Tag Archives: folk

This week’s featured artist: Church Street Shuffle – debut album ‘The Five Day Weekend’

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

A contemporary Scottish fiddle and guitar duo featuring fiddle player, Neil Ewart, and guitarist, Ali MacQuarrie, the pair came into one another’s orbit through the bustling live music scene in Inverness and the band’s name pays homage to that, where it’s not unknown for in-demand musicians to play up to three venues in one night, shuffling up and down the city’s Church Street as they do so.

Church Street Shuffle: “Recognizing a shared vision, they embarked on a collaborative effort to blend Neil’s multilayered fiddle loops and chops with Ali’s intricate guitar work, bass lines, and beats. Despite their modern approach, they remained steadfast in honouring the timeless traditions of Scottish music, infusing each track with authenticity and reverence.”

The inspiration for the album’s name, meanwhile, harks back to an old expression about a musician’s typical lifestyle during the winter months, where the weekends would extend beyond the conventional working week.

Neil Ewart’s musical journey began at the National Centre for Excellence in Plockton, where he honed his skills before pursuing a degree in Applied Music at Strathclyde University. His innovative and daring compositions are deeply entrenched in the rich heritage of Scotland’s west coast. Echoing the creative spirit of pipers from centuries past who improvised variations on Gaelic airs, Neil breathes new life into the genre by infusing it with contemporary harmonic structures and rhythmic complexities.

Ali MacQuarrie’s masterful guitar playing and infectious grooves, meanwhile, are also a key feature of each track. He continues to refine his craft at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow, enriching his musical repertoire with classical training. His reputation as a sought-after guitarist in the Highlands continues to soar, which has seen him share stages with acts such as Calum MacPhail and Cala.

Recording the album, the pair joined up with established recording engineer and producer, Barry Reid, who also plays synths and percussion.

A contemporary and fresh-sounding take on Scottish traditional music, the duo have created an instrumental album that’s both fizzing with innovation yet also feels like the warm embrace a familiar old friend. The Five Day Weekend is an impressive debut.

Released: 17 May 2024

https://www.churchstreetshuffle.com/

Singer-songwriter: album review – Steve Knightley ‘The Winter Yards’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , ,

In 2023 Phil Beer and Steve Knightley announced a final tour before putting Show of Hands on indefinite hiatus, pledging to “prioritise their well-being, creativity, and longevity above the demands of the road.” There was no suggestion, thankfully, that either of them would be giving up performing altogether and for those feeling a Show-of-Hands-sized gap in their lives the good news is that Steve Knightley is back with a brand-new solo album – his first in seventeen years.

Steve Knightley: “I’ve spent much of my career weaving the West Country and English landscapes into my music, seeking to capture the essence of rural life and the stories that define it. But with Show of hands now on sabbatical, I’ve found myself at a crossroads – a moment to pause, reflect and consider new directions.”

“This album marks a significant departure for me, both musically and personally. Inspired more by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel, The Winter yards reflects a fresh journey, venturing more into urban and transatlantic landscapes. But while it explores unchartered territory I believe it stays true to the voice I’ve always had, finding new ways to tell stories that matter.”

The Winter Yards is not simply Show of Hands in exile but without the fiddle and the mandolin. Clearly, however, Knightley’s unmistakeable voice, both as a singer and a lyricist, is very much at the heart of the album and there’s plenty here to appeal to long-term fans of the duo.

Lyrically, the album tackles themes as diverse as the Post Office scandal, immigration, the emotional toil when friendships breakdown and youthful, sun-kissed, summer romance. Knightley also revisits a handful of Show of Hands songs, including ‘Requiem’ and ‘Exile’ but one of the few ‘everyday story of country life’ songs that Show of Hands were best known for is one inspired, not by the tribulations of rural life in Devon or Somerset, but rather an anthemic celebration of the village of Wickham in Hampshire, the county Knightley was born in.

Musically, there’s a lush palette of sounds, incorporating keyboards, guitar, drums, dobro, violin and more, and Knightley has pulled in a wealth of talent to perform alongside him on the album. Phil Beer even gets to guest on a couple of tracks.

Poignant, tender, thought-provoking and rousing, in turn, The Winter Yards marks a triumphant return for Steve Knightley as a solo artist.

Released: 4th October 2024

Visit Steve Knightley’s website here

Related posts:

Folk: album review – Show Of Hands ‘Roots 2: The Best Of Show Of Hands’

Live review: Show Of Hands at St Mary in the Castle 4/5/18

This week’s featured artist: singer-songwriter Jon Budworth – new album ‘In Sight of Home’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , ,

Born and raised in Leigh in Lancashire and now living in Otley, Yorkshire, Jon Budworth started playing guitar at the age of 11 and has been honing his skills, diversifying his repertoire and experimenting with various genres ever since, with rock, blues, folk, and jazz all featuring on his musical horizons.

Budworth’s  debut EP as a singer-songwriter, Time Machine, was released back in 2013 which was followed up by a second EP, Trees Turn To Fire, in 2014 which I was asked to review for the Bright Young Folk website. I remember being impressed by the release, writing at the time:

“Budworth’s bright, fresh sounding vocals and lovely melancholic guitar work extremely well. Budworth’s music definitely deserves a wider audience.”

What I wrote must have struck a chord because, ten years later, reading the publicity blurb for his latest album, I find that sentence staring back at me. In the intervening years, Budworth released his well-received debut full-length album, We all Share the Same Sky, back in 2020, with the excellent follow-up, In Sight of Home, coming out in June this year.

Jon Budworth: “The seed for In Sight of Home was sewn in 2019 after watching an incredibly moving BBC documentary commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the Iolaire Disaster. I was immediately inspired to write a song and decided there and then it would become the title track on a new album.”

“It wasn’t until a certain pandemic hit that I had the time and space to continue writing. Shadow of the Chevin is a love song to my wonderful home-town of Otley. I’m originally from Leigh in Lancashire, but in 2017 I traded in my Lancashire passport, moved over the border, and became an honorary Yorkshireman! All is Quiet was written after taking a stroll around Otley on a beautiful April evening during the first lockdown – the normally bustling market town was eerily quiet and still. I wrote December on a dark and misty winter’s night as I found myself contemplating growing older and how quickly life passes by.”

“After covid, my normally hectic existence resumed and I wrote several songs dealing with the everyday stresses and strains of real life. In This Moment is about finding those rare moments of peace and tranquillity, a situation very often aided by a glass or two of wine! I Don’t Need Tomorrow is a song dedicated to anyone, who for whatever reason, is not looking forward to what tomorrow might bring. 1000 Faces is a song about fate and not taking anything for granted. Never deals with the thought of being forced to move away from a place you love.”

“Two of the songs are observations on modern life. Flatlining addresses first world problems  and many peoples need to live their lives through social media. I wrote Holyhead after visiting the town and seeing a homeless girl set against a backdrop of opulent cruise ships in the harbour. Ghost of a Girl was written after discovering a ghostly statue of Alice in Wonderland in a garden behind York Minster. She looked lost, alone and frozen in time on that grey and damp February afternoon.”

Most of the instruments on the album are played by Budworth himself, including drums, bass and guitar, but he’s also enlisted the assistance of several highly talented local musicians, as well as the as well as the highly acclaimed singer-songwriter, Edwina Hayes, who shares lead vocals on the title track.

With thought-provoking yet easily relatable lyrics, appealing melodies, impressive guitar-work and vocals that are still as fresh-sounding as ever, Budworth has come up with an extremely likeable album here which is well worth checking out, as is the rest of his back catalogue.

In Sight of Home was released by Flying Folkie Recording Co. on 7th June 2024

For Jon Budworth’s website visit here

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/

Related posts:

Oysterband with June Tabor at Bexhill-On-Sea 27/9/14

Live review: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention August 2018

New single: ‘Look At Me’ from Eliza Delf & The Wilderness – out 31 October

Folk music, Music news, , , , , ,

Following a hugely-impressive debut album released in 2022, Norwich based indie-folk outfit Eliza Delf and The Wilderness will be unveiling their latest single at the end of this month.

‘Look At Me’ will be released across all digital platforms on 31 October 2024, and is
the first taste of a brand-new album scheduled for release in Spring 2025

Reviewing the debut album at the time I wrote: “The term folk barely covers what Into The Wilderness is about. This boundary-defying debut album spans indie, folk, prog, singer-songwriter and much more besides.” That impressive debut album brought forth comparisons with everyone from Kate Bush to Sandy Denny to PJ Harvey.


Now with this new single Delf and the band establish an even more vivid direction for their music revealing, as they explain: “…the darkly poetic lyricism of Eliza’s extraordinary vocal performance. All set against the lush percussive rhythms of drummer Tim Skinner, and the rich textures of cellist Eva Wright and guitarist Jacob Browne.”

For a sneak preview of the song, prior to its formal release on October 31st, the band uploaded a live version to YouTube. This is from a performance at The Bear Club in Luton on 15 June 2024.

Delf sums it up deftly, by adding: “This is the sort of song you don’t just sing…you howl!”

Released digitally: October 31st 2024

Visit Eliza Delf website here


Folk/singer-songwriter: EP review – Joe Danks ‘Take Courage’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , ,

I reviewed Joe Danks’ last full album, the maritime-themed Seaspeak, when it came out in 2021. Gosh, was that three years ago already? How time flies. Anyway, he’s followed that up with a four-track EP of original material that’s already been out some four months. I’m rather later to the party with this one but never mind. This is a release that’s certainly still worth writing about.

Take Courage marks the first time Danks has released original music under his own name in a decade. I remember seeing that slogan everywhere when I was younger. In particular, it was a familiar sight whenever I passed the Amersham Arms as a student at Goldsmiths in southeast London and later when I was as a local councillor for the area. Artist, Henry Fothergill has come up with some suitably irreverent pub-themed cover art which gives me quite a nostalgic glow. And it’s only when I research a little further that I release the pub on the cover is actually the Amersham Arms and did, indeed, inspire the title track, Danks, like myself, being a former resident of the area.

 So what of the music? “Old-fashioned, melodramatic and beautifully recorded,” Danks promises in the accompanying blurb, which turns out to be a perfectly apt description.

The four songs range from the highly personal (‘Take Courage’ where Danks draws lessons from passing that familiar pub sign and ‘Bluster’ reflecting on that return to everyday life after the untrammelled joy of a summer festival that many of us have experienced); to classic story songs (‘Mr McDonald’ about undercover policing and fraudulent identities); to the charmingly eccentric (‘Station Jim’ a tribute to the Victorian-era stuffed dog on display at Slough railway station).

As promised, the EP is exquisitely produced, with collaborating musicians (Danny Pedler, Lukas Drinkwater, Beth Noble and Ben Davies providing additional depth to Danks’ warm, sincere vocals, charming storytelling and appealing melodies. Namechecking Scott Walker, The Divine Comedy, Villagers and Nick Drake as influences, that’s not merely hyperbole but points to the singular but eclectic display of talent that’s on offer here.

Joe Danks – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bouzouki, 5 String Banjo, Drums, Percussion, Programming

Danny Pedler – Accordion, Hurdy Gurdy

Lukas Drinkwater – Double Bass

Beth Noble – Violin, Viola

Ben Davies – Hammond Organ

Released: March 22, 2024

Visit Joe Danks website

Related post:

Folk: album review – Joe Danks ‘Seaspeak’

Folk: album review – Far Flung Collective ‘To A Sea Cliff’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , ,

To  A Sea Cliff is the third album from Anglo-Scottish folk ensemble Far Flung Collective. The collective was originally formed back in 2015 as part of a collaborative project between English SoundStorm Music Education Agency and the Scottish University of the Highlands and Islands, linking musicians from southern England with peers based in the Gaelic Outer Hebrides. A debut album, Far Flung Corners, emerged out of the project in 2017 with a follow-up, Black Bay, in 2020.

For this third album the long-standing nucleus of Alex Roberts (vocals / guitar), Wendy Stevenson (fiddle/whistle), Dan Somogyi (piano/guitar/bass) and Mabel Duncan (vocals/guitar/fiddle) are joined by seventeen new collaborators, as musicians and narrators, across the fourteen tracks.

Unlike its two predecessors, the recording of this album hit up against the constraints of covid lockdowns and so, created almost entirely online, recording took place at a much more leisurely pace over a period of two years (which makes me feel slightly less guilty about only now getting around to reviewing it, some six months after it was released).

Dan Somogyi: “We bounced ideas and recordings around, brought in musicians wherever we could get them locally, and refined ideas more than we would ever have time to do in normal circumstances. Out of adversity, new tunes emerged and the resultant album is something we’re very proud of.”

While the album as a whole is inspired by and celebrates some of the incredible coastline of the British Isles, it’s arranged thematically. The first section, comprising seven tunes, was inspired by the landscapes of southern England and includes the wonderfully-atmospheric ‘Durdle Door’, written as a tribute to that famous natural wonder of the Dorset coast.

The next section, made up of two tracks, is about taking a look at things that unite communities in England and Scotland, whether it be coastline or culture, and includes a spoken-work part in both English and Gaelic. The third section then places the emphasis firmly on Scotland, with six newly-composed tunes, including a lovely tune-set made up of two new traditional-sounding Scottish jigs, written by fiddle-player, Anna-Wendy Stevenson.

For the final track, the album takes a completely left-field turn with an epic, nine-minute piece, ‘Avian Migrations (Dub of the Little Tern)’. Reminding us of our place in the wider world, we’re taken on a musical journey that incorporates free jazz, reggae, Afrobeat and the reworking of a Scottish reel from the Collective’s debut album.

While the album is fantastically varied, both musically and stylistically, it remains surprisingly cohesive and is absolutely brimming with vibrant and uplifting tunes, making for a fitting celebration of our incredible shared coastline.

To A Sea Cliff released on 23 February 2024

https://www.facebook.com/farflungcollective/

https://farflungcollective.bandcamp.com/album/to-a-sea-cliff

This week’s featured artist: Singer-songwriter Anita Abram – debut EP ‘The First Escapade’

Album reviews, Folk music, Music news, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Anita Abram is a singer-songwriter, radio presenter and producer who also has a passion for the visual arts. A member of the DIY female musicians’ ‘Rise and Release’ community, she composes, records and produces music from her home in Suffolk, and is the founder of Every Bird Records, a community interest company supporting independent female musicians with unique voices.

Abram herself performs as part of folk trio, The Copper Foxes, as well as a solo artist. The First Escapade is her debut EP.

Opening track, the poignant and beautifully-atmospheric ‘Gravity Running’, is a personal commentary on the “futility, inevitability and insanity of human conflict driven by fear and greed”. The song’s final line “we will never back down” pays tribute to the strength and determination of the Ukrainian people.

Comprising five original songs, other themes explored on this charming and thought-provoking EP include love (‘Go Again’), ongoing threats to our natural environment (‘Shift Away’) and loss (‘Stars Above’), which is dedicated to NHS staff. Bearing striking hand-painted cover art, the CD artwork also incorporates an additional images created by Abram.

Luke Concannon, best known from the folk duo Nizlopi while influencing a young Ed Sheeran, says: “There is something classic in Anita’s song writing. Simple, mythic, deep…”

In addition to Anita Abram (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, field recordings), the release also features Pete Moody (vocals, piano, arrangements), Chris Lockington lead guitar) and Mark Sewell (percussion)

Released: 1 January 2024

https://anitamusic.uk/

Singer-songwriter: album review – Jack Badcock ‘Cosmography’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , ,

I’ve been really impressed with Jack Badcock’s work in Dallahan, the Scottish/Irish/World folk band that he helped found a decade ago. This month, however, sees him release Cosmography, his first ever solo album.

As with Dallahan’s 2023 album, Speak Of The Devil, it’s a showcase for his gifted acoustic guitar-playing and distinctive tenor voice. But whereas that last album took us on an exhilarating, frenetic journey across a number of folk traditions, this one takes us into lush, atmospheric, singer-songwriter territory. And a very fine debut he’s turned out in this new guise, too.

Badcock’s vocals are soulful and emotive and he’s proving himself to be an ever more impressive songwriter, here tackling themes from the future of humanity (‘Life In Three Dimensions’); the sixteenth century explorer who was the first Englishman to reach Japan, (‘The English Samurai’); and the much more personal ‘Too Many Things’, described as “almost a therapy session that tackles the excessive indulgences of myself and peers in the music industry.”

What really makes this album, however, beyond the poignant songwriting and superbly mellow vocals, are the rich layers of instrumentation. Euan Burton, who also plays bass on the album, does a sterling job as producer and leaves us with a solo album that’s polished and fully-formed. With a stellar line-up of supporting musicians, including some especially beautiful piano from Tom Gibbs and simply gorgeous pedal steel from Connor Smith, there’s much to fall in love with here. Folk luminaries like Siobhan Miller, Josie Duncan and Joy Dunlop line up to provide lush backing vocals.

Don’t expect Cosmograpy to be much like Dallahan but do expect it to be exceptional. It really is outstanding.

Released: 3 May 2024

https://www.jackbadcock.com/

Related posts:

Folk reviews: Gnoss, Rachel Hair & Ron Jappy, Gavin Marwick & Wendy Stewart, Jo Miller and Dallahan

This week’s featured artists: transatlantic-inspired folk duo, David & Clare Rozzell

americana, Folk music, Music news, , , , , , ,

I first came across David and Clare Rozzell as two-thirds of the bluegrass/folk trio, Wood Wire & Words. The trio saw David (guitar/vocals) and Clare (double bass/vocals) joined by Clare’s father, Pat Francis (dobro/mandolin), with the trio chalking up a plethora of gigs and festival appearances across the UK and Europe and releasing several albums – one of which I reviewed here.

The constraints of lockdown restrictions, however, meant that the established trio reformulated themselves into a duo and for two years , every Friday evening, the pair would stage their online Folkgrass Lockdown Sessions direct from their home on England’s South Coast.

Recently, the pair released their very first single as a duo, ‘Museum of the Missing’, which came out towards the end of February.

Conceived as the theme song for a sci-fi/horror podcast of the same name, ‘Museum Of The Missing’ is said to be a powerful, dark tale, of a world where all memories and evidence of a global incident in which 3.5 million people vanished, have seemingly been erased from existence.

For David Rozzell, however, the song was also inspired by events much closer to home. On a personal level, the song is about memory loss, something he has experienced himself as a result of a brain injury.

The duo explain: “The museum being that part of the brain where a condition, like Alzheimer’s or a brain injury, such as David has, hides the memories they had before it stole them away.”

With the duo’s trademark blend of David’s deep, rich vocal delivery, poignant lyrics and gentle melodies, ‘Museum of the Missing’ heralds an important new step in David and Clare Rozzell’s continuing  musical journey.

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

Bandcamp: https://folkgrasshippies.bandcamp.com/track/museum-of-the-missing

Related post:

Folk/Americana/Bluegrass: album review – Wood, Wire & Words ‘The Boy With The Smile’