Welcome to the second instalment of my ‘Introducing…’ series of blog posts that intends to shed light on the new line-up of The Coracle Band.
Although Andy Bell is a sound engineer and record producer extraordinaire, and not technically part of The Coracle Band, he’s been just as instrumental to the sound of Coracle and the wider band as the rest of us. As a result, I thought you might like to know what makes him tick.
Read on for a short interview between writer, Sophie Parkes, and the producer of Coracle.
You'll be familiar to many as the man behind the Bellowhead percussion. When did you first meet Emily, and how did she approach you with regards to playing on the forthcoming tour?
I know Emily's work from way back in the Devil's Interval. It was very nice to get an email from her out of the blue one day asking if I'd consider depping for Toby Kearney. Since then, Toby has become busy with CBSO, so I'm hoping to be a worthy successor to him.
When you think of Emily Portman's music, you don't necessarily think of big beats and rousing drum fills. Does this make it more of a challenge for a percussionist?
Getting the dynamics right is always a challenge, and the Coracle Band uses the full range, from whisper quiet to poundingly loud. I've been focusing on the quieter end of the scale for years in my practice, but as you can imagine, I didn't get much of a chance to show off that side of my playing with Bellowhead, so I'm really looking forward to bringing the delicacy to the fore with Emily.
In the second instalment of my 'Introducing the Coracle Band' series, meet Sam Sweeney!
Many of you will know leaping fiddler, Sam Sweeney, from Bellowhead, Leveret, The Full English, his duo with Hannah James, and his early forays into the English folk music scene with the band, Kerfuffle. He’s also in demand as a session instrumentalist and I’m so delighted he’s joined us in The Coracle Band - it's a real privilege.
Sophie Parkes caught up with Sam ahead of the December tour to find out how he’s finding the job so far.
Introducing… The Coracle Band!
For my final tour of 2016, I’m delighted to announce that the all-new Coracle Band will be on tour with me, giving my songs a new, bigger, bolder twist…And we're really excited to be heading out on our first tour together in December!
I'm delighted to announce that I've been nominated for Folk Singer of the Year in this year's BBC Folk Awards! It's a particular honour to be in the fine company of Eliza Carthy, Sam Lee and Rhiannon Giddens in this category. The BBC Folk Awards will be announced at The Royal Albert Hall, London on 27th April. The Furrow Collective are also up for Best Traditional Track for Rachel Newton's beautiful rendition of The Unquiet Grave, so it's going to be a good party!
Dear Friends,
Here's some news to blow those cobwebs away. To lighten the mood after Halloween I have some November treats in store in the form of a single, a video and a tour.
Seed Stitch will be released as a digital single alongside a new video by Laura Sparks a fellow Liverpool-based artist, and this will coincide with a live 'Emily Portman Trio' tour from 6th-15th November.
I will be joined by special guests to play a BBC live session for Mark Radcliffe’s Folk Show on 4th November, which will coincide with the Seed Stitch video premier by Folk Radio UK.
Coracle will finally be officially launched on 22nd June with a live UK tour kicking off on 19th June. Today I'm excited to be able to reveal Marry Waterson's masterful video for 'Darkening Bell', Coracle's opening track, which is premiering on Folk Radio UK's site. Jarvis Cocker Played 'Borrowed and Blue' on his Sunday Service which made my week! It's about 1hr 44 min in - LISTEN HERE.
'A vivid tour de force of finely-crafted songs, Coracle is Emily Portman’s first entirely self-penned release that subtly spins together folk motifs with deeply personal reflections on motherhood and bereavement. Coracle shrugs off pigeon-holing and dances deftly between angular weird-folk and intricately-woven contemporary pop. Signaling an adventurous new direction for this critically celebrated singer, Emily treads fresh ground following the success of her BBC Folk award-winning release Hatchling.'
The Furrow Collective are on the road again, this time in the UK after a brilliant (and snowy) Germany tour...
The Emily Portman Trio are shortly to be (over)loading the boot with harp, fiddles, banjo, musical saw, concertina and our warmest woolies for our final tour of the year – we hope you can join us! We’ll be bringing you sparkling NEW music, alongside our favourites from Hatchling and The Glamoury – and we welcome requests.
