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Transcript of Plague Magazine
ISSUE ZERO
TREMBLING BELLS HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF WALSH & POUND OLIVIA CHANEY THE UNTHANKS SAM LEE SHIRLEY COLLINS JACKIE OATES THE BELLES OF LONDON CITY MICHAEL TYACK
Upon setting up the only folk club in South East London run by two hot, young fillies, looks of bemusement from peers and beyond were rife. One close friend patted my head adding, “I don’t know what this is or what you’re doing, but… well done.” In general, the move was welcomed amongst the folk community, but having dipped my toes further in, I discovered that ‘youngsters’ are feared amongst the staid old guard through dread of dilution or pastiche of their venerable folk collection, (like how an older sibling might react to you thumbing their Beano annual: “don’t touch it, it’s mine, you’ll break it.”) Yet such nitpicking fails to deter most, as discoveries of contemporary artists turning to the traditional music of these shores for song crafting inspiration continue. To whom, from San Fran doom rockers Sleepy Sun to psych-folk progenies Trembling Bells, revivalists like Shirley Collins and travellers like Davie Stewart are demigods. And only those without access to electricity will have failed to notice the arrival of the Mumford clan. So Plague is here to unify, carouse or put simply, enjoy this varied world of folk music in all its bizarre and resplendent glory.
Katie WeatherallEditor
Editor In ChiefCrispin Parry
Associate EditorsRupert Morrison & Dan Ford
Sub-editorSatu Fox
DesignLouise N.Morgan
Front Cover Illustration Patrick Savile
Back Cover Photograph Dan Ford
US DeskGabe Soria
ContributorsAlex Neilson, Crispin Parry, Will Hodgkinson, Sam Lee, Jackie Oates, Alex Merry
Photographers Jonathan Stewart (Trembling Bells), Alleyn Evans (Hurray for the Riff Raff), Anika Mottershaw (Becky & Rachel Unthank), Judith Burrows (The Unthanks)
Printed on Riso by Hato Presswww.hatopress.net
Paper supplied by Paperbackwww.paperback.coop
Acknowledgments Ben Jones, Tom Bridgewater, Adam Greenup, Seven of Diamonds, Helen Morris, Boat Band
Correspondence address 60 – 62 Clapham Road, SW9 0JJ E: [email protected]
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of information or any consequence arising from it. This magazine is a labour of love made possible with the support of Sound And Music.
The World According To Folk
The Road To Ruin by Alex Neilson from Trembling Bells 4
The Woodshed with Hurray For The Riff Raff, Walsh & Pound and Olivia Chaney 6
The Plague Interview with The Unthanks 8
The Revelator with Sam Lee and Shirley Collins 12
The How-To by Alex Merry from The Belles of London City 13
The Plague House with Jackie Oates 14
Back To The Garden with Michael Tyack Back Cover
Sound and Music
4 5
Folk music almost ruined my life. Growing up as a pluke-farming teenager in Leeds with an obses-sion for old men in cloth caps with fewer teeth than lungs singing songs about tarry sailors, night visitations and transvestite soldiers meant only one thing; no girlfriend until I was 25. But these anachronistic ballads held more relevance to me than anything as delicious and spurious as mere sexual union. They enlivened the environ-ment around me and forced me to reassess it through their remote, fusty prism. Suddenly regions such as Sussex, that had previously felt little more than pretty, took on Land-of-the-Giants proportions as I imagined myself retreading the same hallowed sod that the Copper Family, Shirley Collins, Pops Maynard and numberless Traveller singers had eulogised in song.
I would travel the length of this good, grey island making pilgrimages to the Seven Bells pub in Peacehaven (purportedly once owned by the Coppers). Or put paid to days in Robin Hood’s Bay drinking real ale in the shadows of the Water-son/ Carthy homestead. Or make frequent visits to that veritable Mecca of folk miscellany, Cecil Sharp House, and acquire under-the-counter items from the sympathetic librarians. These formative rovings would serve to strengthen my connection to the mighty river of song that is the British folk canon and also invest my own expanding repertoire with a little more experien-tial croak. The next step from this was to actually track down the titans of the 1960s folk revival (Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs, Mike Waterson, Martin Carthy, and Richard Thompson) who had provided a Technicolor portal to this sepia-tinted old, weird Britannia. This seemed to validate my interest as I went beard-to-beard with the old masters, grilling them over ‘field singers’ like Margaret Barry, Davie Stewart and Fred Jordan and learned about what had attracted them to traditional music, where they had sourced their material and meanings of certain lines of songs (such as the portentous parrot in The Outlandish
Knight). One of my keenest queries when meet-ing anyone of that Golden Generation is ‘what was Peter Bellamy (the flamboyantly dressed/voiced singer of the Young Tradition who tragi-cally took his own life in the early 90s) like?’ It seems that few people had a good word to say about him, which only goes to fuel my interest and reinforces a theory that I have about the most obstreperous personalities often making the best music.
Whilst scouring the folk clubs of Great Britain I encountered a general lack of tolerance towards eccentricity, showing reluctance to toe-the-party-line and even having interest in other forms of music. Mention of rock n roll, psychedelia or (whisper it) free jazz would be met by incom-prehension and derision, as if I’d just told them I was signing up for the Taliban’s Child Moles-tation Regiment. The folk orthodoxy expected slavish updates of the old forms in terms they could easily understand, which in a vast section of contemporary folk music means sanitized, reverb-soused, Fairtrade-folk. For me, it is the extraneous snap, crackle and pop of those old recordings and the profound dignity in their untutored voices that invests the music with such vitality and reflects its inherently organic nature. It felt like these self appointed custo-dians of the flame were the same people who were trying to cut the cable at Dylan’s Newport concert and would do it again 45 years later given half the chance.
It was this disenchantment that eventually lead to a break away from the tyrannical grip that traditional music had held over my creative will. After a long, initiatory process of immersion in the half forgotten lore of Britain, I managed to crawl out the other side and write my own material. And now faced with the unattractive lot of all overgrown boys limping towards 30, with waistline expanding and hairline retracting and the ravages of a long term love affair with real ale taking itself out on the reddened tip of my hooter, I can confidently say that folk music almost ruined my life.
myspace.com/tremblingbells
TREMBLING BELLS’ ALEX NEILSON RECALLS HIS JOURNEY INTO TRADITIONAL MUSIC
“ It felt like these self appointed custodians of the flame were the same people who were trying to cut the cable at Dylan’s Newport concert .”
ALEX’S SONGBOOK
Steeleye Span, Hills of Greenmore (from Hark! The Village Wake) Quintessential folk rock from a band in their earliest and most potent form.
Shirley and Dolly Collins, Bonny Cuckoo (Anthems in Eden) A gloriously ascending symphonic miniature about fidelity,taking in a rapture of bells, shawm and pipe organ.
Davie Stewart, Merchant’s Son and the Beggar Daughter’(eponymous) & The Scottish Blind Willy Johnson(in my mind at least); Wild, self-taught accordion style propping up that sandpaper-bray of a voice and a beautiful melody.
Margaret Barry, Galway Shawl (Her Mantle So Green) Freewheeling banjo and wonderfully soaring vocal illuminate this gorgeous tune.
Sarah and Rita Keane Lord Donegal (Once I Loved)Indescribably eerie recording of two decrepit sisters singing in unison that sounds utterly timeless.
Steeleye Span, Hills of Greenmore (from Hark! The Village Wake) Quintessential folk rock from a band in their earliest and most potent form.
Shirley and Dolly Collins, Bonny Cuckoo (Anthems in Eden) A gloriously ascending symphonic miniature about fidelity,taking in a rapture of bells, shawm and pipe organ.
Davie Stewart, Merchant’s Son and the Beggar Daughter’(eponymous) & The Scottish Blind Willy Johnson(in my mind at least); Wild, self-taught accordion style propping up that sandpaper-bray of a voice and a beautiful melody.
Margaret Barry, Galway Shawl (Her Mantle So Green) Freewheeling banjo and wonderfully soaring vocal illuminate this gorgeous tune.
Sarah and Rita Keane Lord Donegal (Once I Loved)Indescribably eerie recording of two decrepit sisters singing in unison that sounds utterly timeless.
76
Liverpool can be a gruesome place at three in the morning. Fleshy bodies lie across pavements while feral kids eat raw pizza and snarl. There is a stink of old booze, weed and piss. But I am in the company of Will Pound, a young man with a tough if somewhat Dickensian vibe about him and we are looking for sherry – so everything is fine. Will is a virtuoso harmonica player making a name for himself in the clubs. “I had open heart surgery twice as a young child,” says Will when asked why he chose his instrument. ”Into which I also had breathing issues. The harmonica seemed a good idea to combat the problem and improve my breathing.” He travels with a worn blue suitcase, which when opened reveals a workshop of harmonicas in all shapes and sizes. “I play a number of genres, ranging from pop to rock, Arabic to jazz, to folk and even some classical. If I could play it all day I would!” Will’s stage buddy is claw hammer banjo player Dan Walsh. We met briefly in the swankier setting of London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall after he and Will played a staggering live set. “I love claw hammer style,” Dan says “and I feel it can do almost anything. The banjo has such a distinctive sound anyway which I love, but I feel claw hammer especially can sound so full combining melody, rhythm and per-cussion all in one.” I also heard the remarkable harmonium and guitar player Olivia Chaney for the first time at the same concert series. Inspired by Joni Mitchell and Joanna Newsome and having toured the States as a singer with Zero 7, she mixes traditional, classical and contemporary ideas with a raw emotional singing style. All three artists have in common a chutzpah and diversity of influence, which they use to produce great music that straddles the borders of definition – a really tough task and one that we should raise a glass (of sherry) to.”
danwalshbanjo.co.ukwillpound.commyspace.com/willpoundanddanwalshmyspace.com/oliviachaney
Quiet, creepy, hushed, haunting and messy. Words that could describe both New Orleans and the small but thriving loose as-semblage of bands that are currently sweating it out down there. Folks are crafting a peculiar riff on the idea of chamber pop, filter-ing it through a lens fogged with humidity and a transistor radio pulling in impossible signals. From Storyville circa 1909; from a shack in Southern Appalachia circa 1931; from a joyous wedding in an unnamed Balkan country ‘round ‘bout 1897; from a café in Montmartre between the wars. A catholic collection of influences hung on a rickety superstructure of guitars, banjos, slightly disso-nant pianos, horns, accordions, drums and raucous sing-alongs. Music composed for the sidewalk and made to soundtrack a quest for a little club at the end of a narrow alleyway. Hang a name on it and call it waltzpunk if you have to.
Hurray for the Riff Raff’s name sounds (probably intentionally) like a wry battle cry, a tribute to the small army of beer-can nurs-ing musicians that ply their ill-paid hustle on the corners, in the venues and at the house parties of their river city home. Make no mistake: this is folk music, but it’s got nothing to do with the le-gions of Americana pretenders out there. Alynda Lee, the architect of HftRR’s blessed mess, is crafting something delightfully arcane and witchy with Young Blood Blues, the band’s second record. Riff Raff (along with other New Orleans artists like Meschiya Lake, the Happy Talk Band, and the equally baroquely named Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?) are writing and performing songs that, perhaps, could only come from such a bizarre, beautifully fucked-up place. Guaranteed: Hurray for the Riff Raff will break your heart and fix the cracks with cobblestones, whiskey and spit. Hallelujah and bless ‘em.
myspace.com/hurrayfortheriffraff
HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFFBY GABE SORIA
WILL POUND, DAN WALSH & OLIVIA CHANEY BY CRISPIN PARRY
NEW MUSIC FROM THE AMERICAS AND THE BRITISH I S L E S
8 9
Until
rec
ently
, the
folk
wor
ld a
ppea
red
to e
xist
in it
s ow
n he
rmet
ical
ly s
eale
d bu
bble
. It w
as o
bliv
ious
to th
e ch
ange
s go
ing
on in
wid
er s
ocie
ty.
Even
the
inte
rest
larg
e sw
a the
s of
you
ng p
eopl
e w
ere
taki
ng
in fo
lk m
u sic
did
n’t i
mpr
ess
the
hard
core
. Am
eric
a n s
inge
rs
like
Will
Old
ham
and
Dev
endr
a Ba
nha r
t ha v
e eu
logi
sed
revi
val fi
gure
head
s Be
rt J
ansc
h an
d Sh
irle
y Co
llins
, add
ed
anci
ent E
nglis
h an
d Sc
ottis
h ba
llads
to th
eir
repe
rtoi
re, a
nd
grow
n be
ards
sm
all c
hild
ren
wou
ld b
e ad
vise
d no
t to
play
ne
ar. B
ut s
till t
he in
vita
tions
to p
erfo
rm a
t Cam
brid
ge F
o lk
Fest
ival
did
not
arr
ive,
as
if th
ese
hair
y Am
eric
ans
wer
e m
ere
dile
ttan
tes;
fash
iona
ble
inte
rlop
ers.
Nob
ody
was
ther
e to
on to
rev
eal t
hat h
e sp
ends
mos
t eve
ning
s be
atin
g he
r bl
ack
and
blue
. At a
tim
e w
hen
so m
any
youn
g m
u sic
ians
from
th
e fo
lk w
orld
are
cou
chin
g tr
aditi
onal
tune
s in
an
eleg
ant
cloa
k in
an
atte
mpt
to r
each
out
to a
com
mer
cial
mar
ket,
Th
e Un
than
ks a
re b
ring
ing
out t
he s
tark
, pri
mal
bea
uty
of th
e ol
d ba
llads
– a
nd a
wor
ld b
eyon
d th
e fo
lk s
cene
is
conn
ectin
g w
ith it
.
“Peo
ple
are
sear
chin
g fo
r so
met
hing
ear
thy,
but
the
youn
g,
mai
nstr
eam
folk
wor
ld is
the
antit
hesi
s of
that
,” s
ays
Adri
an M
cNal
ly, h
usba
nd to
eld
er s
iste
r Ra
chel
and
pia
nist
, pr
oduc
er, m
anag
er, a
rran
ger,
boo
king
age
nt a
nd a
ll-ro
und
sven
gali
type
to th
e ba
nd. “
So m
uch
of th
e co
ntem
pora
ry fo
lk
scen
e is
way
mor
e st
aid
and
unim
agin
ativ
e th
an it
was
bac
k in
the
60s,
whe
n yo
u ha
d pe
ople
like
The
Wat
erso
ns b
reak
ing
the
mou
ld. T
he m
ains
trea
m is
look
ing
for
som
ethi
ng a
litt
le
roug
h ar
ound
the
edge
s, g
ettin
g to
tally
sol
d on
imag
es o
f au
then
ticity
like
Bon
Iver
dis
appe
arin
g in
to th
e w
oods
to
mak
e an
alb
um o
n hi
s ow
n, w
hile
the
folk
sce
ne is
tryi
ng to
po
lish
up a
nd d
ilute
old
bal
lads
to m
ake
them
pal
atab
le fo
r ra
dio.
It’s
dep
ress
ing.
”
Rach
el a
nd B
ecky
gre
w u
p go
ing
to fo
lk c
lubs
with
sum
mer
ho
liday
s sp
ent i
n a
haze
of f
estiv
als
and
clog
dan
cing
. “I
t was
n’t r
estr
ictiv
e at
all.
Fes
tival
s ha
d m
ore
free
dom
at
tach
ed th
an n
orm
al li
fe,”
say
s Ra
chel
, who
has
that
gen
tle,
disa
rmin
gly
frie
ndly
New
cast
le a
ir to
her
that
mak
es y
ou fe
el
at e
ase.
“It
gave
me
a st
rong
sen
se o
f sel
f bec
ause
nob
ody
criti
cise
d yo
u at
the
fest
ival
s; y
ou c
ould
be
who
you
wer
e.
You
know
wha
t kid
s ar
e lik
e –
me
and
my
frie
nds
wer
e qu
ite
hipp
yish
so
ther
e w
as e
ndle
ss n
ame-
calli
ng a
t sch
ool –
but
it
didn
’t bo
ther
me
beca
use
I kne
w th
e pl
aygr
ound
was
n’t t
he
exte
nt o
f life
. I h
ad a
noth
er w
orld
to e
scap
e to
.”
Beck
y, s
even
yea
rs y
oung
er, h
ad a
bou
t of t
eena
ge r
esis
tanc
e to
the
inev
itabi
lity
of h
er fo
lk e
xist
ence
bef
ore
givi
ng in
to it
. “I
do
rem
embe
r th
inki
ng m
aybe
I sh
ould
n’t t
ell e
very
one
that
I’m
the
only
clo
g da
ncer
in c
lass
,” s
he s
ays.
“I m
ean,
how
do
you
bri
ng th
at u
p? B
ut I
alw
ays
enjo
yed
sing
ing
and
danc
ing.
My
dad
was
a s
hant
y si
nger
. I r
emem
ber
man
y w
onde
rful
eve
ning
s sp
ent i
n pu
bs, s
urro
unde
d by
sha
nty
men
. It w
as g
reat
.”
To th
e Un
than
k si
ster
s, it
see
ms
that
bei
ng s
urro
unde
d by
sh
anty
men
whe
n yo
u ar
e on
the
thre
shol
d of
ado
lesc
ence
w
as n
ot o
nly
perf
ectly
nor
mal
; it w
as h
ealth
y. D
esir
able
eve
n.
THE
UN
THAN
KSB
Y W
ILL
HO
DG
KIN
SON
brid
ge th
e ga
p be
twee
n th
e tr
aditi
onal
folk
wor
ld a
nd
the
folk
-influ
ence
d al
tern
ativ
e sc
ene
– un
til T
he U
ntha
nks
cam
e al
ong.
”
Folk
mu s
ic is
all
abou
t tel
ling
stor
ies
and
capt
urin
g th
e sp
irit
of th
e la
nd, a
nd th
ere
are
few
peo
ple
doin
g th
at b
ette
r th
an
The
Unth
anks
. Bas
ed a
roun
d Ra
chel
and
Bec
ky U
ntha
nk,
Tyne
side
sis
ters
that
spe
nt
thei
r ch
ildho
od b
eing
dra
gged
fr
om o
ne fe
stiv
al a
nd fo
lk
club
to a
noth
er th
e be
hest
of
thei
r sh
anty
-sin
ging
, rap
per-
danc
ing
fath
er a
nd fo
lk-fr
iend
ly
mot
her.
The
ban
d ha
s ac
hiev
ed
the
rem
arka
ble
feat
of t
akin
g th
e da
rkes
t bal
lads
into
the
mai
nstr
eam
with
out d
ilutin
g th
eir
hars
h, e
lem
enta
l pow
er. T
he U
ntha
nks’
bac
kgro
und
and
mat
eria
l cou
ldn’
t be
mor
e tr
aditi
onal
, but
they
don
’t ap
pear
beh
olde
n to
trad
ition
, or
held
bac
k by
it.
Rach
el a
nd B
ecky
sin
g in
the
broa
dest
of T
ynes
ide
acce
nts.
Th
ey in
ters
pers
e co
ncer
ts w
ith b
outs
of c
log
danc
ing.
The
y pe
rfor
m s
ad la
men
ts li
ke B
lue
Blee
zing
Blin
d Dr
unk,
a
favo
urite
of t
he la
te g
ypsy
sin
ger
Belle
Ste
war
t in
whi
ch a
w
oman
adm
its m
arry
ing
a m
an fo
r hi
s m
oney
bef
ore
goin
g
10 11
This
hel
ps e
xpla
in w
hy th
eir
appr
oach
to th
e ol
d ba
llads
is s
o na
tura
l, an
d so
app
ealin
g: th
ey d
on’t
ques
tion
it.
“Pro
babl
y be
caus
e w
e’ve
bee
n br
ough
t up
in it
, we’
ve a
lway
s ac
cept
ed c
log
danc
ing
and
sing
ing
as th
e th
ing
that
we
just
do
,” s
ays
Rach
el. “
Me
and
Beck
y ha
ve o
nly
rece
ntly
rea
lised
th
at w
e’re
not
exp
erts
in th
e tr
aditi
on b
ecau
se w
e’ve
nev
er
stud
ied
it. P
eopl
e ex
pect
us
to k
now
wha
t we’
re o
n ab
out a
nd
I’m n
ot e
ntir
ely
sure
that
we
do. W
e ju
st li
ke s
ingi
ng s
ongs
.”
Acco
rdin
g to
McN
ally
, Rac
hel a
lway
s kn
ew th
at s
he w
ante
d to
sin
g pr
ofes
sion
ally
. But
com
ing
from
a fa
mily
in w
hich
ev
eryo
ne s
ang
as a
mat
ter
of c
ours
e th
is w
as a
har
d st
ep
to ta
ke. “
It st
arte
d be
caus
e Be
cky
and
I wer
e lo
okin
g fo
r w
ays
to g
et to
folk
fest
ival
s fo
r fr
ee, s
o w
e be
cam
e an
un
acco
mpa
nied
duo
,” e
xpla
ins
Rach
el. “
I did
alw
ays
thin
k it
wou
ld b
e fa
ntas
tic to
be
a si
nger
, but
whe
n ev
eryb
ody
you
know
sin
gs it
’s to
ugh
to g
et o
ff th
e flo
or a
nd o
nto
the
stag
e an
d te
ll ev
eryo
ne e
lse
to b
e qu
iet.”
refle
ctin
g Be
cky’
s co
mm
itmen
t. M
cNal
ly s
teer
ed th
e co
urse
to
war
ds a
rea
l car
eer.
And
The
Unt
hank
s ha
ve p
rove
d th
at
you
can
mak
e de
ep a
nd h
eart
felt
vers
ions
of t
radi
tiona
l so
ngs
with
out c
ompr
omis
e an
d br
eak
out o
f the
folk
ghe
tto.
No
w M
cNal
ly is
won
deri
ng w
here
, exa
ctly
, the
ban
d fit
into
th
e gr
eat s
chem
e of
thin
gs.
“The
folk
wor
ld h
as, l
arge
ly, d
isap
poin
ted,
” he
con
clud
es.
“If I
’m in
to a
bit
of B
onni
e Pr
ince
Bill
y, o
nly
to d
isco
ver
that
Ch
umba
wum
ba a
nd T
he L
evel
lers
are
hea
dlin
ing
at a
folk
fe
stiv
al, I
’ll th
ink
it’s
still
in th
e da
rk a
ges.
So
inev
itabl
y w
e do
th
ink
abou
t whe
re w
e fit
in. W
e ge
t peo
ple
com
ing
to s
ee u
s w
ho li
ke F
leet
Fox
es a
nd T
he L
ow A
nthe
m, a
nd w
e ge
t boo
ked
at p
lace
s lik
e Th
e Gr
een
Man
and
End
Of T
he R
oad
and
that
’s
fant
astic
, but
if I’
m g
oing
to b
e ho
nest
our
aud
ienc
e is
chi
efly
com
pose
d of
bea
rded
men
in th
eir
50s.
”
Of c
ours
e, th
at m
ay n
ot b
e a
bad
thin
g. A
s Ra
chel
and
Be
cky
Unth
ank
will
no
doub
t con
firm
from
thei
r te
enag
e ex
peri
ence
s w
ith s
hant
y m
en, b
eard
ed m
en in
thei
r 50
s ca
n be
a lo
t of f
un.
mys
pace
.com
/rac
helu
ntha
nk
“ Th
e U
ntha
nks
have
pro
ved
that
yo
u ca
n m
ake
deep
and
hea
rtfu
l ve
rsio
ns o
f tra
diti
onal
son
gs
wit
hout
com
prom
ise
and
brea
k ou
t of t
he f
o lk
ghet
to.”
“ I d
o re
mem
ber
thin
king
may
be
I sho
uldn
’t te
ll ev
eryo
ne th
at I’
m
the
only
clo
g da
ncer
in c
lass
.”
It’s
a pr
oble
m a
t the
hea
rt o
f fo l
k m
u sic
: the
poi
nt a
t whi
ch
a si
nger
rem
oves
them
selv
es fr
om s
omet
hing
that
is
com
mun
al a
nd p
uts
them
selv
es fo
rwar
d as
the
one
to li
sten
to
. The
Unt
hank
s ha
ve d
ealt
with
it b
y le
ttin
g M
cNal
ly ta
ke
care
of t
he p
rofe
ssio
nal s
ide,
allo
win
g th
em to
con
cent
rate
on
cha
nnel
ing
the
spir
it of
suc
h da
rkly
com
pelli
ng b
alla
ds a
s I W
ish,
I W
ish,
the
tale
of a
n ol
d m
aid
lam
entin
g he
r lo
st y
outh
; an
d th
e tit
le tr
ack
of th
eir
2009
alb
um
Here
’s T
he T
ende
r Co
min
g, a
son
g fr
om
the
nort
heas
t abo
ut
bein
g pr
ess-
gang
ed
into
Nel
son’
s ar
my.
“Hea
ring
thos
e st
orie
s as
kid
s w
as li
ke s
ittin
g in
an
adul
t wor
ld,”
say
s Ra
chel
. “Th
e so
ngs
are
abou
t the
hum
an c
ondi
tion.
Th
ey d
eal w
ith a
ll th
e th
ings
peo
ple
don’
t tal
k ab
out.
You
do
n’t s
it ar
ound
and
hav
e a
chat
abo
ut c
hild
mor
talit
y or
ra
pe o
r do
mes
tic v
iole
nce,
but
whe
n so
meo
ne s
tand
s up
in a
ro
om a
nd s
ings
abo
ut th
em th
ey’r
e ca
ptiv
atin
g. N
ow w
e w
ant
to c
omm
unic
ate
the
stor
ies
to o
ther
peo
ple,
to le
t the
m k
now
th
at w
e ha
ve a
won
derf
ul, r
ich
trad
ition
rig
ht h
ere
in o
ur
own
coun
try.
”
McN
ally
had
his
wor
k cu
t out
in c
onvi
ncin
g th
e Un
than
ks
to m
ake
a go
of i
t. A
mu s
ic in
dust
ry a
ll ro
unde
r fr
om
Man
ches
ter
that
has
var
ious
ly b
een
a m
anag
er, a
n ed
itor
of
a m
u sic
mag
azin
e an
d –
alth
ough
it’
s no
t som
ethi
ng h
e ad
vert
ises
–
a m
embe
r of
a T
ake
That
trib
ute
band
, McN
ally
wan
ted
the
girl
s to
turn
pro
fess
iona
l soo
n af
ter
beco
min
g ro
man
tical
ly in
volv
ed w
ith
Rach
el. B
ut th
ere
was
the
prob
lem
of
Rac
hel’s
shy
ness
to d
eal w
ith, a
nd
the
fact
that
, dur
ing
the
sum
mer
of
2004
whe
n th
ey w
ere
wor
king
on
thei
r de
but a
lbum
Cru
el S
iste
r, B
ecky
w
as a
n 18
-yea
r-ol
d w
ith a
job
in a
ni
ghtc
lub,
an
activ
e so
cial
life
and
a u
nive
rsity
stin
t loo
min
g,
and
form
ing
a ba
nd w
ith h
er e
lder
sis
ter
and
her
boyf
rien
d w
as n
ot a
t the
top
of h
er a
gend
a. “
So it
bec
ame
Rach
el
Unth
ank
And
The
Win
ters
et a
nd I
wen
t: oh
no!
Peo
ple
are
goin
g to
thin
k I’m
a b
ighe
ad!”
say
s Ra
chel
, sou
ndin
g di
stin
ctly
no
n-bi
g-he
aded
. “Pu
t whe
n Be
cky
was
n’t f
orce
d in
to s
ingi
ng
with
me
it be
cam
e so
met
hing
she
wan
ted
to d
o.”
McN
ally
per
seve
red,
lead
ing
to a
cri
tical
bre
akth
roug
h an
d a
Mer
cury
nom
inat
ion
with
200
7’s
The
Bair
ns a
nd th
en 2
009’
s He
re’s
The
Ten
der
Com
ing.
Ban
d m
embe
rs c
ame
and
wen
t. Ra
chel
Unt
hank
And
The
Win
ters
et b
ecam
e Th
e Un
than
ks,
13
I sang songs that they knew. They were overwhelmed when they learned they were English songs, still being sung in what they called the ‘old country.’
And what did Alan Lomax smell like? How did he smell? Sam! This is very, very odd. Only a few days ago I was thinking back to the last time I saw Alan. He came down to see me in Brighton on a visit from the States in the early nineties. We had so much to talk about that he stayed the night. I only had one bed so we slept together, even though we hadn’t met for many years. He said in the morning, “and what do you think?” And I replied, “How lovely you smell!” I can’t re-member a time when he was malodorous, even when we were on the road and you didn’t man-age to wash everyday. I’ve never told anyone that - that I slept with him one more time. There was still so much affection between us. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
The full text of this interview will be in the next issue of Plague
shirleycollins.co.ukthemagpiesnest.co.uk
SAM LEE FROM THE MAGPIE’S NEST (BBC FOLK CLUB OF THE YEAR 2010) TALKS TO SHIRLEY COLLINS, THE MOST INFLUENTIAL VOICE OF THE SIXTIES FOLK REVIVAL.
You travelled America with song collector Alan Lomax in 1959 and met and heard some of the finest traditional musicians. How did your experience there compare to your experience of the British folk singers? For the old tradi-tional English singers such as Harry Cox, George Maynard and Bob Roberts, singing was an essen-tial and natural part of their lives, as natural as breathing. Arkansas singer Almeda Riddle just sang, it’s what she did. And for Mississippi Fred McDowell too, it was the most important part of their lives. Although they were poor country people, they were aware of what they’d got, how valuable and precious their music was.
What were the singers’ reaction to meeting Alan Lomax and this gorgeous exotic young English girl? He was a tall man, over 6 foot and a big build. I often thought of him as an American bison, but perhaps a grizzly bear would be more apt. Not too many 23-year old English girls had ventured to the South in 1959. One mountain woman exclaimed, on learning that I came from England, ‘how come she speaks our language so good?’ But their openness and friendliness was heart warming. This was partly down to Alan’s talent and experience as a collector; a South-erner with gentle good manners, charming and funny. There was genuine amazement when
1312
14
a place of laughter and great music. I have met some of my greatest friends through the club, who have provided me with masses of knowl-edge, repertoire and good times. I have seen some of my favourite gigs there, amongst them: Chris Wood and Andy Cutting, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, and Dick Gaughan. Each time, the venue is intimate, warm and carpeted, with an infectious, excited atmosphere, akin to being sung to in your living room sitting in front of a log fire on a frosty autumnal night.
I moved to Devon from my native Staffordshire in 2001 to study English at Exeter University. By the end of my first term it was dawning on me, perhaps against my will, that I was craving the company of the friendly, folk singing, real ale drinking types that adorned the sessions and sing-a-rounds of my home town. One night in early January, I braved the rain and caught the train to Topsham to seek out and do a floor spot at the folk club. I felt as if I was stepping into a new world, in which I was totally at ease and full of inspiration. Everyone there was friendly and encouraging, and I was offered our first concert spot that night, to support Dr Faustus later in the month. The club quickly became a weekly haven,
TOPSHAM FOLK CLUBRECOMMENDED BY JACKIE OATES
Topsham Folk Club takes place every Sunday in the Malt House of The Globe Hotel, Fore Street, Topsham, about 10 minutes outside of Exeter.
topshamfolkclub.co.ukmyspace.com/jackieoates