English Folk Music

(Red Rice package cover)

Be forewarned, Red takes traditional English tunes and four of Eliza's own compositions and sets some of them in very modern, aggressive, jazzy/rock arrangements with electric guitars, electric bass, piano accordion, lots of drums, and very heavily programmed synthesizers firing off like jackhammers or doing etherial washes while Eliza is fiddling away. This is shocking stuff for ears used to acoustic music, and I needed a day's readjustment of attitude before approaching this album again.

On second go around, the music and arrangements were still very bold, a new generation speaking in its own idiom--and with awesome skill and self-confidence. Eliza's musical knowledge and command of the material is obvious, and I find her arrangements, however radical, to be intelligent and not the least contrived, in contrast to much celtic rock. I have come to like this CD a lot, and have great respect for Eliza's ability to pull it off.

In contrast, the second CD of the set, Rice, is entirely traditional arrangements, although some songs reflect a personal interpretation. Eliza sings and fiddles old northern English tunes with only melodeon and acoustic guitar backing (and a wee bit of clogging thrown in for good measure). Musically, this is where Eliza is coming from. Eliza's very dark and powerful voice is riveting, and her fiddling aggressive and effective as ever. Rice infuses extraordinary vigor, energy, and relevance into this traditional English music.

With this 2 CD set, Eliza has come with a statement. I think of traditional music as people familiar with, and respectful of, a tradition, speakng musically to each other with passion and honesty about their lives and concerns. Eliza is speaking eloquently, and you had better listen.

At last count, Eliza plays on the various CDs: fiddle, viola, tenor guitar, one row button accordion, and I saw her a nice job on a set of Leicestershire bagpipes. Scary!

( Eliza Carthy has a new CD out - Angels & Cigarettes (2000,Warner Bros) which is very good, very honest, but not very traditional. Eliza wrote or co-wrote 9 of all the 10 songs on this CD. It is distinctly non-traditional, but Eliza is one fine singer. She also accompanies herself on violin, viola, octave violin, tenor guitar, and keyboards. Described as a "reconciliation of trip-hop with '60's art-pop" it is a far cry from traditional English folk song. I like some songs a lot, but be forewarned this is not going to sound like Waterson:Carthy!)

Sleepless (Pure Records 1999) is the CD that really catapulted her to critical acclaim and popular awareness. Rusby has a quiet, low-key style of singing in contrast to the in-your-face singing of Eliza Carthy. The album consists of 6 traditional, but little-known, English songs, four songs written by Rusby that sound traditional, and Iris Dement's "Hometown". The songs generally involve unrequited love or memories or earlier times sung with lovely expressiveness by Rusby. Rusby's accompaniment by Ian Carr, Michael McGoldrick and others is generally understated and beautifully arranged. On three tunes, there are some lovely duets. This album has no celtic flavor, being entirely folk. Rusby is also featured on the Poozies' excellent album, Infinite Blue.

Little Lights (2001 Compass Records). How does one follow up on the phenomenal Sleepless? Well, Kate gives us more of the same, this time with more (5) of her own songs, plus 1 Richard Thompson song and 6 traditional songs. Not surprisingly, Kate's singing is as beautiful and haunting as ever. The arrangements are very tasteful and feature some lovely guitar work by Ian Carr and John Doyle. My favorites are a wonderful, slow version of the traditional song "Some Tyrant" and Kate's tribute to the late Davy Steele "Who Will Sing Lullabies to Me". (Highly recommended). Be sure to catch Kate when she sings in Berkeley on July 19 at the Freight.
Kate's newest CD, Underneath the Stars (Compass Records, 2004) is another brilliant album, reviewed on the new CDs page.

(Reviews of additional Kate Rusby CDs here.)

Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies- Tenterhooks (Green Linnet 1997)

Jez is an absolutely terrific singer/songwriter from Durham, coal country in the north of England who sings political and personal songs of miners and working class people. Great songwriting and spectacular harmony singing as he is joined by Bev Sanders, plus Billy and Bob Surgeoner (the Bad Pennies) on this album

Northumberland Music

Kathryn Tickell - The Gathering (Park Records 1997) Tickell is English, not Scottish, and plays the Northumbrian small pipes rather than Scottish pipes, but if you like any piping music, you have got to hear this album.

in the hands of Tickell, they are gaining a rightful place in traditional music and generating much interest. For more information check the web page of the Northumberland Pipers Society.

Tickell's 1999 album Debateable Lands is another set of tunes inspired by a stretch of border country four miles wide and 12 miles long between Scotland and England. As always, Tickell's graceful playing of the mellow Northumbrian pipes is masterful, and her fiddling very competent. This all-instrumental album has a surprising mellowness to it, given the lawlessness of the area during much recent history. It is very lyrical, and a bit contemplative, and carries off these feelings with great success. If you are new to Tickell, I would start with The Gathering or The Northumberland Collection, but Debateable Lands is definitely a worthy album.

Kathryn Tickell & Friends- The Northumberland Collection (1998, Park Records) Master of the Northumberland pipes and great fiddler, Tickell brings along her friends, a great collection of Northumberland singers and instrumentalists on border pipes, melodeon, guitar, harp, etc. Northumberland is the region across the River Tweed, south of Scotland, and the music is distinct from, but clearly related to Scottish music. The songs, in a heavy Northumberland dialect, are a mix of old and new, but only with the excellent liner notes could I tell which is old and which new! (Very highly recommended).