The word troubadour is banded around all too readily these days, I’m as guilty as anyone, but anyone who spends a summer living, recording and travelling to gigs on two boats along the Kennet and Avon Canal is probably more deserving of the description than anyone. But Steve Folk (a.k.a. Steve Thomson a.k.a. Blabbermouth) has the sound that also backs up the lifestyle, a seasonal lightness of musical touch, a wonderfully descriptive lyric and an overall sound that makes your soul smile. It is folk in it’s purest sense, no need to add an prefix, no nu- or anti- and the like in an effort to cool up the genre, yet it is fresh and modern without anyone feeling the need to report him to the folk police.
It is backed with an equally vibrant piece of music in the shape of Home, not so much a road trip soundtrack, more a musical sound bite for a stroll in the country knowing that there is a warm home waiting at the end of it. The two songs together act as the book ends to a very familiar story.
It is music that dances through the subconscious and lodges itself in the carefree memories of youth and you can hear why Steve has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Seth Lakeman, Show of Hands and The Magic Numbers at all the country’s most prestigious music festivals.
