Sun Hollow Sun’s first release – 2013’s ‘No History’ EP – presented four enjoyable pieces of semi-acoustic roots music. With clean guitar work and easy harmonies, a touch of jazziness to the lead vocal and a set of well written songs, they not only set upon a timeless style but also showed they had the chops to take on more established acts. Three years on, the ‘Before We Ever Met’ doesn’t really meddle with that formula but, if anything, does an even smarter job.
Monthly Archives: January 2017
JOHN CEE STANNARD & BLUES HORIZON – Stone Cold Sober
A cult figure on the British folk circuit in the late 60s, John Cee Stannard was a founder member of Tudor Lodge, whose 1971 LP (released on Vertigo Records) has a reputation of a cult classic. Alongside Stannard, the Lodge included Pentangle’s Danny Thompson on bass and an earlier line-up even included vocalist Linda Peters…who went on to find greater fame as Linda Thompson.
Stannard continued to record as the decades rolled away, but penned surprisingly little himself until finding inspiration in 2011. In 2014, his ‘Bus Stop Blues’, a collection of acoustic based blues tunes recorded with Blues Horizon, found favour upon release with a few blues-oriented websites. The following year, he repeated the same formula on ‘Stone Cold Sober’, an album which so often has an understated style, but also a maturity in its song-craft and a laid back feel, resulting in a record that fuses the blues with Stannard’s folk rock roots and even has an almost country leaning in places.
HANNAH FISHER – Watching Time EP
Hannah Fisher will be known to some folk music fans as a member of Roddy Woomble’s live band and for her collaborations with another Scottish folkie, guitarist Sorren Maclean. Her 2014 solo release ‘Watching Time’ shows her to be someone who’s more than just a musical accomplice. Taking elements of Celtic folk and semi-acoustic singer-songwriter’s sounds, this EP’s five songs – three instrumental cuts, two vocal pieces – borrow from tradition, but also feel entirely contemporary and its material comes across with influences from Pentangle, Bert Jansch and a few nods to John McCusker and Eliza Carthy. All these elements, right from first listen, single out Fisher as an artist possessing a natural talent and a strong understanding of folk roots.
Worry Dolls upcoming live dates
January can be a downbeat month. The weather is bad, the festivities have come and gone, the coffers are nearly empty.
Luckily, there’s always something to look forward to and country-folk duo Worry Dolls play the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells at the end of the month!
You can’t get to the south east? Fear not: they’ve also got a truckload of other UK dates lined up for throughout February and beyond.
STANTON MOORE – Conversations
Over the years, Stanton Moore has cut a place within the jazz scene playing with various fusion outfits, including playing a vital role within Robert Walter’s 20th Congress (Walter, in turn, a vital member of The Greyboy Allstars). While Moore’s fusion and funk chops are without question, his devotion to jazz is just as strong and on his 2014 disc ‘Conversations’ he shows that his approach and sense of style behind the kit is smart and tight enough to channel the best work laid down by Art Blakey and Elvin Jones. Joining Moore on this release are bassist James Singleton and pianist David Torkanowsky – both legends within the New Orleans scene – to form a very impressive trio.