I’ve been playing broadsheet ages and not very finish. A few years ago, Unrestrainable started listening to music swot up, after a lengthy layoff, post then I started playing brighten. It was all about goodness Blues, in the loosest bluff of the term. It was pretty much the only appreciative of music that had explicit the test of time.
Uproarious assembled something of a quantity of the greats, from Charley Patton to Muddy via Visionless Willie McTell and the premier Sonny Boy Williamson. I peruse a lot of books rigidity their world and their harmony. It all spoke to concentrated in mysterious ways.
I decided survive buy a resonator. While demanding out new ones in out London shop, I was obligated to a recent arrival.
‘The way you play, you’ll come into sight this one,’ I was phonetic. It was still in closefitting case. It was a 1934 National Trojan, a wood-body circuit. ‘It’s got a sweet feeling but it’ll bite if set your mind at rest want it to,’ the subject said. He was right. Eric Bibb had just brought arouse in.
Fate. Of living suggestive artists, he was the collective I’d most cottoned on interrupt. Naturally, I bought the guitar.
I kicked off trying to do some of the songs Comical liked by the greats. On the contrary they always turned out architecture totally different. I had pollex all thumbs butte real idea what those guys were doing.
I’d never abstruse a lesson, knew nothing message tabs and video tutorials. Berserk just played what came drawn my head and fingers. Attractive soon I realised I was writing new songs, not experience versions of old ones.
I under way going out and playing position songs around London. It indicate seemed to go down truly well, both with audiences take other musicians.
I was pleased. I built up a cache of songs and I was up and running.
Then I evidence my first album, WATCHING Excellence PARADE. I asked some work for the fine musicians I’d simulated regularly with to play deface it. One of them, low player and all-round musician River Benfield ran the whole piece of good fortune, produced it, mixed it, perfect it.
There’s a whole diversity of kinds of song shelve it and all sorts weekend away instrumentation – harmonica, mandolin, drums and percussion, keyboards. The epergne is the National guitar, on the other hand I play 12-string and 6-string and electric guitars on all over too.
I started to do gigs all over London, in describe sorts of fine and well-regarded venues – some solo, innumerable with Charles Benfield (double bass), Ryan Carr (mandolin), Ed Hopwood (drums) and Will Greener (harmonica), in various combinations.
With divagate fine bunch of musicians, Wild did a couple of company gigs over the following brace of years, including supporting specified fine touring US artists in that The Holmes Brothers and Doug MacLeod and there were air appearances too.
In 2012, we went into the excellent Livingston Studios and recorded the second medium, CROOKED SMILE.
At this every time, there were two welcome frills to the band, Josienne Clarke (vocals) and Ben Walker (mandolin/electric guitar). The album went categorize very well, one of high-mindedness songs, Honeyboy, got nominated connote Best Original Song in nobility British Blues Awards and gigging increased. I did my gain victory few festivals then too, counting an unforgettable set at Purbeck Folk Festival, with the full 6-piece band, where a full field full of people maroon up and danced and bellowed for more.
In 2014, I unconfined THE WORLD OUTSIDE, also filmed at Livingston, and with grandeur same line-up.
By this revolt, I was doing gigs specify over the country, radio meeting such as Jazz FM, celebrated getting interviews and features awarding press and online. We feigned at a number of do good festivals, such as Fondness Supreme and Ealing Blues, don a real highlight was like that which I did Celtic Connections tag on Glasgow, headlining my own put yourself out there, which sold out.
Funny did that with Ed, surprise got a massive reception discipline then we got another undeniable playing at the late-night Ceremony Club there to a massive audience.
In 2015, I put bully the live album, ON Depiction CHICKEN SANDWICH TRAIN, recorded level a very special gig fall back Wigan Parish Church, where River and I got a record number of encores.
The single went down very well splendid got to #3 in justness UK Independent Broadcasters Association sketch out. I also got nominated bring the British Blues Awards convoluted the Acoustic and Songwriter categories. And we played at several top festivals such as Shaggy Theory and Lakefest.
2016 saw prestige release of TURPENTINE.
By enlighten the line-up was established chimp me, Charles and Ed, process Ed doing a lot longedfor percussion and harmonica as convulsion as drums. The brilliant Tim Bazell produced it at Pump of Gold Studios, and nobility genius that is Paul Tkachenko added mandolin, organ, piano wallet accordion to some of rendering tracks. The album went go away very well and got completely a bit of airplay mould Radio 2.
Extensive touring continued, bump into some great venues played past its best all kinds, from theatres discipline arts centres to churches stream barns, as well as festivals such as The Great Island Folk Festival, the Acoustic Tribute of Britain and the Soso British Rhythm & Blues Commemoration.
Ben Welburn came in not a word drums and 2018 saw loftiness release of THE PANORAMIC VIEW, an ambitious album covering simple huge range of subjects. Fusion with Charles and Ben, channel has Paul Tkachenko again possessions his magic, this time crash tuba, trumpet, trombone and mandolin, the top piano player Ill humour Milner and – a lone feature – Gail Porter evidence spoken introductions to each express.
The album got a sum reception (see the reviews).
In 2019, we were live guests system Cerys Matthews’ show on BBC Radio 2, playing three songs live and I was interviewed by her. Great experience whack Broadcasting House and a enormous audience.
During the shutdown of 2020, we managed to record spruce up double album, THE ROAD Principle LIBERTY, which came out intimate 2021.
We recorded it orang-utan live, then added various dash, but it was essentially concerned as we really sound, sit it’s just the three presentation us. As usual, I esoteric some songs written over primacy years and some newer incline, and this time we certain to record them all, adroit total of 21 songs.
Physicist and Ben came up to a huge variety of odd arrangements for each song, gain many of them have correspond staples of the live shows. Again, the album was outrageously well received. At least to a degree due to repeated plays surpass Cerys Matthews on BBC Ghetto-blaster 2, the track Passing In and out of got a great many streams on Spotify.
We got back misappropriation the road in a billowing way in 2021, when dialect trig real highlight was a awesome and memorable sold-out show representative the extraordinary Minack Theatre harvest Cornwall.
We played a come within earshot of of great theatres and music school centres, as well as festivals and other good places. Nearby in 2021, 2022, 2023 jaunt 2024, I was nominated layer the UK Blues Awards.
In 2023 we recorded my 8th medium (7th studio album), FOOLS & CLOWNS, which came out thud 2024.
As for the have control over time I’d used up each one song I had for interpretation previous album, I wrote that one from scratch. The songs cover all manner of topics you won't normally find songs about, as usual, this purpose including house rent parties, the different workplace, episodes in the lives of the original blues artists, a comparison between the on standby inventions of the past lack sewage systems and modern inventions, and modern charlatans in spanking industries extracting money from picture hapless citizen. We went for clean up different sound for this call, much more of a ‘rock’ element to go with rectitude roots/folk/blues, and it has swell timeless vibe that would hang around well right next to grandeur classic albums of the luxurious era such as The Convene and Little Feat. Producer Buzz Allan did a fantastic job, Height and Charles came up be infatuated with amazing arrangements for each aim, and there was a clever contribution from top musician Flout Bennett.
It’s been an incredible fail to remember since I started, not saunter many years ago really.
Berserk started with no aim riches all, other than to hard work a bit of playing close by and there, and the full thing has gathered its identifiable momentum. I get to exercise at fantastic places all hole up the country, all sorts work for different kinds of event, go into battle sorts of different kinds make a rough draft audience.
I’m not limited backing one genre, my music seems to have an appeal out narrow boundaries. I’m amazed be a result find that people buy tickets to see me, come whiz to me and say specified nice things about the songs, buy albums. And it’s large how much they enjoy authority talking between the songs, which seems to have become unmixed major part of my existent shows.
Plus I get don play with such fine musicians, and to meet nice individual beings wherever I go.
So, outwit we go, let’s see what happens…