight away.

Read full review here

7. Beckenham, Bowie, the Spiders and glam: interview with Suzi Ronson

Suzi was a small-time hairdresser in Beckenham before being swept up in a world which saw her become stylist for David Bowie and the originator of the iconic Ziggy Stardust hairdo as well as falling in love with the late Spiders From Mars guitar icon, Mick Ronson, who she would go on to marry.

Read full interview here

8. Live review: Tubular Bells – the 50th anniversary celebration at White Rock Theatre, Hastings 30/10/24

From the familiar opening bars of part one of Tubular Bells, through every second that followed the who thing was just a magical, mesmerising and utterly unforgettable experience. For something that was so clearly conceived as a studio project, to see it transformed into a live performance piece in this way will stay with me a long time. Hats off to Robin A. Smith for pulling together such a stunning interpretation of one of the all-time classic instrumental albums.

Read full review here

9. Live review: Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash – White Rock Theatre, Hastings 6/9/24

Performing two hour-long sets with a short half-hour interval in the middle, it’s a superb night packed full of Wishbone classics. I won’t say I haven’t enjoyed Andy Powell’s ‘official’ version of the band when I’ve seen them live but, for me, what gives Turner’s outfit the edge is being able to hear the original voice behind many of Wishbone Ash’s most famous songs live on stage. And his bass-playing is as majestic as ever.

Read full review here

10. Live review: Justin Hayward at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 16/10/24

With the death of Mike Pinder earlier this year, none of the original ‘Go Now’ line-up of the Moody Blues are still with us. And only Justin Hayward and John Lodge now remain from the classic ‘prog-era’ post-1967 line-up. But the music they leave remains with us and Justin Hayward does a hugely impressive job in celebrating the band’s legacy with affection, panache and good humour, along with some incredible musicianship on stage beside him.

Read full review here

2023 in Darren’s music blog

2022 in Darren’s music blog

2021 in Darren’s music blog

2020 in Darren’s music blog

2019 in Darren’s music blog

Live review: Oysterband & June Tabor, De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 5/10/24

Folk music, Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

It was almost exactly ten years ago when I last saw June Tabor and Oysterband at the De La Warr Pavilion, my first time visiting this stunning piece of 1930s architecture. I wasn’t even living down here yet but a friend had a spare ticket going and I came down for the weekend. So, when Oysterband announced their ‘Long Long Goodbye’ farewell tour with June Tabor, once again, as their very special guest I booked a ticket straight away.

For a band that’s been going almost five decades, it would be unthinkable for them not to include June Tabor as they begin playing their final gigs. From the moment they made their first album together it was a match made in heaven. When Freedom and Rain came out in 1990 Oysterband’s rebooting of the folk-rock genre for the ‘80s and ‘90s combined with Tabor’s darkly elegant vocals to create an unforgettable slice of pseudo-gothic cool. Two more hugely popular collaboration albums have followed.

With two hour-long sets and a short interval, I wasn’t completely clear how they were going to approach things and hadn’t read any other reviews. Would they play the first set as Oysterband and the second with June Tabor? Or would they mix and match? To warm applause Oysterband sans Tabor took to the stage for the first song, then Tabor joined them to launch into their unforgettable cover of Velvet Underground’s ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’, a shared love of Velvet Underground as well as traditional songs being something that helped cement the foundations for the two joining forces, recalled Tabor.

The remainder of the evening proceeds in that same vein with a superb mix of songs that Tabor and Oysterband had collaborated on for their previous albums (including an utterly spellbinding ‘Bonny Bunch of Roses’ and their unique interpretation of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart which is just perfection) alongside regular Oysterband classics, like ‘A River Runs’ and ‘Dancing As Fast As I Can’. For a couple of songs the rest of the band vacate the stage and Tabor sings alone with acoustic accompaniment from Oysterband guitarist, Alan Prosser, including a cover of Les Barker’s humorous rewrite of Roseville Fair, as her warmly-felt tribute to the comic poet who died last year.

At one point Tabor tells us how much she loves what she calls ‘cinematic songs’, songs where the lyrics are so vivid in painting a picture and telling a story. There are few singers, however, who make an audience hang on to every word in the way that Tabor does. I’m so glad I got to see this most perfect of musical collaborations one final time. And an encore of Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’ and an emotional crowd sing-along of Oysterband’s ‘Put Out The Lights’ made the evening even more special. An unforgettable evening – catch them while you can!

https://www.oysterband.co.uk/

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Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2018

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2024

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been responsible for herding a fluid and evolving group of friends, family members and friends of friends to attend Fairport’s Cropredy Convention for some fourteen years now. Looking for somewhere to rendezvous that very first time back in 2010 (in order that we could all drive in together and camp next to one another) we happened across a layby in Banbury. Now, every year without fail in the days leading up to Cropredy I start getting text messages from various people in various parts of the country asking me where the layby is. I can never remember so every year without fail I end up visiting a dogging website to get the name, postcode and exact location so people can programme it into their satnavs.

So it was that this year (after numerous texts and checking out the dogging website once again) three cars, a caravan and a campervan all assembled punctually in said layby ready to enjoy another Cropredy weekend of fun, friendship and fantastic music.

Our Cropredy camping group this year – Photo credit: a friendly Cropredy punter

Day one: Thursday

As is now traditional, Fairport Convention opened proceedings with a short acoustic set. It still seems slightly unreal not seeing Gerry Conway’s beaming face alongside the rest of the band. Even though he’s been succeeded by long-time Fairport legend, Dave Mattacks, my years of following the band live had all been in the Gerry era so his retirement in 2022 and tragic death in March this year came as a real shock. He will be greatly missed.

Feast of Fiddles followed, always a great festival folk band and always a delight. Much as I wanted to see Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening, however, a combination of rain, cider and lack of sleep sent me back to the campsite for a snooze so I could be match-fit ready for Rick Wakeman’s set. What turned out to be an extended snooze meant I missed all of Tony Christe’s set, too, but I’m told he went down really well.

Rick Wakeman, on the other hand, I certainly did not want to miss. Performing the whole of his 1974 concept album, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, based on Jules Verne’s 1864 science fiction novel, it’s a masterclass in showing that while prog can be bombastic, over the top and full of itself, with Rick Wakeman at the helm it need ever, ever, ever be boring. It was brilliantly entertaining and something of a family affair for retro rock, with Wakeman’s own son, Adam, on keyboards, the son of Fairport’s Dave Pegg, Matt Pegg, on bass, and the daughter of Humble Pie’s Steve Marriott, Mollie Marriott, as one of the two female lead vocalists.  Wonderful stuff and one of the real highlights of the weekend for me.

Rick Wakeman and son Adam. Photo Credit: Simon Putman

Day two: Friday

As the sun shone down for the start of a very hot afternoon, things kicked off on the Friday with folk punk outfit Black Water County. Not a band I had seen before but I’m pretty familiar with the genre, having seen the likes of Ferocious Dog and legendary local band here in Hastings, Matilda’s Scoundrels, who they very much reminded me of. Highly entertaining, I’ll definitely be up for seeing them again if they ever play down my way.

Cropredy village – Photo Credit: Simon Putman

The rest of the afternoon’s line-up looked very tempting indeed for a fan of folk rock and classic rock like myself. But I’d already agreed to have a wander around the village with one of our party and then check out Cream of the Crop, the boutique festival in the field next door which these days runs parallel to the main Cropredy event every August. We arrived just in time to catch the last part of the set from my old friends, Parkbridge, including a storming cover of Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’.

Parkbridge at Cream of the Crop. Photo Credit: Simon Putman

It was then back to the main stage in time for Swedish banjo trio, Baskery and bluesy Americana singer-songwriter, Elles Bailey, both of whom went down well. Then it was back to the campsite for pot noodles, some chill time and putting on some warmer clothes ready for a late night with Richard Thompson. We arrived back at the main stage just in time to see Spooky Men’s Chorale, a sprawling choral ensemble I’d heard lots of people speak very favourably of but who I knew next to nothing about. I’m not sure I’d sit at home listening to one of their albums (they are now on to their sixth apparently) but they make for a superb festival act with a mix of deadpan humour, melancholy ballads and anthemic covers.

Elles Bailey up on the big screen. Photo Credit: Simon Putman

Richard Thompson, on the other hand, I knew exactly what to expect and he didn’t disappoint. Launching straight into a plethora of RT classics, just him and his acoustic guitar and some mind-blowingly stupendous finger-work, it was precisely what I’d been looking forward to all day. Around two-thirds of the way through his slot, sundry Fairporters joined him on stage for an electric set and he dazzled us all over again.

I did, however, start to see a lot of people leaving during Richard Thompson’s set. I don’t think this was any reflection on the performance whatsoever. Indeed, I suspect many of those leaving were actually long-term Richard Thompson fans. I believe it’s got far more to do with the timing. Given an aging demographic among long-term Fairport devotees, and given even second and third generation attendees may have young kids or grandkids to put to bed, it may be time for the organisers to think about putting the headliners in the penultimate slot, when they can be guaranteed maximum attendance, and having an inexpensive late-night party band in the final slot for the remaining revellers to party the night away. I’ve seen other festivals do this and it works a treat.

Richard Thompson. Photo Credit: Darren Johnson

Day three: Saturday

Following a fascinating talk by legendary 60s producer and the man who discovered Fairport, Joe Boyd, folk-singer-cum-funnyman and inciter of mass outbreaks of Morris dancing, Richard Digance once again formally opened proceedings on the Saturday. Sometimes I find his songs a little bit twee and sentimental and the nostalgia is certainly laid on with a trowel – but I wouldn’t miss the now-infamous communal hanky-waving routine for the world.

Richard Digance and a mass Morris Dance. Photo credit: Simon Putman

Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage, Zac Schulz Gang and Ranagri all put in sterling performances. Focus was one of the bands I’d been really looking forward to seeing on the Cropredy stage, however. I’d seen them before at classic rock festivals and will admit to approaching them slightly tongue-in-cheek, gleefully dancing around like an idiot to ‘Hocus Pocus’, channeling my inner Neil from the Young Ones persona and not taking them entirely seriously. Here, the atmosphere was markedly different and the audience really seemed to get Focus and really absorb the band’s extended prog masterpieces. As keyboardist, vocalist, flautist and founder member, Thijs van Leer, said at the end, the band felt “truly at home here in this beautiful field.” Perfect.

An appreciative Cropredy crowd for Focus. Photo Credit: Darren Johnson

I can’t do a full twelve-hour shift in the main field without some chill-time back at the tent before returning for the evening headliners. Normally, it’s fairly easy. I find someone I’m not too bothered about (or ideally someone I really can’t stand at all) who’s on the bill around teatime and time my break for then. This year it was an impossible choice. I wanted to see everyone. Unfortunately, Eddie Reader got the short straw. I love her music and have seen her live several times but I really didn’t want to miss Focus and I didn’t want to miss the special guest slot just in case I missed someone really… special.

There had been quite a bit of speculation within our camping group about the identity of the ‘Special Surprise Guest’. It would have to be someone who was mates with the band and was willing to perform for free, it would have to be someone who was reasonably well-known and it would have to be someone who was still alive. That narrowed it down quite a bit and we were left with a potential shortlist of Robert Plant, Jasper Carrott or Ralph McTell.

After our little break back at the campsite we headed back to the main arena. I was hoping for Robert Plant but expecting Jasper Carrot. I wasn’t wrong. I have huge admiration for him performing gratis as a way of helping ensure Cropredy’s financial viability at an increasingly fraught time for the festival sector. But his humour seemed very dated and his routine was not exactly up to the minute: jokes about Covid and the US presidential election which would have hit the spot when Biden was still in the race but made little sense now Kamala Harris is running. I should have trusted my instincts and stayed for Eddie Reader and given Carrott a miss.

Fairport’s Chris Leslie. Photo Credit: Simon Putman

It was wonderful to see Fairport Convention take the stage to round off another successful Cropredy though. My one niggle is that there did seem rather a lot of Chris Leslie-penned songs in the set-list and not nearly enough by Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick or Sandy Denny songs. We did get some wonderful Ralph McTell material though, including stunning renditions of ‘The Hiring Fair’ and ‘Red and Gold’, the latter performed by the man himself with some wonderful accompaniment from Anna Ryder, Hannah Sanders, Michelle Plum and Ed Whitcombe. As things drew to a close with the familiar rendition of ‘Matty Groves’ prior to ‘Meet On The Ledge’ Simon Nicol confirmed that he’d been given permission by the ‘powers that be’ to throw in his usual ‘same time next year?’ invite, in spite of the festival’s future looking extremely precarious earlier this year.

Phew! It will be going ahead in 2025 then. I’ll be there…

Fairport Convention at Cropredy. Photo Credit: Simon Putman

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Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2018

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Album review – Fairport Convention ‘Come All Ye: The First Ten Years’

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Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 2014

Folk-rock: album review – Julie July Band ‘Flight Of Fancy’

Album reviews, Folk music, Rock music, , , ,

I first came across the Julie July Band in the band’s early days when they were performing their lovingly-collated and extremely well-received tribute to Sandy Denny. Time has flown by and the band have been together a decade now and are about to release their fourth studio album.

While the first one stuck to material that had been written or performed by Sandy Denny herself, subsequent albums have been composed of original material. The last album, the post-lockdown Wonderland, saw the band draw on a more eclectic range of influences. With Flight Of Fancy they continue on that journey still further.

The band themselves characterise it as “music inspired by the folk, rock and blues movements of the ‘60s and ’70;s with a 21st Century twist.”

The title track picks up that laid-back, sun-kissed, US country rock -meets- English folk rock vibe which Sandy Denny’s post-Fairport outfit Fotheringay delved into so wonderfully but there’s many, many more influences here beyond Denny, Fairport and Fotheringay. From the psychedelia-tinged ‘All In Our Minds’, to the funky reggae party of ‘Boho Woman’, to the wistful minor-key singer-songwriter vibe of ‘Lost In A Crowd’ to the sparse, delicate beauty of piano-and-vocal closing track, ‘Simply Yours’, it’s like a magical mystery tour through a fifty-year-old, recently-rediscovered record collection for the discerning buyer.

Holding it all together is Julie July’s crisp, clear vocals; great five-part harmonies, thoughtful but accessible songwriting, and a superbly versatile band – now with an established line up of Steve Rezillo (Lead guitar), Caley Groves (acoustic guitar) Dik Cadbury (bass), Mick Candler (drums) and Carol Lee Sampson (keyboards).

Flight Of Fancy is a really enjoyable album and it’s not at all fanciful to conclude that the Julie July Band continue to soar and continue to deliver great music.

Released: May 2024

https://www.juliejuly.co.uk

Related posts:

Folk-rock: album review – Julie July Band ‘Wonderland’

Folk-rock: album review – Julie July Band ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes?’ – A Tribute To Sandy Denny

Folk-rock: album review – Julie July Band ‘Lady of the First Light’