End Of The Road Festival 2015 - The first artist announcement.

To cut to the chase here is the list announced today, completely without any comment on my part at least for now.

The accompanying video, which may or may not drop further hints, is here. 
The EOTR animals seem to have developed a taste for vinyl...

My ability not to comment further did not last long. Jessica Pratt was scheduled for EOTR last year but was unable to attend. Not only is it good news that she is on the first list of artists to be announced this year but her second LP 'On Your Own Love Again' is released, at least in North America, tomorrow (27 January) by Drag City Records. I shall add Jessica Pratt as my first 'one to watch' at EOTR 2015.

Reviews are all well and good. I have read several of this release already and perhaps I will write one myself in due course. The live truth will out in September and I'd be very surprised if I were disappointed.
Another inclusion that excites me is Torres. I bought the album last year, direct from her website.

I searched it on amazon.co.uk yesterday and the result, in terms of 'other artists I might like', was interesting.  Of the eight of them it suggested I have already seen all of them live at least once! I'm not sure whether this says more about me or Amazon's algorithm except to say that if I let Amazon choose suggestions for me based on all my searches in music it veers all over the place. It is often quite fascinating, however, so read into this what you will.

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.

When folk became fashionable...

It was fairly clear a year ago that 2009 was going to see a resurgence in electro-pop and electronica in general and so it has proved. A rather different genre, which has been chipping away at public indifference for several years, also made huge strides in 2009. Folk/roots and its associated acoustic palette, whether modern or traditional, had long been seen in the UK at least as predominantly the preserve of middle-aged males drinking ale in the local pub.

It became very clear that something had changed: turn on BBC Radio 1 and one can often be forgiven for thinking your tuner has changed to the traditional end of BBC Radio 2 territory and that impression could only be reinforced at many of this summer's festivals.
These are young, talented performers playing a vast range of acoustic instruments and appealing to a young audience as well as the traditional one. Last year Laura Marling, signed to EMI, blazed the trail and seems to have been touring non-stop ever since.
I have mentioned quite a few acts already, as I have always had a soft spot for such music and Bellowhead, touring 2008 album Matachin, is indubitably one of the finest of the hundred-plus live artists of all genres that I have seen this year.

Here are a few more albums/artists to consider, not all of which I have heard yet. I'll start with the latest album by the artist who has possibly done the most to promote this trend over the last decade or so...

Sweet Bells - Kate Rusby (2009, Pure Records)

One new band that seems to have found favour in influential circles is the one that, on hearing them repeatedly on BBC Radio 1, made me realize that things had really changed and that I have probably seen more banjos deployed in 2009 than since forever... In the BBC Radio 1 'Live Lounge' sessions it is expected that the band will perform a cover version: Calvin Harris' - I'm Not Alone and it was as truly amazing as it was a surprising choice.

Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons (2009, Island/Universal)

I have mentioned the eleven-piece Bellowhead already but very recently the sole female member thereof has just released her début solo project.

No Man's Fool - Rachael McShane (2009, Navigator Records)

Many of these albums comprise a mixture of interpretations of traditional songs and completely new ones and this, the second album from Derbyshire singer, songwriter and fiddle player Bella Hardy, is no exception.

In The Shadow of Mountains - Bella Hardy (2009, Noe Records)

And finally, for now...

Here's The Tender Coming - The Unthanks (2009, Rough Trade/Beggars)

They may have changed the artist act name to 'The Unthanks' but it is still the same sisters and this album also includes traditional material, including the title track that also appears on 'The High Level Ranters' album 'Ranting Lads' that I have already mentioned.

Where does that leave us? Well, I'd like to think that it bodes very well for 2010. The raised profile and popularity of the whole genre is likely to inspire others contemplating similar forays in acoustic music and that can hardly be a bad thing.

This post focusses entirely on UK artists but that is not to say that there aren't others working in similar territory and equally deserving of a mention. I have seen several of them live in 2009 and mentioned some already but a fuller retrospective should follow soon. It should bode well for the 2010 festival season, particularly those such as Green Man Festival, EOTR 2010 and The Cambridge Folk Festival.