For Folk's Sake » Cherbourg

Editor’s picks… Jens Lekman, The Wedding Band, Richard Hawley, The Extra Lens

Lynn Roberts — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:35:14 +0000

Some kind soul (/pirate) has put the Mumford & Sons limited edition EP that they recorded as The Wedding Band up on YouTube. It features the Mumford boys wuth Nick Etwell, Callum Lindsay, Jesse Quin, Adam Stockdale and David Williamson. Listen here.

>> Mumford & Sons website | Jesse Quin’s band Mt. Desolation

Richard Hawley is giving away three free tracks that he’s made for Glenfiddich Whiskey. The tracks: The River, Opening The Bottle, In A Barrel include harp, oboe and musical saw. I love In The Barrrel. It’s as creepy as being trapped in a whiskey barrel. Download the tracks, and watch an interview with le Hawley, The Glennfiddich website.

>> Richard Hawley’s website

Ex-Cherbourg frontman Andrew Davie‘s new band is called Bear’s Den. A wee bit confusing for us since one of the bands on our Christmas album had the very same name. The new Bear’s Den has 3/4 of the members of Andrew’s old (but remarkably similar) bands Cherbourg and Davie Fiddle and the Lucky Egg. Kev Jones (of Communion) is back on bass and Chris Maas is on drums. There’s no sign this time of Phil Fiddle, who has been replaced by a keyboard player. They’ve got a few dates coming up in April and you can hear a track on their website. Sounds a lot like Cherbourg to us…

>> For Folk’s Sake It’s Christmas | Andrew Davie’s Bear’s Den

Swedish superman Jens Lekman played the Read and Shout festival in South London last week. The Line of Best Fit were right up front and took this great video of new song ‘Waiting for Kirsten’.

>> Read and Shout festival | Jens Lekmann

Barely leaving the stereo this week has been The Extra Lens‘s album Undercard. It’s a collaboration between John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats and Franklin Bruno of Nothing Painted Blue. There are so many great tracks on this album, it basically sounds like a Mountain Goats album. And who’s complaining about that? The song that’s goes round and round in my head all day is How I Left The Ministry. Have a listen below.

The Extra Lens: How I Left the Ministry

And while we’re on the subject of John Darnielle‘s side projects, I’ve just finished reading his book about Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality. It’s a look at the album through the eyes of a teenage boy who’s been locked up in a psychiatric hospital. It’s so well written, passionate and knowledgeable and really gets across the nucleus of superfandom, that feeling that you really *know* a songwriter and if they just knew you you’d definitely be BEST FRIENDS. Which bodes well for when I meet JD, eh?

>> The Mountain Goats | Nothing Painted Blue Last FM | Buy Undercard | John Darnielle’s Master of Reality

The Folk Artist Twitter Directory

Stephen W Thomas — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:30:09 +0000

Below is our attempt at a comprehensive directory of folk artists currently on Twitter – of course, we aren’t Twitter deities and as such will almost certainly have missed out on certain artists. Let us know if you can think of any tweeting folk musicians in the comments below.

Akron/Family

Angus and Julia Stone

Asthmatic Kitty (Label)

Brian: FFS’s Mixtape-Making Owl

Broadcast 2000

Caitlin Rose

Cherbourg

Colin Meloy (Decemberists)

Damien Rice (PR Account)

Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion)

Divine Comedy (PR account)

Efterklang

Emmy the Great

Fanfarlo

FFS (Official Account)

Kurran & the Wolfnotes

Laura Marling (PR account)

Lisa Hannigan (PR account)

Lisa Mitchell

Lissie

The Living Sisters (PR account)

Local Natives

The Low Anthem

Midlake

Monsters of Folk (PR account)

The New Pornographers

Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy)

Peggy Sue

Rebecca Taylor (Slow Club)

Rufus Wainwright (PR account)

She & Him (PR account)

St. Vincent

Sweet Billy Pilgrim

The Swell Season (PR account)

The Swell Season (Glen Hansard)

The story of Communion

Lynn Roberts — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:31:02 +0000

Kev Jones and Ben Lovett met way back in 2006 through mutual friends and for a while played in a band together. They founded the London Clubnight, Communion in 2007 and since then Ben has become better-known as Mumford & Sons‘ keyboard player and producer to acts such as Peggy Sue, Jay Jay Pistolet, Alessi and Mumford and Sons themselves.

Meanwhile Kev — as well as a year-long stint as the bassist for Andrew Davie‘s band Cherbourg before the frontman put the fourpiece to rest to concentrate on solo songwriting — has been the driving force behind the Communion outfit. Extending the clubnight from London to Leeds and Brighton and starting the record label, on which the Communion Compilation (reviewed by FFS writer Lois Jeary here) has been released.

The compilation aims to give a “cross section” of the wave of new folk artists in the UK, Kev says. It includes tracks from established acts such as Mumford and Sons and Johnny Flynn as well as songs by lesser-known artists. “We wanted to champion artists like Matthew and the Atlas and Rachel Sermanni who are just at the beginnings of their career,” Kev explains.

Mumford and Sons came across Scottish artist Rachel Sermanni when she supported them in Fort William on their tour of the Highlands last year. Matthew & the Atlas, too, supported Mumford and Sons. Kev says: “We booked Matthew for a festival in the summer and he gave me a lift down there — we became friends on the drive.”

Will Stokes is another member of the West London friendship group who just happens to be incredibly talented. “We came across him partly because we were friends with his sister Chloe, and also I think that he’s friends with Marcus Mumford, so there were multiple connections,” Kev explains.

Elena Tonra

Elena Tonra‘s place on the compilation was the result of a chance meeting, which should give hope to aspiring singer-songwriters: “Elena I met at the Fe Fi Fo Fum gig [show in December 2008 at London's Cargo, featuring performances from Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn, Peggy Sue, Mumford & Sons and Cherbourg] the Christmas before last, she said she was a singer songwriter so I went home and listened to her MySpace – I was blown away by her voice and the honesty of her lyrics. She reminds me of a young Laura Marling.”

All the tracks on the Communion compilation are exclusive to the record, apart from Sister by Mumford & Sons, which was given out as a download at the end of last year, but doesn’t feature on the four-piece’s mega-successful 2009 album Sigh No More. Many of the tracks are produced by Kev, Ben or Ian Grimble, who is the final piece in the Communion puzzle. Kev says: “Ian is the third wheel of Communion along with me and Ben. We’ve known him for years and he has produced both Mumford and Cherbourg over the past 12 months or so. He introduced us to the people at the Arts Club way back in the day and we owe a lot to him. He is primarily Communion’s producer but he is involved in all other aspects of the company too.”

The compilation is a 'cross section' of artists in the new folk community, says Kev.

The Communion team had to work hard to get the more established acts on the compilation — like Johnny Fynn and Alessi’s Arl — despite being friends with many of them. Kev explained: As soon as there’s a label involved it becomes that much more difficult. Even considering that Ben’s running the label with us it was still that hard [to get Mumford & Sons on board]. They’re just really big acts”

Two acts that noticeably aren’t included are Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale. Kev says: “We tried [to get a song by] Laura but it was just impossible and we didn’t even try Noah, to be fair. Apart from that everyone we asked said yes, which is amazing.”

Communion now (by Eloise Campbell)

The Compilation launch is on Sunday 28th February at Notting Hill Arts Club featuring Alessi, Kurran and the Wolfnotes, Matthew and the Atlas, Broadcast 2000 (solo), Pete Roe, Jesse Quinn, Elena Tonra, Stokes, William and Rachel Sermanni. As well as Chess Club DJs and DJ Jam, a “VERY special guest” will be spinning some tunes. Advance ticket sales are now sold out, but there will be a few places left on the door.

The headline act is Marcus Foster, a London singer-songwriter who has gained fame in the States due to his friendship with Twilight star Robert Pattinson – who turned up to a London Communion night this month. A quick Google of Foster’s name shows that the R-Patz-based hype surrounding him is massive – the US tabloids have branded them ‘The Brit Pack’. The publicity is a “mixed blessing”, says Kev, who’s now playing bass in Marcus’s band. Ex-Cherbourg drummer Chris Maas will be joining them on drums.

Matthew and the Atlas

So what’s next for the Communion family? The label will be putting out an EP by Matthew & the Atlas on 12th April. And after that Kev says: “There are no other confirmed releases yet but we hope to work with Matt Corby and Spencer McLean over the next few months.”

Communion had a stage planned for Bloom last summer, but the festival was cancelled. “We might be working with the guys at Harvest Festival this summer as well a couple of other ideas we have had but they are top secret at the moment. Watch this space!”

Communion puts on club night at the Leeds Adelphi, The Albert in Brighton, and Notting Hill Arts Club, London and has just recently announced new nights in Bristol and Dublin. You can find line-ups on their MySpace. The Communion Compilation is available to pre-order from their website, where you can also view the full tracklisting.

Kev’s plans for the future of the label are typically ambitious: “We wanted to do a compilation every 6 months but I think that it’s more likely to be 9 months,” he says. “We’re working on a concept for the new one at the moment. We might rent a big house for a week, invite a variety of singer/songwriters and musicians down and record what comes out!”

Words: Lynn Roberts

Mumford and Sons New Year Extravaganza

Helen True — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:57:30 +0000

So pretty much the only miserable thing about Christmas is that when it ends you have to wait a whole year for the next one. The clever people of Camden’s Flowerpot have thought long and hard about this and come up with a frankly miraculous way to welcome in 2010 and take the sting out of chucking out the advent calendar.

They’re throwing a New Year’s Eve Party at the HMV Forum that will feature live performances from the mesmorising Mumford and Sons, Johnny Flynn, Pete Roe and Andrew Davie (recently solo-ised driving force behind Cherbourg) among others.

There’s also a variety of DJs to see you through the night, and a second room of yet-to-be-announced musical brilliance from the Blissfields massive. Blissfields 2009 featured Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons and Gideon Conn among other delights, so you can safely expect a lot from these guys.

Tickets are £25, available here. Not for long though, in all likelihood.

Words: Helen True

Live: Andrew Davie of Cherbourg at Hoxton Bar and Grill

Lynn Roberts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:52:35 +0000

Let’s get one thing out in the open before you read this. I love vocal harmonies. I think 80% of music would be better with them. I also love the art of songwriting. I can’t be bothered with music that doesn’t have a proper song in its foundations. The song is the thing, after all. So I had mixed feelings about Andrew Davie’s decision to retire Cherbourg and go on to have a solo career. In an interview last week Davie told FFS he plans to concentrate on songwriting — something he’s proven himself to be fantastically good at — but it means no more harmonies.

Davie’s headline slot at Hoxton Bar and Grill on Monday was clearly a transition between Cherbourg and his new solo career. The six Cherbourg tracks he performed were in their original arrangements, which perhaps suggests that he doesn’t plan to take them any further.

And although the band’s songs stand up well to the scrutiny of being stripped back, the fact that the songs were still in their original form made the missing parts startling obvious. Cherbourg’s stand-out track ‘Never Love Again’ was the one on which the rest of the band were most sorely missed. Into The Dark track ‘Shine’ took on a new feel without the jaunty violin solo. Davie’s solo version was a more delicate and tender interpretation, better suited its bittersweet lyrics. The sound filled the room thanks to Davie’s warm and resonant voice, especially on ‘Horses’ and ‘The Mill’, the two Cherbourg tracks that worked best on the night.

Davie looked comfortable on stage alone, engaging the crowd with some good banter. “I’ve got the scribblings of a madman for a setlist,” he said. “One of them just says ‘Life’. I don’t remember writing that one. It sounds broad.” When he did remember which song he meant a bit later, it was the strongest of his altogether very promising new material, which also included sad folky ballad ‘Mother’.

Midway through the encore ‘Let Yourself Love’ Davie faltered. “I’ve forgotten the guitar solo,” he said. And I think that settles it. The man is moving on.

Words: Lynn Roberts

Andrew Davie played:
1. Shine (Cherbourg)
2. Mother
3. Love Me If You Dare
4. Horses (Cherbourg)
5. Let You Down (Cherbourg)
6. Lost Without You
7. Life
8. The Mill (Cherbourg)
9. Never Love Again (Cherbourg)
10. Let Yourself Love (Cherbourg)

Check out Andrew Davies’ brand new myspace here.

Davie was playing as part of the Levi’s OnesToWatch 5 Night Revue

Cherbourg split as frontman Andrew Davie goes solo

Lynn Roberts — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:17:28 +0000

Cherbourg’s ex-frontman Andrew Davie has told FFS that the band “is no more”. Davie said it became obvious that the four members — himself, Chris Maas, Kev Jones and Phil Fiddle — found that they wanted different things from the band. He said: “I can’t see us as a four playing together again… At the beginning there was a vision and a shared idea but it lost it’s direction.”

Davie will play a solo show for Levi’s One to Watch on 16th November at London’s Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. He said the show will be a transition and a chance to “say goodbye to Cherbourg’s songs”.

Davie, who’s 21, put Cherbourg together over a year ago. It evolved from Davie Fiddle and the Lucky Egg, which also featured Phil Fiddle.

“When you’re young you change your mind about stuff every five minutes. I’m seeing my friends go to uni and start jobs and things and they try something for a week and decide it’s not for them. When you’re in a band you all have to keep going in the same direction.”

Asked if he’d still be playing Cherbourg’s songs — as heard on their EPs Last Chapter of Dreaming and Into The Dark and single No More Flowers — when he embarks on his solo career, Davie said: “It’s hard to know exactly now. I don’t feel connected to those songs now.”

FFS is excited about Davie’s new material, which he has said will really focus on the song.

He has plans to record his debut EP in December and an album in March. He is taking some time out to write new material and has revealed that the songwriting is very important: “The sound of the new music is similar, I guess but I’m really trying not to forget the song.”

“You really have to believe in what you’re doing.”

“I went into the studio with a producer, Barney, and tried my best to play all the instruments on all the songs. I don’t know how good the tracks from that session will be but it was interesting. I’m a terrible drummer but I sat down and tried it. It was a different thing to have to try to play keys coherently.”

Davie spoke fondly of his Cherbourg bandmates saying: “We always had so much fun, and always loved playing shows together, we all just seemed to get each other when we were on stage.”

Click here for more info on Davie’s solo show

FFS’s 2008 interview with the then newly-formed Cherbourg

Words: Lynn Roberts

Cherbourg’s Andrew Davie to play solo show

Helen True — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:45:14 +0000

Cherbourg’s Andrew Davie is to play a solo show in Hoxton on 16th November in the first of four days of gigs curated by Levi’s One to Watch. Hoxton Bar and Kitchen will be taken over from Monday 16th Novemeber to Thursday 19th, when a parallel gig will take place at Cargo.

This is the fifth year that Levi’s have kindly put together a pile of ones to watch, and 2009′s line-up involves some pretty exciting stuff. Among the other bands to be showcased in this week of joys are Cardiff’s Marina and the Diamonds, the much-admired Beth Jeans Houghton and Steve Lamacq’s new best friends The Goldheart Assembly.

Tickets are £6.50, with the obligatory messing about with booking fees and transaction fees, but nonetheless each of these nights promises to introduce at least one new cacophony of sounds to your listening library.

Details of each of the gigs, and tickets, are available here.

Words: Helen True

Cherbourg announce new single and London show

Lynn Roberts — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:09:30 +0000

FFS favourites Cherbourg have announced they are to release two brand new songs in October.

New tune ‘No More Flowers’ will be released on 5th October in a special case designed by the band and features B-side ‘Don’t Let The Sun Steal You Away’.

The folk-rock four-piece will play a headline show at the ICA on September 2nd, where the single will be available to buy a month early. Support at the gig will be from Larsen B and Kurran and the Wolfnotes

If that’s not enough exciting news, Cherbourg’s debut album is being recorded in November.

Words: Lynn Roberts

Live: Cherbourg @ Mad Ferret, Preston 12/06/09

Lynn Roberts — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:58:59 +0000

Despite the venue being a small town pub, the atmosphere for the evening’s show is excellent. After the obligatory local bands The Agitator – Derek Meins’ and Robert Dylan Thomas’ new project – take to the stage. Right from the outset the duo amaze any new listeners present, making a fair few of them jump on walking through the doors. The ferocity of Meins’ onstage personality creates an enthralled silence that’s extremely refreshing. The Agitator fluctuate between the soulful and outright outrageous creating a stir amongst the ever growing audience.

As the set progresses the whoops and howls from converts get louder, contesting even Meins’ voice for the spotlight. Personally, it’d be hard to resist being stirred by stormers like ‘Get Ready’ and ‘All That You Got’ so the shouts for more from this very special duo don’t come as a surprise.

Twenty minutes later, Cherbourg take up their instruments and begin their first ever show in Preston. Opening their set with ‘No More Flowers’ they soothe any agitated onlookers with their upcoming single’s tumbling melodies. They continue their set with well known EP tracks such as ‘Let You Down’, recent EP single ‘Man’ and the majestic ‘Horses’. Cherbourg are easily loveable due their lyrical sincerity which is tinged with a laddish cheekiness. This has clearly won over the crowd who maintain a respectful silence through quieter numbers like personal favourite ‘The Mill’, which larger city audiences might rudely interrupt with unnecessary babble, I‘m looking at you Manchester.

‘Never Love Again’ closes the set, giving both band and audience a reason to let loose. The group charge through the song’s sing along chorus with its heart wrenchingly open lyrics and swooping melodies to bring the night to a perfect finale, something that nobody will want to forget in a hurry.

Words: Mary Machin

Communion hosts folktastic stage at Bloom festival

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:43:29 +0000

Communion has announced a corker of a line-up for its first dalliance in festivals. The London – and now Brighton – night organised by Kev Jones of Cherbourg and Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons, has curated a folk stage at Bloom in Bristol.

The LINE UP OF WONDER, as we have taken to calling it, includes FFS interviewees Cherbourg, Johnny Flynn, Emmy the Great, Alessi’s Ark, Jay Jay Pistolet, Broadcast 2000, Ryan O’Reilly and Kurran and the Wolfnotes.

There are also people we’d jolly well like to speak to like Fanfarlo, James Yuill, The Leisure Society, King Charles, Alan Pownall, Sam Beer, Pete Rowe, Jamie Woon, You and Me and Lights.

As if that’s not enough, Noah and the Whale will be playing the main stage and there’s organic yumminess, cocktails and – should you have a moment to spare – kitch activities like learning to knit and burlesque striptease.

The festival takes place on the weekend of the 15th August near Bristol. We’ve written about it before here. Tickets are £75, which makes Glastonbury look redic. And we don’t even like Crosby Stills and Nash or Neil Young anyway.*

What we’re trying to say is it’s going to be really very good and we suggest you click on the massive picture link below and get yourself a ticket pronto.

Words: Lynn Roberts

*lie

For Folk's Sake » Cherbourg

Editor’s picks… Jens Lekman, The Wedding Band, Richard Hawley, The Extra Lens

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The Folk Artist Twitter Directory

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