New Music 2016 - Part 21 - Ninebarrow - Releasing the Leaves

'Releasing the Leaves' is the second long-player from Dorset folk duo Ninebarrow, comprising John Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere. It was released on 26 March 2016.

There has long been superstition around a malaise known as "difficult second album syndrome": these days even getting the first album out there and noticed is a huge hurdle. Without a doubt Ninebarrow achieved that, magnum cum laude, with 2014 release 'While The Blackthorn Burns' that I mentioned here.
Like its predecessor 'Releasing the Leaves' consists of a mix of original and traditional tunes and songs. The balance is approximately equal, but you would often be hard pressed to guess which fall into each category. That could be either a blessing or a curse. 
My inclination is much towards the former opinion - this record had a satisfying coherence and that is a very good thing. This is the track list.

• The Pinner
• For a Time
• Lord Exmouth
• To the Stones
• Weave Her a Garland
• Back & Sides
• Three Ravens
• Blood on the Hillside
• Silent Prayer
• Coming Home
• Dark Eyed Sailor

The original songs are for the main part inspired by places that the artists love and the associated stories  This anchors them to the chosen traditional songs. If there were to be a critical counterpoint it is that some of the stand-outs that punctuated 'While The Blackthorn Burns' such as  Mother, whilst all present and correct, need more seeking and attention this time out. That I even feel the need to mention this is a situation quite enviable.
One of my bugbears is LPs that don't contain lyric information. Ninebarrow have gone beyond that here by making a Songbook freely available on-line - this includes both the lyric and also information about the inspiration and stories behind the songs.

I became aware of Ninebarrow not through recorded music and my biggest recommendation of all is to see the duo play live. Here is a slightly unusual slant on that taken from the hundreds of wonderful acoustic sessions that are most often recorded by Jon Earl in his remarkable garden shed in north Somerset - Songs From The Shed.

This is 'The Sea' and "The Shed on Tour" at its temporary home at Larmer Tree Festival, North Dorset, in 2014.

In the Songs From The Shed archive you may discover a cornucopia of music that you had not yet realised quite existed, or  existed but not quite in the form in which it appears here. 

Live and local - where music meets politics for real

If you have been drowning under the deluge of media concerning the forthcoming elections, both national and (at least here in Frome) very much local, then here is an antidote to the traditional yawn-inducing stuff this coming Tuesday. Bear in mind, however, that music and politics have a long and glorious connection...

Luke Concannon (one half of band Nizlopi) and Al O'Kane play The Grain Bar from 8pm this coming Tuesday, 7 April. £5 on the door or available on line in advance here.

So what is that to do with politics? Quite a bit, actually.
This event is a fund-raiser for Frome and Somerton branch of The Green Party. Al O'Kane is standing as a candidate for Independents for Frome in the forthcoming Frome Town Council elections. What happened the last time there were elections for Frome Town Council, in 2011, has become the stuff of legend. And then, palpably, they delivered. That applies to their plans but also and rather importantly it seems, to the wider attention that it has garnered for Frome both nationally and sometimes internationally.
The £½ million spent on bringing the Cheese and Grain venue up to modern standards, in the café-bar of which this concert is being held, is just a small part of that. There may well be more to come. Let's hope so.

What is more it has just been announced that Al O'Kane is one of the six finalists competing next Saturday, 11 April, at Sixty Million Postcards in Bournemouth, for a slot at Larmer Tree Festival 2015 in the final of The Larmer Tree Breakthrough Music Awards 2015. I have to admit that I have never really been to Bournemouth, and certainly not to see music.
It is the deep south. Maybe I should reconsider that.