Tag Archives: Wood Wire and Words

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

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’

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

Wood Wire & Words are a three-piece from the south of England formed around 15 years ago. The trio are David Rozzell – songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist; Clare Rozzell – harmony/lead vocals, double bass and melodeon; and Pat Francis – Dobro, mandolin and guitar. Now on their third album, the band’s sound has been described as a blend of folk, bluegrass and acoustic Americana.

While their previous album (2015’s It’s a Barbecue Day) was a nice slice of home-grown Bluegrass/Americana, with this latest album ‘The Boy With The Smile’ I detect a much broader range of influences coming to the fore. Indeed, they kind of remind me of a Bluegrass-tinged interpretation of the modern-day incarnation of Fairport Convention. David Rozzell’s deep, rich vocal delivery is not unlike Fairport’s Simon Nicol’s, by the way.

Eleven of the twelve songs are Rozzell’s own compositions. He clearly has a fine ear for melody as well as being a forthright lyricist – with themes covering war, love, depression, politics and poverty amongst others. It’s not all sharply-observed social commentary, however. A couple nod to more pastoral themes in the folk tradition. ‘Toast The Harvest’ was written for Ely Cathedral’s harvest service, while ‘The Oak King Rises’ was originally written for a local pagan yule ceremony. The one non-original song is a beautifully mellow cover of Richard Thompson’s ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightening’.

Much as I enjoyed their previous album The Boy With The Smile feels like a significant step forward in the band’s creative journey. Anyone with an interest in folk or Americana will find much to like in this album.

http://www.woodwireandwords.com/

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