New Music 2016 - Part 48 - Seth Lakeman - Ballads Of The Broken Few

This is not perhaps what you might have expected Seth Lakeman to do next. All I can say is that I am mighty glad that he did. I did wonder if his focus on music about or from the South West of England might have run it's course. Well now we don't know, at least for now.
Seth and his band toured the UK in 2015 with Devon trio Wildwood Kin, whose own music is acoustic Americana folk with much UK influence, as his primary supporting act. This is the musical development of that.

Seth Lakeman featuring Wildwood Kin - Ballads Of The Broken Few (Cooking Vinyl, 16 September 2016).

This is certainly no lash-up. The two acts seem to have bought the very best out of each other - that is Seth Lakeman was tempted into Appalachian territory and Wildwood Kin self-deployed in three-part-harmony heaven on nine of the eleven tracks. So who might buy into this vision? 
Ethan Johns produced the record, much of it was recorded as live takes, and that says a great deal. There is a single cover song - and a surprising one - for it is 'Anna Lee'. Written by Laurelyn Dossett it first appeared on Levon Helm's 2007 album 'Dirt Farmer'.


Ballad Of The Broken Few - live at Torre Abbey, Devon. Some of the other videos were recorded in the rather ramshackle parts of Poltimore House in East Devon. As well as all that Wildwood Kin is recording its own début album but that's for another post...