Good stuff … trying out the Roon update with Qobuz search.
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Richard Thompson with Zara Phillips live In Bridgnorth. He was in fine voice with skilled acoustic guitar. The venue was sold out. Very enjoyable.
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Barry Dransfield, Unruly 2005 has died. He seems to have been self-taught, but was in the clubs from the age of 14. A fine acoustic player. He acted the part of the blind fiddler
Michael Byrne in The Bounty 1984 starring Mel Gibson and Antony Hopkins. He had an instrument repair business from the mid 1980s.
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May next year Fairport are doing 4 gigs to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Union Chapel is selling fast.
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Ashley Hutchings, By Gloucester Docks I Sat Down and Wept (1987)
His voice: Michael Pennington (speech), Ashley Hutchings (singing)
Her voice: Marilyn Cutts (speech), Polly Bolton (singing)
Christine Collister: vocals, lead vocals on ‘I dreamed a dream’
Clive Gregson: vocals;
Pete Zorn: bass guitar, alto and soprano saxes, flute, and doctor, acupuncturist and priest
Graeme Taylor: electric and acoustic guitars;
Phil Beer: electric and acoustic guitars, fiddle;
Dave Mattacks: drums, percussion;
Dave Whetstone: acoustic guitar, melodeon, concertina;
John Shepherd: electric piano, synthesisers;
Steve Ashley: harmonica
Mick Doonan: Irish pipes, whistles
Blair Dunlop, Ashley’s son posted on Facebook a couple of days ago that Ashley suffered a stroke a few weeks ago and has withdrawn from public life for the foreseeable future.
He is in hospital and I wish him all the best.
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Katherine Priddy, These Frightening Machines (2026) her third album and more contemporary songs than folk. We are seeing her in December. ‘Matches’ is something of a feminist anthem, the recovering academic in me notes that in England witches were hung not burnt.
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Rant are Bethany Reid from Shetland, Anna Massie and Lauren MacColl from the Highland peninsula of the Black Isle, and Gillian Frame. Thanks to whoever posted the band on the ‘what are you listening to’ thread. A mix of tracks via Qobuz. ‘Chamber folk’ apparently - a term new to me.
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The Scottish Wichcraft Act of 1563 made witchcraft a capital offence and was not repealed until the 18th century. There was similar legislation in England, but the rate of prosecutions was much higher in Scotland. Punishment was usually strangulation and burning and most, though not all, of the accused were women. There’s a powerful orchestral piece by Scottish composer James MacMillan: The Confessions of Isobel Gowdie. Gowdie was tried for witchcraft in 1662 and likely executed. MacMillan describes his piece as in part an act of contrition. It’s interesting that these dreadful events still have echoes in the contemporary music scene.
BTW hope you enjoy the Priddy concert. Her album has rapidly become a favourite.
Roger
I’m definitely a fan. Just four fiddlers really ought not to work, but their musicianship and skill draws me in and it’s remarkable how much variation and energy they bring to their playing. Their album The Portage is a favouriteb:
Roger
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Roger,
I was careful to write ‘in England’ - the Pendle Witches of 1612 were indeed hung rather than strangled and burnt. A dreadful fate of course.
Isabel Gowdie’s supposed confession of being able to transform herself into a hare and shapeshift back again is represented in many literary works and recently in Fay Hield’s ‘Hare Spell’ from her 2020 album Wrackline.
I’m sure to enjoy the Katherine Priddy concert.
Stokie
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I saw her earlier in the year, she said that she’d been at a festival and the woman standing in front of her at one point had a tattoo that read “They burnt women, not witches” and that inspired the song. I’d already bought the new album before the gig and it was such a great gig I wanted to buy something, so have the baseball cap.
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I can’t even call this album urban folk, but with the artists on display it’s a rather pleasant, albeit nostalgic, listen.
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Glen Hansard, the Irish folk rock singer has died in a motorbike accident at 56. He reputedly dropped out of school at 13 to busk on the advice of a teacher. A major figure in indie music and the folk scene in his native land and a well known figure in Americana circles, he was a powerfully authentic songwriter. RIP Glen.
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Someone I know about but never listened to his stuff; but I never pursued the link with the Czech singer and their film together. I will remedy that today.
New Richard Thompson track ‘Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking’ from upcoming Hippies, Thugs and Heroes due for release 16 Oct. RT is touring in UK at the moment too. Qobuz.
Taras Prodaniuk on bass, Michael Jerome on drums, David Mansfield on guitar and fiddle, and Zara Phillips backing vocals.
I’ve got the album on pre-order from Bandcamp, looking forward to it. I’m listening to a fairly recent live release Live from Honolulu as I type (with Michael Jerome and the late great Danny Thompson.). I missed his current tour, I had a ticket for a gig a good distance away during the heatwave and didn’t fancy the drive while I was exhausted. I’ll see him with his old Fairport muckers at Cropredy, I assume that as it’s Zara Philips sharing the vocals and Nicol, Pegg and Mattacks backing it’ll have a few early Fairport numbers alongside his solo work.
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