Tag: pound arts

Five Years in the Cotswolds: Lawton & Mack’s Breathtaking Debut Album

When I put together the 4 Julia’s House compilation albums a few years ago I decided I shouldn’t pick favourites out of the eighty-one songs donated, but if I had to, it would’ve indisputably been Atlantic O by Will Lawton and Ludwig Mack. With the ambience of the gods, this track is such a soothing sentimental earworm it makes you go all tingly as it drifts like a lost ship on the sea. Now the duo have released a debut album, matching the sublimity of Atlantic O. The story behind it is of an absorbing coincidence, and its unique marketing is equally as genius as the music….. 

At the time I was aware of the virtuosity and diversity of Malmsbury musical magician, Will Lawton, from solo performances and fronting The Alchemists. At the time he sent the tune for the project he briefly explained Ludwig was an Argentinian musician he had been working with, but their connection is far more complex and is explained in the book to the album, which is in turn, currently the only way to hear it. 

A story of serendipity expressed earnestly through a 36-page hardback, which continues to detail the thought processes of the album, each individual song, and the musicians which accompany them along the titled journey Five Years in the Cotswolds. Then, on the back cover there’s a QR code to scan, leading you to streaming options; I suggest you do, your ears will love you forevermore.

Enticed by the lure of English music, and his European travelling plans cut short by the pandemic, Argentinian musician Ludwig Mack arrived in the UK from Spain a day prior to lockdown. He had already connected with Will via Instagram, not realising when he settled in Hullavington he was coincidently only a few miles away from Will’s home. They jammed together, the song Atlantic O, and within a year produced the EP Heroes.  

Ludwig explored the UK, and found work whether he could, whilst Will continued with family life, his band the Alchemists and his employment as a music psychotherapist. But Ludwig often dropped in to see Will, and it was inevitable this project would blossom like the opening tune, aptly Blossom, a tender springtime daydream contrasting aging with memories. It’s as majestic as the morning chorus, and includes a naturally sourced one too.

The fabric of this album continues on this theme, indeed Songbird follows suit into the most gentle flow of concentrated bliss. It’s the first single released this Friday (10/10) of the goodness of nature rather than society’s machine, unhinged and timeless piano-based folk, and celebratory of the glory wildlife in all its splendour, wrapped in the warmest serenity. By its very composure it defines the sum of all this goodness and shapes a heart in your mind; if an album was a wander through a springtime meadow, this is a stroll to remember.

It comes as no surprise Will is a music psychotherapist, if the vocation is to improve wellbeing, increase happiness and overcome issues. One listen to Five Years in the Cotswolds is the best remedy. Ten solid tunes, all the like to make the little hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention. There’s few artists able to accomplish this, I could cite many, from Bill Withers to John Denver and you will contemplate your favourites when this caresses your senses.

The album lifts with euphoric pace at God’s Plan, and I’m left thinking of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On as its aperture opens the album to a similar width of beauty. From the guitar chimes of November to the quirkiness of the bluegrass-esque Walk Each Other Home, and from the amorous ambience of Clouds to Freya Everest’s haunting vocal range on I Noticed, this album continues flowing on the theme as a paragon, never meandering off course.

Its production is as crisp as autumn leaves, the arrangements are like sunlight. The composition is a Vivaldi, its versification is W. H. Davies’ Leisure, the musical expression of a Monet, a pilgrimage to a Constable masterpiece, or all of these wonders capturing the beauty of nature equally combined and consumed, it really is this breathtaking. Devizine

Its production is as crisp as autumn leaves, the arrangements are like sunlight. The composition is a Vivaldi, its versification is W. H. Davies’ Leisure, the musical expression of a Monet, a pilgrimage to a Constable masterpiece, or all of these wonders capturing the beauty of nature equally combined and consumed, it really is this breathtaking. 

Bath’s producer and musician, Rob McLeod, aka Mac Lloyd, Spanish multi-instrumentalist Guillem Mitchel, London based jazz singer-songwriter and producer Freya Everest and drummer Tony Partridge who met Will at Schtumm in Box, are the other collaborators behind this enchanting project, alongside composer and arranger Benjamin Lawton, Will’s son.

Streaming platforms are held off until next year on this, the book to Five Years in the Cotswolds is the album’s only current access point, and is available on their website, and at upcoming gigs, The Castle, Swindon on 16th October, and Pound Arts in Corsham on 6th November, details of which are also on their website.

Will Lawton & Ludwig Mack

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Rooks; New Single From M3G

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward “E”) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunes…

Burning the Midday Oil at The Muck

Highest season of goodwill praises must go to Chrissy Chapman today, who raised over £500 (at the last count) for His Grace Children’s Centre in…

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Striking Photographic Portrait Exhibition Celebrates Five Years of Impactful Creative Work with Older People at Wiltshire Music Centre

If you’ve popped into Wiltshire Music Centre recently; for a concert, workshop, screening or even a meeting, you might have noticed changes in the foyer: recorded music, the cafe-bar open at peak times during the day, and currently, a striking photographic exhibition of black and white portraits…..

The ‘Men in Conversation’ exhibition presents portraits of members of the Trowbridge Creative Conversations Men’s Group, a creative arts and heritage group for men aged 65+ held in Trowbridge Library. Facilitated by professional artist practitioners, Creative Conversations sessions bring together isolated older people to share their experiences and creative ideas in a friendly and welcoming environment. So, when Stuart Brook, one of the members of the Trowbridge men’s group shared his interest in photography, it wasn’t surprising that it inspired the participants to take portraits of each other. The results were so impactful, uplifting and moving, that they’re now on display at Wiltshire Music Centre until the end of July, before moving to Trowbridge Library, all made possible by funding from The Trowbridge Town Trust.

The free-to-visit exhibition contributed to a Celebration event, marking the impact of the Celebrating Age Wiltshire partnership from 2020-2025. The event, attended by partners, funders, artists and community champions, showcased some of the many outcomes achieved through this project, funded by the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. Artworks, as well as the exhibition included songs, spoken word, and art and heritage pieces, introduced by Creative Producer, Rebecca Seymour.

It was an opportunity for Wiltshire Music Centre to thank everyone that has contributed to this project to this point, including funders, The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, Wiltshire Council Area Boards, Town Councils, Wiltshire Community Foundation, Arts Council England and other Trusts and Foundations. Partners, Pound Arts, Wiltshire Creative, Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, AgeUK, Wiltshire Council and Libraries and Community First, Creative Producer Rebecca Seymour and our staff team, volunteers, community champions and community organisations past and present, and, of course, the sixty-five artists!

In August, Wiltshire Music Centre will hand over the leadership of this award-winning, county wide project to AgeUK Wiltshire, who will continue to reach isolated older people through creative arts and heritage events and workshop groups. We look forward to continuing to partner in this incredible project, as it continues to grow. 

More Information HERE

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For Now, Anyway; Gus White’s Debut Album

Featured Image: Barbora Mrazkova My apologies, for Marlborough’s singer-songwriter Gus White’s debut album For Now, Anyway has been sitting on the backburner, and it’s more…

One Of Us; New Single From Lady Nade

Featured Image by Giulia Spadafora Ooo, a handclap uncomplicated chorus is the hook in Lady Lade’s latest offering of soulful pop. It’s timelessly cool and…

REVIEW – Peter Knight’s Gigspanner @ Pound Arts Centre, Corsham – Friday 3rd May 2024

A Knight To Remember

Andy Fawthrop

Gigspanner are in the middle of their UK Spring Tour 2024, and the Pound in Corsham has become one of their regular stopping points….

I last saw them here in November 2022, but I also caught them several times over the last twelve months at other venues and festivals around the country.  And  plenty of musical water has flowed under the bridge during that time.  Apart from forays with their GBB (Gigspanner Big Band) format, which includes the Edgelarks duo of Philip Henry and Hannah Martin, and the wonderful Saltlines tour, Peter Knight has been fully occupied with a wide range of solo and duo side projects with other artists.  The man never seems to stop working.

But, last night, we were back in the old familiar and original trio format.  Gigspanner, if you weren’t already aware, is the full-time musical project of ex-Steeleye Span’s violin genius, Peter Knight.  Having gradually become slightly exasperated with the repetitive nature of Steeleye’s musical repertoire, despite the occasional new album, Peter left in order to pursue his own musical interests.  His trio, which includes guitar and technical wizard Roger Flack, and percussionist Sacha Trochet, can now only be described as being at the very top of their game.  The trio format gives the three musicians the time and the space to explore the themes in their music more deeply, to extemporise with flowing solos, and to make even the regular material sound fresh every time they deliver it.

Last night was no exception.  I was perched right at the front, almost on the stage itself, in front of more than a hundred fans, and it was more than obvious that there has developed between these three guys a deep personal harmony, and an almost telepathic musical understanding.  Their two sets were based deep, deep in the heart of the most traditional of folk music standards, and yet developed and explored in a way that took you a very long way indeed from the “originals”.  There’s an almost jazz-like feel to the way the three guys take these songs and tunes, and move them along into an almost completely different genre.

We had the folkie-based classics of their repertoire like “She Moved Through The Fair”, “The Bows of London”, “The Bonnie Birdie” and (as a grand and sweeping finale) “The King Of The Fairies”, but leavened and interleaved with other old favourites such as “Seagull”, “The Butterfly”, the spell-binding “Sharp Goes Walkabout” and the stunning party-piece of “Louisiana Flack”.  

The latter has to be seen to be believed: whilst Peter plays the basic tune on his violin, Roger simultaneously plays a fast staccato rhythm on the frets of the same instrument using drumsticks. The two guys have to absolutely trust each other in terms of timing and movement in order to carry out this difficult trick, and their joint concentration, staring into each other’s eyes as they knock out the rapid tune, is really something to behold.  I’ve seen them do this a dozen times or more over the years, but it never ceases to capture the imagination, and (as always) elicited a huge cheer from the audience as they finished it. It’s a breath-holding moment, and watching them carry it off from just a few metres away was even more amazing.

Peter interspersed the tunes with his usual laconic, comical style, talking to the audience as if they were old friends.  And I guess a lot of them were.  There was a lot of love in the room, and just the same warmth later as the three guys manned the merch table and chatted away to the fans.

They’re a band, and a grouping of superb individual musicians, who are continuing to explore the boundaries of their music, developing even standard numbers in their repertoire with every new performance.  They never seem to stand still, and they never seem to stop working.  They’ve reached a stage now where I’d say that they are very difficult to categorise or to pigeon-hole.  Their musical interpretations continue to evolve, and long may it be so.  If you’ve never seen or heard them, I’d urge you to rectify that omission as soon as possible.

Absolutely top night of entertainment.

Their future gigs are listed on www.gigspanner.com/.  Next chance to catch them locally, in the Saltlines format, would be in Marlborough on 30th May.  Definitely worth the trip up the A4 I’d say.

And, finally, just a word about Corsham’s The Pound Arts Centre.  It’s a small, but beautifully-formed venue with a complete programme of events across drama, film, music, comedy, children’s activities, art exhibitions, workshops, and classes.  It also has an excellent café & bar just off the foyer.  Look on their website for future music artists and online ticket information.

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Large Unlicensed Music Event Alert!

On the first day of advent, a time of peace and joy to the world et al, Devizes Police report on a “large unlicenced music…

Winter Festival/Christmas/Whatever!

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Devizes Winter Festival This Friday and More!

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Snow White Delight: Panto at The Wharf

Treated to a sneaky dress rehearsal of this year’s pantomime at Devizes’ one and only Wharf Theatre last night, if forced to sum it up…

REVIEW – Gigspanner @ Pound Arts Centre, Corsham – Tuesday 29th November 2022

A Night Of Extreme Violins

Andy Fawthrop

Yes, I know it’s not in Devizes, but it’s pretty darned close.  And it was definitely worth the trip out on a grim Tuesday night when nothing else was happening.  Folk or football?  Well, as Bill Shankly never actually said, this gig was far more important than mere life-or-death on a soccer field.

Gigspanner, if you don’t know, is now the full-time musical project of ex-Steeleye Span’s violin genius, Peter Knight.  Having gradually become slightly exasperated with the repetitive nature of Steeleye’s musical repertoire, despite the occasional new album, Peter left in order to pursue his own musical interests.  And boy has he done that in spades over the past ten years or so.  His trio, including guitar and technical wizard Roger Flack, and percussionist Sacha Trochet, has become legendary in folk (and other) circles for their ground-breaking exploration of musical forms, pushing the basics of folk way, way beyond previous known limits.

The Pound Arts Centre was absolutely packed last night, with every ticket having sold some time ago.  They’d managed to squeeze in two extra rows of seats at the front, and so it was that 120 of us welcomed these wonderful musicians to the stage.  Given the depth of applause, I’d guess that most of them were already big fans of the band and knew what was coming up.  And what came up was absolutely superb.  Building on the basic building blocks of a few “traditional” folk songs and tunes (She Moved Through The Fair, The Constant Lovers, The Bows of London and The Hard Times of Old England), the band built these foundations into something quite spectacular.  They moved these pieces far beyond the normal, extemporising and exploring as they went, and produced some spell-binding passages of music.  It was fascinating, it was beautiful, and it was utterly captivating.  Using violin, guitars, pedals, effects, and a range of percussion, the three of them wove some amazing musical patterns.  It’s absolutely unlike stuff you’ll hear anywhere else, and played live on stage right in front of you, it’s completely gob-smackingly good.  But there was even more.  Not content with re-defining what constitutes live “folk” music, there were some new musical journeys based on Peter’s own contemporary song/ tune-writing skills such as Seagull, Butterfly and (a collaboration with the late Terry Pratchett) I Will Wear Midnight.

And, as ever, there was laconic commentary and dry humour from Peter as he introduced each piece, followed by one of my favourite pieces of live musical “theatre” in a piece they’ve been playing from the earliest days called Louisiana Flack.  In this party piece, and without the aid of a safety net, Peter plays a very fast fiddle piece, whilst Roger takes up a pair of drumsticks and simultaneously taps out a complementary beat/ tune across the neck and fingerboard, hopefully avoiding Peter’s fingers.  Just watching these two consummate musicians pull this trick off is one of those breath-holding moments where you’re not quite sure what you’re seeing.  And it came off superbly, demonstrating the complete level of trust that these two musicians have for each other.  Truly amazing.

Altogether we got two good hour-long sets, which seemed to pass in but a few moments, and an outstanding ten-minute long encore of The Faerie King.  With only occasional lyrics (Peter’s singing voice isn’t why you go to see him), it was one very, very large helping of superbly played and presented music. It might have been based on “folk”, but what we heard would actually defy genre or mere pigeon-holing.  What you need to know is that it was very, very, very good.

Last night was, as it happened, the last night of the trio’s current UK tour, but it’s not all over.  The never-resting Peter Knight is starting a two-week tour on Saturday with John Spiers, then next year it’ll be back to all the other projects in his life – The Gigspanner Big Band (with Philip Henry and Hannah Martin aka Edgelarks), collaborations with other musicians, Feast of Fiddles, as well as his teaching master-classes, composing and recording.  The man never stops.  No wonder he continues to draw plaudits from the musical press and to win so many music awards.  This man is definitely not, as he self-deprecatingly describes himself, “a fool with a fiddle”.

Chatting with a clearly delighted band after the gig, they told me how much they loved playing The Pound.  CDs were selling like hot cakes, the audience had been great, and it’s such a lovely, friendly venue. They always get treated like royalty (not you Andrew!), so I’m pretty sure they’ll be pencilling in another date sometime next year.  And if they do, then you owe it to yourself to get a ticket and go – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Their future gigs are listed on www.gigspanner.com/ which includes dates in Swindon and Bristol next February.  And there’s lots of info on their other projects, such as Saltlines, too.

And, finally, just a word about The Pound Arts Centre.  It’s a cracking little venue, now back in full action, with a complete programme of events across drama, film, music, comedy, children’s activities, art exhibitions, workshops, and classes.  It also has an excellent café & bar just off the foyer.  You’ll have to look on their website for future music artists and online ticket information at www.poundarts.org.uk but (for example), they’ve got Jonny Coppin’s Christmas Show, Bowjangles, Sandi Thom, and John Kirkpatrick, all of them before Christmas.  They show modern films and often carry live telecasts of live performances from London venues.  If you’ve not been over there, it’s definitely worth checking out.

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Blue Sky Festival Returns to Corsham’s Pound Arts

Blue Sky Festival returns to Corsham’s Pound Arts this July. The thriving arts centre will be filled with music, dance, film, family entertainment and workshops, plus outdoor theatre. There really is something for everyone, including Claymation model-making workshops with Aardman Animations, music from upcoming Americana soulstress Lady Nade, and the breath-taking folky ambiance of Emily Barker, and comedy from Lucy Porter, who you’ll know from Live At The Apollo, Would I Lie To You and QI.

Lady Nade

Kicking off on the 5th and continuing throughout until 11th, there’s theatre for the very youngest, check out the The Bug Hotel and there’s even a Bug Making Workshop. Fly in/Drive in Cinemas, pre-school workshops where you will create your very own broomstick and hat before flying into the auditorium to watch a free, short family film, on 7th and 8th July.

Absurdist-fiction author and New York Times Bestseller Jasper Fforde does an author’s talk on the 9th July, and the 10th is the All Day Aardman Filmathon with an Aardman Model Making Workshop aimed at children aged 6 and above.

And it’s the 8th July, at 8:00pm when the wonderful Lady Nade takes the stage, Emily Barker on the Saturday the 10th. Sunday polishes off the festival with Lucy Porter, after Apocalyptic Circus return to The Pound with a visually striking, highly skilled circus and comedy show for all the family called My House.

Other events planned throughout the festival include a Blue-Sky Mural project, a Silent Disco, Fun Community Singalong Workshop, Jimmy Jams Breakfast Storytime with Gav Cross, work in progress from the Debut Dance Company.

Lucy Porter
Book tickets here
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