rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Folk music has wandered down some interesting pathways of late. Like any genre it needs to move with the times and although there are always going to be the “folk police” - normally a bearded guy called Brian in a June Tabor tour shirt - trying to dictate what is and isn’t folk music, change,... Continue Reading →
In a world where the norm is a high gloss production, studio gimmickry, auto-tuned, over dubbed, over layered, over baked, over the top approach towards recording music, it takes a brave man to take the total opposite approach. Memories is music in the raw, the sound of the very soul being moulded into lo-fi, minimalist... Continue Reading →
In these times of descriptive hyperbole and overstatement it seems as if a day doesn’t go by without a “totally unique” band being wafted my way. But the fact is that these one in a million bands crop up nine times out of ten, and when they do it seems as if they are built... Continue Reading →
The original intention was to come at this album purely from a musical perspective - explore, discuss, opine just the musical factors that are found within it. But however hard you try to detach cause from result, it becomes an impossible task. Not only does the enormity of the events that sit behind this collection... Continue Reading →
To say that Gaz Brookfield has remained a fiercely independent musician, DIY stalwart and cottage industry enterprise is like saying that he is partial to the odd tattoo or used to have a bit of a thing for cider. Gigs are booked without agents, he chauffeurs himself around aided only by his own assigned RAC... Continue Reading →
Many bands openly reference influences from the formative years of rock, for arguments sake lets say the decade from the mid sixties onwards, but few sound as if they were actually recorded then, not in the way that Wovenhand does. And I’m not talking about any sort of deficiency in the recording quality that... Continue Reading →
Like many, I have experienced Gaz’s music in various different guises from full electric band, three-piece, driven folk ensemble, busker-esque acoustic duo and solo player. Throughout all of these formats whether accompanied by wailing guitars, soaring fiddles, driving backbeats or whatever sounds he skilfully blends into these songs, one core feature remains the beating heart... Continue Reading →
One of the great things about working at the grassroots level of music has been watching the rise of a great DIY circuit of wandering guitar-slingers across the length and breadth of the country. Forget all those check shirted Frank Turner wannabees you see at open mic. nights, these guys are the real deal and... Continue Reading →
There is something so outside the box about Hayley Cannon's music. It refuses to dance to the beat of musical trends, it ignores fashion and like her easiest comparison, Kate Bush, seems to exist in its own musical time and genre. Indeed the question of Who Are You? raised by this song is quite a... Continue Reading →
It is an interesting time in the acoustic solo, singer-songwriter camp these days. As a genre it is probably the oldest format, with a historical thread that weaves through pub singers, itinerant troubadours, court minstrels and back through time. It is also a genre filled with imposters, a seemingly fast track route for all those... Continue Reading →