New Music 2012 - Part 6 - totally acoustic.

This is another post that starts with an act that I have seen live at a festival, in this case EOTR 2010. This is Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell and I doubt that you can imagine any much more rustic than this at a festival. This one wasn't muddy at all but when travelling light it is best to fear the worst and go accordingly booted.  It certainly isn't some clever get-up and the music will, if I have failed to so, soon dispel that impression.

Kite - Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell is already released (Rabble Rouser Records, 2011).

I'd love to think that they will be back at the nicest of festivals in 2012, for they are the nicest of people. If I had to put a bet on it (which I'm in no position to do) it would be either of 'No Direction Home 1' (8-10 June 2012) or 'End Of The Road 7' (31 August - 2 September 2012). Be that as it may you need to check out the artists and acts already announced...
  
The next acoustic artist you might already have heard of, but probably not for the reasons that she took a year off for music before going to university - and that was over three years ago. Then things happened and she has only just this week started to do what she intended to start then, which is to record her first album [no release date, no title].
A whole lot of writing, for that is what she originally intended to do and also did, will stand her in good stead and I think it not unlikely that she will appear at one or the other of the above-mentioned festivals.

An ingenué she certainly is not, neither is she an attention seeker, and so while it was not her intention when she moved to London to then spend two years recording and touring with Bombay Bicycle Club, it is quite some achievement. Her solo vision is however undiminished - probably much enhanced by the experiences - and it remains her original aim.  Various comparisons have been drawn but in most ways they are unwarranted as neither she, nor indeed they, seem willing to become enemies over any perceived musical territory. There is quite enough space for them all.  If Lucy Rose is at a venue near you in 2012 then that is somewhere you need to be. 

North-eastern folk - EOTR - Part 2

I saw a trio of acts that fall in to this general category last weekend and of them I have already mentioned 'Lanterns On The Lake' briefly.  The other two were arguably more traditional even if much of the material was new or at least recent.
I saw a very small part of 'The Unthanks' set at Latitude 2010 and was banking on seeing the full set at EOTR 2010.  This avoided clashes between artists I wanted to catch at Latitude and also it struck me that the Garden Stage at EOTR would be a more suitable setting than the Obelisk Stage at Latitude.  I was lucky - the weather was glorious last Saturday afternoon - in that I made exactly the right decision back in July.

This performance was indubitably one of the highlights of the weekend for me.

 It wasn't a weekend short of highlights, that is for certain.

In some ways they are iconic as regards the popularity of music that is folk and folk-influenced; something which currently commands currency on both sides of the Atlantic.  It is all part of a fascinating dichotomy in music today.

Here is a thought: I doubt that few of the crowd watching this were anything other than quite conversant with music from the likes of Eminem, Lady GaGa and Scissor Sisters -  yet they could also sing 'Here's The Tender Coming' back to The Unthanks when invited to do so.
Last, but certainly not least, Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell performed in the Tipi Tent earlier the same afternoon and I was very glad that I caught that set too.  This set was very well attended, as indeed were all those that I attended in the two smaller venues.  This explains why both the Tipi and Local stages have been significantly enhanced in capacity since EOTR 2009.

Lucy Farrell & Jonny Kearney, Tipi Stage, EOTR 2010, on Saturday afternoon.

EOTR is the kind of place where, should you wish, you can chat (with hitherto complete strangers) about musical influences, chord progressions and signature time changes and no-one will think it strange at all.  Equally improbably, can you imagine GaGa performing in muddy wellies that look as though they might be in daily and not just festival-only use?  It must have been a fashion statement as waterproof footwear was happily quite unnecessary at EOTR 2010.