New Music 2015 - Part 42 - Beth Porter & The Availables - Open Doors

After a run of posts in the 'New Music 2015' series that has concerned musicians on other continents it is time to come much closer to home.
You might have heard Beth Porter playing cello on the works of a number of artists that I have mentioned before but 'Open Doors' is an LP (and d/l but no CD) in which she takes charge of lead duties, including song writing, with the backing of her band The Availables that as the name suggests varies in both number and members according to those that are 'available' for any given event. It also explains why it has been several years in the making.

Indeed I mentioned that here after they played Frome's Cheese & Grain towards the end of last year when she mentioned that 'Open Doors' was forthcoming. 

Here she is then.

It is string based and acoustic. Here is the track list for it:

• Jack
• Time
• Open Doors
• These Days
• Willow
• Pylons
• Floorboards
• Salty Water
• Baby Are You Up
• Friends
• 30 Years
• Italy

Beth Porter and The Availables, if there are any, play Frome again very soon.

Here they are playing 'Salty Water' at the Bath Folk Festival in 2012. It returns from 8 - 16 August 2015.

Emma Ballantine, Beth Porter, and Winter Mountain - The Green Room, Frome

This is only the third edition of The Green Room but it is showing signs of becoming one of the best new-music showcases this side of anywhere. It is also good value: £8 advance, £10 on the door, with cabaret-style tables and seating.
First to play was London-based, though originally from Salisbury, Emma Ballantine. That she made the gig at all was itself a triumph over adversity. Her car was stolen yesterday and so she and her guitar made it to Frome by rail instead.

She played songs from her self-released 'Flying Machine EP' (2013) and other compositions too.

I had never heard her live before and one thing that I should mention is that she has none of that awkwardness that solo artists often display when introducing or describing themselves or, particularly, their songs.

Next to play was the flagship project of someone that you may very well already have heard, though are unaware of nevertheless. Bethany Porter is one of the most sought-after session cellists in the UK but there is a great deal more to enjoy than that.
Her headline project is Beth Porter and The Availables. The début LP 'Open Doors' will soon be available, on vinyl and download only. It has been a long time in the works due to pressure of commitments. 'The Availables' is just what the term implies: yesterday that comprised Emma Hooper (viola) and Ian Vorley (violin and baritone saxophone) with both adding vocals. Beth plays instruments other than 'cello and not all of them have strings.

The recorder is not the most fashionable of instruments. This is a treble recorder. Then again the even less common tenor recorder features in one of the most remarkable modern folk albums of 2014 - played by Josienne Clarke in that case - so just possibly its time is coming.
Top of the evening's bill was Anglo-Irish duo Winter Mountain. Joe Francis is from St. Agnes, Cornwall and Marty Smyth from the northern tip  of Co. Donegal. They met by chance at Union Station, Chicago and the rest is history.

Winter Mountain is signed to Frome-based Charcoal Records and this set was recorded live in its entirety.

Karine Polwart - Live @ Rook Lane Chapel, Frome

Following on from the success of the first Frome Folk Festival came the first visit to Frome of Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart. Rook Lane Chapel is a wonderful venue and absolutely ideal for concerts such as this and there was nothing to disappoint a near sell-out audience. Support was provided by an up-coming artist from Bath, Beth Porter, who was playing solo (rather than with her varied-in-composition backing group 'The Availables') but that did not did not detract from the performance one bit.  Songs such as murder ballad 'Salty Water' are good in whatever format they are played. She announced that her début album is on course for release before the end of the year; there is an EP 'Red Floor #3' already released.
  
Karine and her two accomplices, her brother Steven and multi-instrumentalist Inge Thomson (originally from Fair Isle, no less), provided a lengthy and stellar set.

As well as the expected favourites it notably included at least five tracks that will be on her forthcoming fifth studio album: 'Traces' is due for release on August 13. Judging from what we heard yesterday evening it is going to be rather special and most certainly not apolitical. That is something artists only tend to do when they feel comfortable and the audience is already on-side, which it clearly was as demonstrated by two encores - the second of which was a audience sing-along cover of Abba's 'Waterloo'.
  
There were a couple of solo numbers and this one is Inge singing a traditional Shetland song accompanying herself on piano accordion.