Bold Reynold

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THIS interesting collection was the brainchild of David Carroll, who has actively immersed himself in the delights of traditional music for the past half a century or so as both a performer and instrument maker.

LIZZY HARDINGHAM is a young folk singer-songwriter who burst onto the folk scene in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Her latest studio album of self-penned songs explores the relationship between music and mental health.

It comes as a surprise that despite a lengthy and distinguished period of involvement in music, David Carroll isn’t a household name, even to folk cognoscenti. His early tenure with folk band Spinning Wheel on the late-70s club’n’college circuit was succeeded by a long career as a fully qualified craftsman making and repairing stringed instruments, supplemented by a steady flow of session work – where over the past four decades he’s met, worked with and gained the friendship and respect of a large number of well-respected top-flight musicians from (mostly) the field of folk. Having appeared in that capacity on several recordings for other artists, David has spent the past few years gathering ideas to make a solo album in his own right while calling in the services of a whole cluster of those illustrious friends. By all accounts, all such contributions were most enthusiastically garnered. This comes through in the evident bonhomie – and natural-born expertise – of the playing (in other words, you don’t ever get the sense that they are just a competent, efficient bunch of hired session musicians). The positively ear-watering roll-call speaks for itself – two members of Fairport Convention ( Chris Leslie and Dave Pegg), three from Gryphon ( Brian Gulland, Dave Oberle and Graeme Taylor), and Tom Spencer (from The Men They Couldn’t Hang and The Professionals), plus fine vocalist Lucy Cooper.

A collection of traditional style folk songs given fascinating arrangements by David Carroll to whet the appetite of purist traditional folk song fans. THE latest offering from Thomas Ruf’s admirable blues-based label focuses attention on the exuberant musical exploits of St Louis singer-guitarist Jeremiah Johnson. Archie Churchill-Moss is one of the best young squeezebox players around, known for his work with Moore Moss Rutter and his duo with Tom Moore. This playful debut solo album is a chance for him to explore his creative potential and really showcase what he can do. The traditional ballad False True Love is a fine start to the album and this is followed by another classic folk song She Moved Through the Fair, inspired here by the street singing of Margaret Barry.

Statistics

Bold Reynolds / Reynard the Fox / Gentlemen of High Renown / The Foxhunt / Old Snowball (Roud 190) Mainly Norfolk: English From 2 January we’ll be featuring significant albums reviewed 2003-2023 in our featured album sequences as part of GRTR!@20 Straight in at No.1 is James Yorkston, Nina Persson and The Second Hand Orchestra’s The Great White Sea Eagle (Domino Recordings), the follow up to James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra’s The Wide, Wide River – a Guardian Top 10 Folk Album of 2021. The record didn’t start life as a follow up; in early 2021, Yorkston began visiting his studio in Cellardyke, Fife and for the first time, started writing songs on the piano as opposed to his usual guitar, as he gazed upon the sea outside his window. After sending the first five or six songs to Karl-Jonas Winqvist (the ringleader/conductor of TSHO), they began to discuss working on the music together. With Yorkston’s shift from guitar to piano, they thought about what other changes they could make to their process which led to the involvement of a guest singer and the legendary Nina Persson (The Cardigans) was brought into the fold. They followed the same methodology as The Wide, Wide River – apart from James, Nina and KJ, none of The Second Hand Orchestra had heard the music prior to entering the studio – and the arrangements were made up on the spot.

These including She Moved Through The Fair and Banks of the Nile as well as a fine revamp of Dave Cousins’s classic The Battle, stylishly aided and abetted by assorted members of venerable institutions such as Fairport Convention and Gryphon, whose multi-talented Brian Gulland displays his mastery of the crumhorn, contra bassoon and cor anglais in the process. The second CD features an extensive jam dubbed Silver And Gold, featuring an annoying flute player.

David Carroll spent much of the 1970s in vans travelling the country earning a crust from the then buoyant folk club and college circuits with folk band Spinning Wheel. The advent of punk led to a lessening of interest in older forms of music, so to supplement a waning income, a qualification in stringed instrument making and repair was gained, leading to a long and successful career in the musical instrument industry. Several bands, duos and solo performances followed over the years, as well as a steady flow of both live and studio session work on instruments as diverse as uilleann pipes and appalachian dulcimer as well as the more normal guitar, bouzouki and mandolin. After appearing on numerous recordings for other people the idea of a solo album fermented over several years and, bolstered by offers of help from many good friends (including all the above!) the ideas and arrangements finally surfaced in 2022. They’ve got bold Reynold by the brush and will not let him go. Fairport Convention sing Reynard the Fox JANICE BURNS and Jon Doran are a young folk duo who met while studying at Newcastle University. Having released an EP two years ago this debut album uses mainly traditional songs to explore our relationship with nature and themes of love and loss.