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FEBRUARY 2025


MICK’S QUICKS (Part 2)

► Here is a completely unusual and unique experience: A year ago, contemporary freeform double-bassist and electric guitarist Aidan Thorne and Jason Ball were recorded live at the Oriel Davies Gallery in Newtown, Powys, on Dydd Dewi Sant, St David’s Day – and these seven tracks are set for release in their debut digital album Archwilio’r Traddodiad: Exploring the Tradition (Cambrian Records, CAM032) on March 1. Aidan, who has collaborated with a number of musicians, including Burum and Julie Murphy, has picked some of his favourite traditional Welsh tunes as stimulus, from the introductory ‘Pan o’wn y Gwanwyn’, through ‘Ffarwel i Aberystwyth’ to the monster 14-minute ‘Mynwent Eglwys’. If you enjoy listening to well-known melodies, be warned; the wafer-thin tunes are almost smothered in their flights of discovery. There again, the guitar shimmers and glitters in ‘Yr Haul’. This is a totally new concept to take in; but I’m going to give them the nod of approval. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► Living in Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands, Greenshanks (aka Will Boyd-Wallis) is a singer-songwriter, woodworker, ecologist and land manager working with the National Trust for Scotland. His debut EP, Stormbird (independent release, GMEP001) are a passionate, poignant and powerful five songs themed on emigration and the sea; the opening track, ‘Fistful of Sand’, is centred on Will’s great-great-grandfather and the unjust clearance of the community from the Isle of Rum, while the title track describes the lone Storm Petrel on the cliffs of St Kilda. His six-string ‘guitalele’ and acoustic guitar are very prominent in the mix, and the session musicians are composer Hamish Napier (harmonium, organ, piano), James Lindsay of Breabach (double bass), James Macintosh (percussion), Ross Ainslie (low whistle), Iain Forrest (slide guitar) and Becky Doe (viola, violin). Watch out for a head-turning new talent. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► Quebecois harmonica player and fiddler David Brunelle is based in Montreal, Canada; his delightful album, Vieux Aires Neufs (Old New Looks, independent release, no catalogue number) is chock-full of 16 wonderful dancing tunes, some traditional and some he has composed himself – with the all-important driving rhythm of the pieds. Supporting musicians accompany him, from the opening appetiser of the ‘Deux Grondeuses’ to the glorious build-up of the closing ‘La Dernière Drave’ – an intriguing, bright collection that’s so addictive. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► Singer-songwriter Dorie Jackson is a member of Kaprekar’s Constant, a folk prog band that formed in Kent in 2015; she has released her second album, Stupid Says Run (Talking Elephant Records), an eye-opening and beautifully arranged collection of 12 folk-flavoured tracks; Kaprekar’s musicians accompany, including Dorie’s father, former Van der Graaf Generator saxophonist David Jackson who adds flute, horns and whistles throughout the album. She writes with care and precision; ‘Sun Horse’ is the breathtaking opener, followed by ‘The Daylight Gate’ and ‘Wild Thyme’. The closing nine-minute song, ‘The Hypnotist’s Watch’, shows her storyteller’s art. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!


MICK’S QUICKS (Part 1)

► Aberdeenshire multimedia artist, singer and producer Fiona Soe Paing has recorded her second mysterious and moving album of North-East Scotland’s ballad tradition, Sand, Silt, Flint (independent release, FSPCD202401) which she re-imagines and composes ancient stories and songs from the darker side. She uses shimmering electronic textures coupled with traditional Scottish sounds as she weaves her hypnotic web; Alice Allen (cello), David McKay (drums), Irene Watt (clarsach), Joanna Nicholson (clarinet) Paul Anderson (fiddle) and Thee Manual Labour (guitar) are included in the dreamy mix, and a detailed map showing the ballad sites is on the CD cover. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► The scintillating highly-original heady jazz of stunning London-based trio Gavin Fairhall Lever’s second album Tearing Down Walls (Sleight of Hand Records, SOHR2501) does exactly that – a jaw-dropping, inspiring palette. The band consists of brilliant fiddler, multi-instrumentalist and composer James Patrick Gavin, soaring tenor and guitarist Adrian Lever and double bass musician Tim Fairhall, who comes from a background in contemporary jazz, improv and post-classical electronica. Highlights are the opening and head-turning ‘Taurus’, the passionate ‘Night Sky with Exit Wounds’, the cacophonous but quickly resolving work ‘Set Sail’ (with esteemed guest singer and accordionist Méabh Ni Bheaglaoich in harmony) and ‘Polkas’, a dizzying whirlwind of glittering notes, all three taking complete control. In the immortal words of Star Trek: It’s folk, Jim, but not as we know it… FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► Celebrated flute player and All-Ireland medal winner Frances Morton has compiled a wonderful plethora of jigs, airs, strathspeys and marches from Ireland and Scotland on her welcome solo debut album Sliocht (Ollamh FM2024CD), translating as ‘trace’ or ‘heritage’. Her parents emigrated from Ireland to Scotland and settled in Glasgow; she has performed at festivals across Europe and the USA, appearing in BBC and TG4 TV  programmes. Produced by Solas’s Eamon McElholm, the album also features Ciaran Tourish (ex-Altan) on fiddle and sean-nós singer Diomnic Mac Giolla Bhride; Mark Maguire (Deaf Shepherd) and Seamus O’Kane play bodhrán, while Ryan O’Donnell and Malcolm Stitt (another Deaf Shepherd) perform bouzouki and Mayo fiddler Julie Langan joins Frances in 12 tracks of mighty fine musicianship. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► Hailing from the West Coast of Scotland and a member of the folk band Barluath, intriguing big-voiced singer/songwriter Ainsley Hamill takes the audience on a musical journey through the mystical realms of traditional Gaelic and Scots heritage in her latest storytelling album Fable (independent release, AVH003CD). Her smoky vocals resemble pop star Adele; Sam Kelly (of The Lost Boys) produced the 11 tracks, and drummer Signy Jakobsdottir, bassist Euan Burton, Alistair Iain Paterson on keyboards and multi-instrumentalist Toby Shaer whip up a gorgeous sound. Highlights are the opening ‘Ailein, Ailein, ‘S Fhad an Cadal’, ‘Machir Bay’, ‘Leave Her, Jonny’ and the hypnotic puirt à beul tongue-twister ‘Beamer Puirt’; in fact, all her songs have guaranteed wrap-around Scottishness between them. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

►Veteran sideman, wonderful singer-songwriter, pianist and accordion player Richie Laurence releases his fourth solo album, Moving at the Speed of Trees (Big Book Records, BBR20); with the sensuous voice of his wife Katie Thomas taking the lead and harmonising, this is blues-roots Americana of at least 50 degrees proof. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, moved to Colorado and emigrated to Los Angeles, Richie is now in Sacramento, California; his super-intelligent music re-echoes and resounds, including such highlights as the opening storyteller ‘On the Boat’, the pedal steel whine of ‘Oh Me Oh My’, the lonely solitude of ‘Lone Freighter’s Wail’ and the exquisite grace of ‘The Wonderful Waltz’ – in fact, all 12 tracks are guaranteed sure-fire winners. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!


JANUARY 2025


BROES

Belgica

Independent release, 2025-001

www.broesmusic.be

***** FIVE STAR CHOICE! *****

On Thursday, January 9, 2025 at the Minardschouwburg Theatre in the Belgian city of Ghent, scintillating and inspiring quintet Broes and an enthusiastic sold-out audience celebrated the release of their third album, Belgica – and it really was quite a night.

Broes was founded in the autumn of 2009 from the creative minds of violinist and mandolinist Anouk Sanczuk and acoustic guitarist Florian De Schepper, stage nick-name Flo. Mind-blowing musical grooves and exploring improvisations quickly became their trademark, and Broes was awarded many prizes and also received a lot of acclaim in Europe and abroad. Breathtaking chromatic accordionist Elke De Meester joined the band, and the line-up was broadened in 2019 with percussionist Gielis Cautaers on percussion and bassist Zjef Van Steenbergen, both writing as composers and boosting the band’s enviable musical repertoire. Broes can boast an impressive list of performances at nearly all major folk festivals in Belgium, including Gooikoorts, Dranouter, Na Fir Bolg in Vorselaar, Labadoux and Boombalfestival, near Ghent); but they have also made a resounding splash abroad, including at folk and jazz festivals in Belarus, China, Hong Kong, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Romania.

Belgica is a fascinating account which zeros in on the Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache, who was born in 1866 and died in 1934; he undertook the very first Belgian polar expedition by ship to Antarctica. In 1896, De Gerlache brought the old whaling ship, the Patria, which had been built in Norway; after renovations, he renamed it Belgica. A year later, Belgica was fitted out and ready for the expedition. De Gerlache and an international crew of 23 sailed from the Belgian port city of Antwerp, down the River Scheldt to the North Sea and the English Channel, passing exotic places such as Madeira and the Azores, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and the port of Montevideo in Uruguay. In 1898, the ship reached the northernmost part of the Antarctic peninsula; unfortunately, they became trapped in the ice, forcing them to winter there for almost a year and three months. In this gripping story, Broes drew inspiration for their new album, the places the Belgica passed, the melting pot of cultures on board, but also the emotions the crew must have felt: a longing of homesickness and sometimes despair, but most importantly wonder and ecstasy.

The whole album is entirely instrumental, save only for guest rapper and singer Mich Walschaerts who voices Anouk’s composed track, ‘Water Meem Ne Mee’; the narrator struggles with a bleak existence on the streets and longs for the freedom of the sea and a life under the stars. The opening tune, Florian’s ‘The End of the World’, simply explodes with a whirlwind of dazzling guitar and heart-stopping accordion, liquid and flowing percussion, prowling bass and madly dancing violin – what a wonderful start. The Gielis composition, ‘Flora’ (written for the drummer’s daughter) describes the discovery of new plant and animal species which was one of the results of the expedition; the crew collected various samples to take back to Belgium. With no sun for almost two months and the rest of the crew in bad health, Lecointe, Amundsen and Cook were given permission to take a sledge onto the ice to hunt penguins but hoped to reach an even more southerly point. They called themselves ‘De Orde van de Pinguin’ (The Order of the Penguin), Flo’s glittering tune. Anouk and Elke wrote ‘Dark & Stormy’, a gloomy fear that this adventure is not going to turn out well. Anouk also penned ‘Nansen & Sverdrup’, the two cats on board which did not survive the Antarctic winter; and Elke wrote ‘Poolnacht’, the long-lasting pitch-black night playing on their minds. Indeed, Elke achieves the hat-trick compositions; ‘Festa no Rio’ is a fun, Brazilian forró, which her accordion utterly takes off the swoops in the sky, and the closing track is a marvelous singalong number called ‘Café Den Arrivée’, representing the crew’s elation in coming home at last – and the extra bonus track is the band’s delighted whistles.

The album’s 11 tracks are absolutely brimming over with sheer, proud in-your-face musical virtuosity which makes one leap in the air and laugh out loud. Anouk, Flo, Elke, Gielis and Zjef – we salute you!


CYNEFIN

Shimli

Independent release, no catalogue number

www.cynefinmusic.wales

***** FIVE STAR CHOICE! *****

What is a shimli? Owen Shiers observes that, if you were to be cast back through time to the turn of the last century in a sleepy village in the county of Ceredigion, shimlis were gathering places in working structures like the corn mill, the smithy or the cobbler’s workshop where the farmers, the farriers and other tradespeople could pass the time in sharing a poem, a story or a song – maybe most of the night. Until the 1950s, shimlis had functioned as the seed beds of Welsh cultural life of hundreds of years; he says that in the 17th century, when the upper classes had abandoned the language to the werin, the peasantry, and the bardic order had collapsed, it was the shimli that kept Welsh folk song and the Welsh language alive.

Owen, who describes himself as a “Welsh folk singer, researcher, grain grower and cultural historian” and has taken the name Cynefin, was born in the Clettwr Valley of rural West Wales; he draws inspiration from folk artists such as The Gentle Good, the legendary band Fernhill and most importantly the beirdd gwlad, the ‘folk poet’ tradition which has honoured and lauded the bards for hundreds of years. He outlines Shimli (the follow-up to Owen’s album Dilyn Afon, which was released in 2020): “As well as living oral history and story, the album explores the intersection between music, poetry, food and the natural world. A personal dispatch from the struggle to maintain a language, culture and way of life, the album is a musical petition – a stake in the ground for the diverse and the disappearing in our age of homogenisation and mass amnesia.”

Owen says that the word ‘cynefin’ is layered with many meanings, a Welsh noun with no direct equivalent in English. Its origins lie in a farming term used to describe the constant tracks and paths worn by hillside animals: “The word has since morphed and deepened to conjure a very personal sense of place, belonging and familiarity.” Indeed, the late landscape artist Kiffin Williams described it as: “That relationship – the place of your birth and of your upbringing, the environment in which you live and to which you are naturally acclimatised.’

Shimli is a collection of incredible beauty and great peace, an utterly vanished rural way of life which has been lovingly polished and revitalised by the absolutely stunning musical arrangements. Owen’s calm and appealing voice, matched by his magical hypnotic guitar, is enhanced by Ailsa Mair Hughes’ cello and Cerys Hafana’s triple harp, a quintet of strings, horns, piano, double bass, percussion and even the Machynlleth Wind Band – but it all quite wonderfully blends in, melds and jells. Above all, Owen’s re-tuned guitar fascinatingly shines alone, like some beacon in the night.

Owen maps out and records the folk poets, all sadly disappearing; the opening song, ‘Helmi’ (Corn Ricks), words by Bryngwyn farmer Evan Jones, is reminiscent of vanishing and faded yesteryear. Before silage took over to feed the livestock, massive straw bales, like small cottages, peppered the fields. Farmer Jones speaks of autumn advancing over the bare hills; Owen supplied the fourth verse, and he composed the second song, ‘Cornicill’ – the vanishing lapwing, fast declining from modernisation and from memory. May carols were part of the tradition; groups of singers would go from door to door, and D Jacob Davies wrote ‘Mae’r Nen Yn Ei Glesni’ (The Heavens Are Greening) to welcome in the summer. ‘Shili Ga Bwd’ (Wormwood) used to treat a variety of ailments; the poet Dafydd Isfoel describes how his ailing mother slowly succumbed to the frailties of old age, and the wormwood was strangely withering as well. Richard Davies, one of Ceredigion’s folk poets who took the bardic name of Isgarn, was born in 1897 and was married to the rough pasture of his isolated farm near Tregaron; a hill shepherd by trade, he walked four miles to Tregaron and back to attend a poetry class, where he learned the age-old craft of cynghanedd. ‘Y Medelwr’ (The Reaper) was his direct response to the rapidly shifting agricultural practices that he saw during his lifetime. In many rural areas of West Wales, families lived a hand-to-mouth existence. ‘Cwrw Bach’ (Small Beer) was one way of helping those in need. A neighbour made a batch of home brew and invited everyone for a party; selling the beer provided the much-needed cash, and the 19th-century poet Rees Jones (‘Amnon’) pleads with ourselves to banish selfish greed and to give generously.

Thereby hangs a story; at the end of 2022, a community group asked Owen to compose music for a short film about Pont Llanio, a small milk processing plant near Tregaron, which grew to employ over 120 people in the 1960s. Farmers collected milk from all over West Wales and distribute it nationwide via the station which sat next to the factory. Pont Llanio became a real community hub, hosting events and concerts as well as providing entertainment for the local children; it had its own café, football team and its own bard, Phil Rowlands, who documented many happenings through verse. But Pont Llanio lies in ruins today, choked by weeds. The railway line closed with the 1967 Beeching cuts and privatisation followed soon after, and the factory closed in the 1970s. Owen says: “I was fortunate a few employees who were generous with their time and memories, including Lloyd Jones who gave me this poem by Phil Rowlands. Written on the eve of closure, it reflects both the fondness of the employees towards their fellow workers but also the potential devastation they were faced with at the time. It’s fair to say the area has never recovered.”

Added to Owen’s magnificent album, there is a very informative CD booklet with pages of wonderful illustrations and pictures for the reader; it pinpoints the desperate struggle of rural practices and the Welsh language against the relentless battering ram of modernisation, social media and selfish corporate industry.

From February 28 to March 9, Owen, Alfie Weedon and Fred Harper – joined by Chris Roberts on second guitar – will be out on tour, promoting Shimli. They’ll be at The Gate, Cardiff (February 28), St David’s Place, Swansea (March 1), Neuadd Tysul, Llandysul (March 5), Welfare, Ystradgynlais (March 6), Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli (March 7), Theatr Byd Bychan, Cardigan (March 8) and Tabernacle Moma, Machynlleth (March 9).


MICK’S QUICKS

► Amazing musicians Michael McGoldrick and Tim Edey have released a stunning digital 17-track album called Jamland (Bandcamp) in December 22, 2024, with a veritable plethora of traditional and written Irish, Scottish and American airs, reels, hornpipes and jigs, composed by stellar names like Mairtin O’Connor, Phil Cunningham, Joe Carey, Tommy Peoples, Charlie Lennon, Tony Sullivan and of course McGoldrick himself. Tim and Michael have recorded completely by themselves, save only a few double-tracks, capturing Tim’s inspiring guitar and diatonic accordion and Michael’s lovely whistle and flute; the whole session seethes and bubbles, from the beautiful opening ‘Ma Theid Mise Tuileagh / St Kilda Wedding Reel’ right up to the gorgeous final ‘Larkin’s Beehive’ set. Ooh, shiver, shiver! FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► County Clare fiddler and highly-talented multi-instrumentalist Tara Breen has won 11 solo All-Ireland titles and has played with the legendary Chieftains, Stockton’s Wing and Galician piper Carlos Nuñez. Her album Sooner or Later (Liosbeg Records) contains 12 amazing tracks of traditional Irish reels, jigs, waltzes, hornpipes and airs; guests are Seán Óg Graham (guitars, bouzouki, keyboards, bass) and Dermot Sheedy (bodhrán, snare) – absolutely enthralling. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

► County Donegal ambassadors Altan is arguably the most iconic band working in traditional Irish music today; bandleader, lead vocalist and fiddler Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is in fine form, her angelic voice sparkling and glittering over stunningly beautiful songs, fast and slow reels and jigs in their latest album Donegal (Compass Records). Clare Freil, Altan’s newest member, sings harmony with Mairéad and adds her fiery fiddle playing; accordionist Martin Tourish, guitarist Dáithí Sproule, (guitar), guitarist and harmony vocalist Mark Kelly and bouzouki player and mandolinist Ciarán Curran augment the band, and special guests are Jim Higgins (percussion), Steve Cooney (bass) and Graham Henderson (keyboards). Manus Lunny recorded the whole session in Stiúidió na Mara in County Donegal – an absolutely outstanding 10 tracks. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

 ► Amazing London-based Balkan band ShunTA! will get you dancing in a frenzied maelstrom of sousaphone, saxaphones, tamburica, darbouka and many whirling instruments as lead vocalist and violinist Sue Montague sings passionately in Romani, Romanian, Bulgarian and Bosnian languages in their eight-track album At The Kafana (Rakia Records). The band are taking East European Romani sounds straight to the heart; and apart from one Israeli, all the musicians are from the UK. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

 ► Acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter Sylvie Lewis was born in London to BBC broadcaster and journalist Martyn Lewis and ex-model and presenter Liz Carse; she moved to the United States in 1995 and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, quit music to become a teacher in Los Angeles, relocated to the Catalan city of Barcelona and finally settled in Rome, where she is currently living. Her latest album Lives Wisely (Clover Music Group, CAT1171560) was recorded in Stoke Newington, London, and it’s a 11-track collection of up-beat and beautiful songs written by herself and a few co-writers. In the last track, she salutes the late John Prine and well-known work ‘Speed of the Sound of Loneliness’; nice! FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

 ► Iconic Pakistani singer Hadiqa Kiani releases her project Hayat (Life, on the Sufiscore label), her tribute to the legendary king of Kawwali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) and the Sabri Brothers; she shows the emotional and spiritual depth of Kawwali and records only three poem-songs, ‘Saanson Ki Mala’ (On the rosary of my breath), ‘Paisa Bolta Hai’ (Money Talks) and ‘Dil Lagi’ (The Heart Bleeds for Someone) which is just shy of nine minutes. Tabla, harmonium, backing vocals and the lovely sarangi accompany. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs up!

 ► American singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst, born in Brooklyn, New York City, and now living in Western Massachusetts, is a multi-instrumentalist playing fiddle, cello, mandolin, piano and ukulele and an active member of the Boston folk scene; however, her latest album, Ghosts in the Garden (Big Bean Music, BB-07) is totally off-piste rock-band americana, harsh guitars smothering her storyline lyrics. FolkWales verdict: Thumbs down


REG MEUROSS

Fire & Dust: A Woody Guthrie Story

Hatsongs HAT026

www.regmeuross.com

***** FIVE STAR CHOICE! *****

A horde of Llantrisant Folk Club punters braved the extremely bitter weather to see singer-songwriter Reg Meuross showcasing Fire & Dust, his loving and outstanding tribute to American folk icon Woody Guthrie, his defiant activism, creative brilliance and unyielding hope for justice. Reg was typically amazing and wondrously hypnotic, and after the show he presented to me his brand-new album, which won’t be released until March 14 this year.

Legions of songwriters have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence on their work, including such famous names as Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Phil OchsJohnny CashBruce SpringsteenDonovanPete SeegerAndy IrvineJoe StrummerBilly Bragg, The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia and Tom Paxton. Pete Townshend, songwriter and guitarist of The Who, suggested this project, commissioned and supported Fire & Dust and he produced the album, adding bass guitar and harmonies to the mix. Stellar session musicians include Geraint Watkins (accordion, keyboards and backing vocals), Phil Beer (mandolin, slide guitar, fiddle and backing vocals), Marion Fleetwood (fiddle, additional strings, backing vocals), Roy Dodds (percussion), Simon Edwards (bass guitar), Bethany Porter (cello, additional vocal) and Reg’s agent Katie Whitehouse (backing vocal).

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912, in the small town of Okemah, Oklahoma; his parents were Charley Guthrie and Nora Belle, and they named him after the 28th President of the United States. He married at 19, but he left his wife and three children and joined thousands of ‘Dust Bowl’ Okies emigrating to California, looking for employment. He worked at Los Angeles radio station KFVD, played hillbilly music and wrote a column for the communist newspaper People’s World from 1939 to 1940. He was associated with US communist groups, but the anti-Stalin radio owners clashed with Guthrie’s political leanings. He left the station and ended up in New York, where he wrote and recorded his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads, earning him the nick-name of ‘The Dust-Bowl Troubadour’. Guthrie wrote hundreds of folk, country and children’s songs; he penned his most famous song, ‘This Land Is Your Land’, in January 1940, a response to the over-playing of Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’ on the radio.  Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including the writer-singer Arlo Guthrie of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ fame. On October 3, 1967, he died of complications following Huntington’s chorea, the incurable neurodegenerative disease which can be inherited; he was only 55 years old.

Reg wrote all the 13 tracks, apart from ‘So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You’, ‘This Land Is Your Land’, ‘Ain’t Got No Home’ (written by Woody Guthrie) and ‘Deportees’ (written by Guthrie and Martin Hoffman). Incidentally, in ‘This Land Is Your Land’, which Guthrie recorded for Moe Asch’s Folkways label in 1951, he wrote six verses; they were: “Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me / A sign was painted said: Private Property / But on the back side it didn’t say nothing / God blessed America for me.” He wrote about his Great Depression experiences: “One bright sunny morning in the shadow of a steeple / By the Relief Office I saw my people – / As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering / If God blessed America for me.” A seventh verse was added when he mimeographed his songbook in April 1945 and sold his compositions for 25 cents; the verse was: “Nobody living can ever stop me / As I go walking that freedom highway / Nobody living can make me turn back / This land was made for you and me”. It was generally believed that Guthrie did not record any of the missing verses; but as Jeff Place systematically transferred each master to a compact disc, he discovered Guthrie’s singing of the “Private Property” verse. It’s number 14 in Woody Guthrie: The Asch Recordings Vol 1 (Smithsonian Folkways, SPW40112.)

In the Fire & Dust album booklet, there’s an iconic image of Guthrie playing his guitar with a warning notice on the soundbox: “This machine kills Fascists”. Reg skilfully builds up the account of Guthrie’s life and the way he snares his audience, hanging on his every word, is remarkable and fascinating. He really is a great story-teller.

In the leading title track, Reg sings the memorable hookline chorus: “Is this same god in who you trust / The god of fire, the god of dust”. ‘A Folk Song’s a Song’ follows: “This is your world / Though it’s knocked you around / This land is your land / and this town is your town.” In ‘Woody Come Home’, Reg implores: “Raise up your flags, Woody, raise up your voice / Tell all the folks that the folks have a choice / Whether out in the fields or down in the mines / Come out Woody boy, out here on the lines”. In the album’s last song, as Guthrie succumbs to Huntington’s chorea, Reg sings the final verse: “But all the while the song of stars / Played gentle in my head / I went to see the gipsy singer – he whispered: ‘I ain’t dead’.”

Reg is touring Fire & Dust in 2025, with an ever-increasing list of solo dates alongside some specially selected venues and festivals for band gigs, with a changing line-up of the world-class musicians with whom he recorded the album. The band is Reg Meuross and The Strike, a combination of Marion Fleetwood, Geraint Watkins and Phil Beer – and for the album launch gig on March 12 at London’s Bush Hall, Simon Edwards and Roy Dodds. Fire & Dust has the story of Woody Guthrie running between each song, written by Reg and narrated variously by the consultant expert on Guthrie – Emeritus Professor Will Kaufman – and other special guests. Band gigs are The Ropewalk, Barton Upon Humber (March 20), Nailsea Folk Club (March 21), The Beehive, Honiton (March 22), The Stables, Milton Keynes (March 23), Stoller Hall, Manchester (June 4), Temperance Bar, Leamington Spa (June 5), Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset (June 6), St Edith Folk, Kent (June 7), The Sub Rooms, Stroud (June 19), Wickham Festival (August 3), Sidmouth Folk Week (August 4), Broadstairs Folk Week (August 10), Huntingdon Hall, Worcester (September 11), The David Hall, South Petherton (September 12) and Ropetackle Arts, Shoreham By Sea (September 13).


SUE SKINNER

Rainbows in the Road

Independently released, no catalogue number

www.sueskinner1.bandcamp.com/album/rainbows-in-the-road

Watch out for singer-songwriter Sue Skinner, who was brought up just over the Welsh border in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and has been performing solo and in duos in and around the border town of Chepstow and in the local area for almost a decade. She runs songwriting sessions at the Chepstow Club in Moor Street every two months and Open Mic sessions at the Orepool Inn in Chepstow Road, Coleford on the first Tuesday of the month. Rainbows in the Road is her debut album, and it contains 11 tracks of her own songs which feature tales of the Forest of Dean and local material, ‘Timelord’ (written by her friend, Trevor Valentine) and the final flourish, the beautiful  old Irish chestnut ‘She Moved Through the Fair’.

Sue’s fetching voice and her acoustic guitars skip around her varied repertoire, be it folk, rock, pop, traditional or country. First up is the album title song, ‘Rainbows in the Road’, and it’s a feel-good rocky little number with a soaring electric guitar breaking through the clouds. The creepy ‘In The Place Where The Lost Things Are’ follows, and the accusing ‘Secrets and Lies’; ‘Mask No Fear’, recorded in 2022, was chosen to be featured in the trailer of a short film of the same name made by the Scottish film-maker Craig Foggo-Scougall. The amusing ‘Bungalow Legs’ takes her back to Chepstow country clubland again; ‘Lonely Morning Again’ and ‘The Journey’, read and arranged by her friend Norman Paterson, is a tribute to Sue’s brother-in-law Neil Skinner, who passed away in 2022. In fact, Sue writes: “Our family’s journey over the past two years has been a hard one – but thankfully my family has received support in so many ways from the charity Missing People, and a portion of the proceeds from this album will go back to them.”

Producer Al Steele recorded, mixed and mastered the 12 tracks (excluding ‘Mask No Fear’) at Shabbey Road Studios, Caerphilly, and played piano, keyboards, bass and mandolin; Trevor Valentine adds vocals and guitars, Richard Mainwaring plays violin and additional voices come from Al’s Angels and Andy Coleman.


 

Reviews for 2024 and earlier have now been archived and can be found on the CD Reviews Archive (from 2020) page

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