Steve Ashley's legendary Family Album - revisted and re-released
Released at the end of July 2021 and remastered with two extra tracks, Steve’s Family Album makes a long-overdue return to the limelight. This well-loved, Fairport-backed album was first recorded in 1979 and contains many classic Ashley originals - including Family Love, Once In A While, Feeling Lazy, Pancake Day and The Rough With The Smooth.
It also features a fascinating line-up of Fairport Convention members past and present, namely, Dave Pegg, Simon Nicol, Chris Leslie and the late, Bruce Rowland. The 12 page booklet includes recollections from Steve, Dave Pegg and Chris Leslie, with an overview by Simon Jones.
The Family Album was eventually released on Dave and Chris Pegg’s, Woodworm label in 1982. Today, Peggy, who produced the album, reflects upon its reissue: “Steve’s ‘Family Album’ was one of our first releases and to my ears, still stands up today with the quality of the song writing and the ‘vibe’ of all the musicians involved. It was great fun to do and I still love listening to it. It’s lovely to know it’s being made available again.”
Also on board are Brass Monkey’s Martin Brinsford, The Albion Band’s Trevor Foster, Mark Powell and the close harmony group ‘Capes’. Chris Leslie, who was in a duo with Steve at the time, is now of course, a key member of Fairport Convention. “I suppose it really started my playing connection with Fairport in many ways,” says Chris, “I definitely felt a strong connection with the album. Great songs, wonderful musical company, together with a real sense of friendship.”
With one track reinstated from the original sessions, and Steve’s poignant memorial to his friend, Bruce Rowland, we now have Steve Ashley’s Family Album – Revisited. And for those that know The Family Album of old, this new version will bring many fresh insights. For newcomers to it, this unique album is a classic collection of folk-rock songs about family life, by an English singer-songwriter in his prime, with impeccable support from members of another great enduring family – Fairport Convention.
“...there's a buoyant, all-together-now bonhomie to the album... And the joy is contagious…” - Dave Thompson
“It also includes two of the best songs Ashley’s ever written – Once In A While and The Rough With The Smooth... Steve’s assembled his various dramas with supreme sympathy...” - Colin Irwin
“Only a man of supreme sympathy could get so firmly under another’s skin as he does with songs like Days Like Today, Once In A While and The Rough With The Smooth, which must be his finest composition since Fire and Wine.” - Karl Dallas
“From the sleeve image to the flexible line-up of musicians, to the sentiment behind its overall concept, this has always seemed the epitome of the Woodworm Spirit.” - Nigel Schofield
For further information, please visit www.steveashley.co.uk
It also features a fascinating line-up of Fairport Convention members past and present, namely, Dave Pegg, Simon Nicol, Chris Leslie and the late, Bruce Rowland. The 12 page booklet includes recollections from Steve, Dave Pegg and Chris Leslie, with an overview by Simon Jones.
The Family Album was eventually released on Dave and Chris Pegg’s, Woodworm label in 1982. Today, Peggy, who produced the album, reflects upon its reissue: “Steve’s ‘Family Album’ was one of our first releases and to my ears, still stands up today with the quality of the song writing and the ‘vibe’ of all the musicians involved. It was great fun to do and I still love listening to it. It’s lovely to know it’s being made available again.”
Also on board are Brass Monkey’s Martin Brinsford, The Albion Band’s Trevor Foster, Mark Powell and the close harmony group ‘Capes’. Chris Leslie, who was in a duo with Steve at the time, is now of course, a key member of Fairport Convention. “I suppose it really started my playing connection with Fairport in many ways,” says Chris, “I definitely felt a strong connection with the album. Great songs, wonderful musical company, together with a real sense of friendship.”
With one track reinstated from the original sessions, and Steve’s poignant memorial to his friend, Bruce Rowland, we now have Steve Ashley’s Family Album – Revisited. And for those that know The Family Album of old, this new version will bring many fresh insights. For newcomers to it, this unique album is a classic collection of folk-rock songs about family life, by an English singer-songwriter in his prime, with impeccable support from members of another great enduring family – Fairport Convention.
“...there's a buoyant, all-together-now bonhomie to the album... And the joy is contagious…” - Dave Thompson
“It also includes two of the best songs Ashley’s ever written – Once In A While and The Rough With The Smooth... Steve’s assembled his various dramas with supreme sympathy...” - Colin Irwin
“Only a man of supreme sympathy could get so firmly under another’s skin as he does with songs like Days Like Today, Once In A While and The Rough With The Smooth, which must be his finest composition since Fire and Wine.” - Karl Dallas
“From the sleeve image to the flexible line-up of musicians, to the sentiment behind its overall concept, this has always seemed the epitome of the Woodworm Spirit.” - Nigel Schofield
For further information, please visit www.steveashley.co.uk
Musicport celebrates 21st anniversary this autumn
A popular Yorkshire coast festival continues to strike a chord with music fans – so much so that Musicport – in Whitby – is celebrating its 21st anniversary next month (October).
Whitby probably isn’t the most obvious place to locate a celebration of music from diverse cultures from around the world but festival founders and organisers Jim and Sue McLaughlin see the event’s location as one of the reasons for its survival.
Jim said: “Whitby has a seafaring and welcoming tradition. People have sailed from here to all corners of the globe and so, despite our geographic isolation within Yorkshire, there are historic connections to many other cultures.
“One of our initial aims in developing the festival was to give young people in the area the chance to experience other cultures and traditions particularly as most would have to leave Whitby and move to more multi-cultural towns and cities to gain further educational opportunities.
Sue said: "We really feel for the many festivals who've been forced to cancel their plans once again this year, so we feel very fortunate and excited that, as far as anyone can say at present, we can press on with getting Musicport 2021 under way. We tend to use every available space in the building but this year, to make people feel more comfortable and safe in an indoor venue, we have reduced the number of stages within the building.
One of the strengths of the festival - which takes place between 22-24 October - is its size with audiences limited to 1,100 at any one time, though this is reduced to 850 this year.
This year’s line-up is spearheaded by: Muzsikàs - The Hungarian band famed for its soundtrack to The English Patient; Les Négresses Vertes – Dubbed “the French Pogues”, a barn-storming live act; Monsieur Doumani from Cyprus - Songlines Magazine Award’s Best Group winners 2019; Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita - fresh from a triumphant appearance at The Proms, and Graham Fellows - Father Earth, a film presentation by the actor/comedian.
And with more local acts such as indie heroes Bull - the York band recently signed to EMI - Newcastle’s The Baghdaddies, and a host of other UK based acts that rarely venture this far north or east, it promises to be a weekend of diverse music, dance and workshops all overlooking the sand and sea.
For further information visit musicportfestival.com
Whitby probably isn’t the most obvious place to locate a celebration of music from diverse cultures from around the world but festival founders and organisers Jim and Sue McLaughlin see the event’s location as one of the reasons for its survival.
Jim said: “Whitby has a seafaring and welcoming tradition. People have sailed from here to all corners of the globe and so, despite our geographic isolation within Yorkshire, there are historic connections to many other cultures.
“One of our initial aims in developing the festival was to give young people in the area the chance to experience other cultures and traditions particularly as most would have to leave Whitby and move to more multi-cultural towns and cities to gain further educational opportunities.
Sue said: "We really feel for the many festivals who've been forced to cancel their plans once again this year, so we feel very fortunate and excited that, as far as anyone can say at present, we can press on with getting Musicport 2021 under way. We tend to use every available space in the building but this year, to make people feel more comfortable and safe in an indoor venue, we have reduced the number of stages within the building.
One of the strengths of the festival - which takes place between 22-24 October - is its size with audiences limited to 1,100 at any one time, though this is reduced to 850 this year.
This year’s line-up is spearheaded by: Muzsikàs - The Hungarian band famed for its soundtrack to The English Patient; Les Négresses Vertes – Dubbed “the French Pogues”, a barn-storming live act; Monsieur Doumani from Cyprus - Songlines Magazine Award’s Best Group winners 2019; Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita - fresh from a triumphant appearance at The Proms, and Graham Fellows - Father Earth, a film presentation by the actor/comedian.
And with more local acts such as indie heroes Bull - the York band recently signed to EMI - Newcastle’s The Baghdaddies, and a host of other UK based acts that rarely venture this far north or east, it promises to be a weekend of diverse music, dance and workshops all overlooking the sand and sea.
For further information visit musicportfestival.com
St Buryan Sessions: new album from Sarah McQuaid
Born out of the pandemic and due for release on October 15th, The St Buryan Sessions will be the sixth solo album by award-winning multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Sarah McQuaid, and is her most powerful and emotive offering yet.
With pre-orders for the much-anticipated CD and limited-edition double LP now open, a new track from the album is being released to radio: the poignant “Last Song.”
“It’s a really special song for me,” explains McQuaid. “It’s been in my live set forever and always gets a really strong reaction — I see people crying, and then a lot of the time I wind up crying, too! Which is why I tend to save it for the encore, so it doesn’t matter if my mascara starts running.
“I wrote it back when I was still living in Ireland and my kids were toddlers — I used to try and fit in some guitar practice and get them to sleep at the same time by sitting and playing outside their room after I put them to bed, and it took me right back to when I was little and my mother used to do the same thing.
“I have such a clear memory of lying in bed, looking at the ribbon of light shining through the door and calling out requests for songs I wanted to hear. She’d answer “Are you still awake? Go to sleep!” And one night I heard myself saying exactly the same thing to my kids, and it was like my mother’s voice coming out of my mouth.
“And I wanted so much to be able to call her up and tell her about it, but of course I couldn’t, because she died just six months after my first child was born. They’re teenagers now, and it breaks my heart that she never got to know them and they never got to know her.”
The track is offered as an immediate “instant gratification” download with pre-orders for The St Buryan Sessions, which had its genesis in the spring of 2020, when Sarah’s gigs and tours were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, she was able to finance a live solo recording (sans audience) in the lovely medieval church of St Buryan, not far from her home in rural West Cornwall.
Sensitively captured by her longtime sound engineer and manager, Martin Stansbury, with the aid of ambient microphones placed throughout the church, the sound of Sarah’s voice and music soars through the stunning acoustic space as she moves between acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar and floor tom drum, performing songs that span her 24-year career – from “Charlie’s Gone Home”, originally recorded on her 1997 debut album When Two Lovers Meet, to electric guitar based pieces from her most recent studio album If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous.
Two previously unrecorded covers feature on the album: the classic jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”, on which she demonstrates the full dynamic range of her lush, distinctive voice, and a cover of “Rabbit Hills”, written by her dear friend (and past producer) Michael Chapman. This second piece was commissioned by Michael’s wife as a gift for his 80th birthday and sees Sarah at the beautiful grand piano that resides in the church, her compelling, heartfelt delivery revealing the depth of her immersion in the rich imagery of Chapman’s evocative lyrics.
Conceived as a concert set and including such fan favourites as “In Derby Cathedral”, “The Sun Goes On Rising” and “Yellowstone”, the album is a journey not only through a wide range of instrumentation and styles, but also through the spectrum of emotions that Sarah evokes in her performance and invokes in the listener.
The recording was filmed by Cornish filmmaker and director Mawgan Lewis of Purple Knif with the aid of Eden Sessions veteran camera operator John Crooks, and the album release will be accompanied by a full concert video. In the meantime, Sarah has been releasing a series of videos of individual songs to her YouTube channel – https://youtube.com/sarahmcquaid — where Lewis’ short documentary “The Making Of The St Buryan Sessions”, featuring interviews and song snippets, can also be viewed.
The St Buryan Sessions is now available to pre-order via https://sarahmcquaid.bandcamp.com on CD and limited-edition blue vinyl double LP, together with T-shirts, tea towels, tote bags, ultra-limited-edition test pressings, and the full concert film on a 16GB engraved wooden USB stick, all bearing Sarah’s original artwork.
Sarah will be launching the album on its release day, Friday, October 15, with a very special benefit concert in (and for) St Buryan Church. In order to make it accessible for all in the local community, no entrance fee will be charged, but there will be a voluntary retiring collection for church funds.
“I’ve been living in St Buryan for fourteen years now,” she explains, “and it’s been incredibly heartwarming how my family and I have been welcomed into the life of the village. I kind of thought when we first moved here that we’d be shunned as ‘blow-ins’, but that hasn’t been the case at all, and I’m so grateful. I’m also incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to record the new album in such a gorgeous space, and I really wanted to be able to give something back.”
A six-week UK-wide tour will follow the album launch and continue through the end of November. Sarah’s 2022 tour plans include Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and the USA. For more information, visit sarahmcquaid.com
With pre-orders for the much-anticipated CD and limited-edition double LP now open, a new track from the album is being released to radio: the poignant “Last Song.”
“It’s a really special song for me,” explains McQuaid. “It’s been in my live set forever and always gets a really strong reaction — I see people crying, and then a lot of the time I wind up crying, too! Which is why I tend to save it for the encore, so it doesn’t matter if my mascara starts running.
“I wrote it back when I was still living in Ireland and my kids were toddlers — I used to try and fit in some guitar practice and get them to sleep at the same time by sitting and playing outside their room after I put them to bed, and it took me right back to when I was little and my mother used to do the same thing.
“I have such a clear memory of lying in bed, looking at the ribbon of light shining through the door and calling out requests for songs I wanted to hear. She’d answer “Are you still awake? Go to sleep!” And one night I heard myself saying exactly the same thing to my kids, and it was like my mother’s voice coming out of my mouth.
“And I wanted so much to be able to call her up and tell her about it, but of course I couldn’t, because she died just six months after my first child was born. They’re teenagers now, and it breaks my heart that she never got to know them and they never got to know her.”
The track is offered as an immediate “instant gratification” download with pre-orders for The St Buryan Sessions, which had its genesis in the spring of 2020, when Sarah’s gigs and tours were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, she was able to finance a live solo recording (sans audience) in the lovely medieval church of St Buryan, not far from her home in rural West Cornwall.
Sensitively captured by her longtime sound engineer and manager, Martin Stansbury, with the aid of ambient microphones placed throughout the church, the sound of Sarah’s voice and music soars through the stunning acoustic space as she moves between acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar and floor tom drum, performing songs that span her 24-year career – from “Charlie’s Gone Home”, originally recorded on her 1997 debut album When Two Lovers Meet, to electric guitar based pieces from her most recent studio album If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous.
Two previously unrecorded covers feature on the album: the classic jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”, on which she demonstrates the full dynamic range of her lush, distinctive voice, and a cover of “Rabbit Hills”, written by her dear friend (and past producer) Michael Chapman. This second piece was commissioned by Michael’s wife as a gift for his 80th birthday and sees Sarah at the beautiful grand piano that resides in the church, her compelling, heartfelt delivery revealing the depth of her immersion in the rich imagery of Chapman’s evocative lyrics.
Conceived as a concert set and including such fan favourites as “In Derby Cathedral”, “The Sun Goes On Rising” and “Yellowstone”, the album is a journey not only through a wide range of instrumentation and styles, but also through the spectrum of emotions that Sarah evokes in her performance and invokes in the listener.
The recording was filmed by Cornish filmmaker and director Mawgan Lewis of Purple Knif with the aid of Eden Sessions veteran camera operator John Crooks, and the album release will be accompanied by a full concert video. In the meantime, Sarah has been releasing a series of videos of individual songs to her YouTube channel – https://youtube.com/sarahmcquaid — where Lewis’ short documentary “The Making Of The St Buryan Sessions”, featuring interviews and song snippets, can also be viewed.
The St Buryan Sessions is now available to pre-order via https://sarahmcquaid.bandcamp.com on CD and limited-edition blue vinyl double LP, together with T-shirts, tea towels, tote bags, ultra-limited-edition test pressings, and the full concert film on a 16GB engraved wooden USB stick, all bearing Sarah’s original artwork.
Sarah will be launching the album on its release day, Friday, October 15, with a very special benefit concert in (and for) St Buryan Church. In order to make it accessible for all in the local community, no entrance fee will be charged, but there will be a voluntary retiring collection for church funds.
“I’ve been living in St Buryan for fourteen years now,” she explains, “and it’s been incredibly heartwarming how my family and I have been welcomed into the life of the village. I kind of thought when we first moved here that we’d be shunned as ‘blow-ins’, but that hasn’t been the case at all, and I’m so grateful. I’m also incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to record the new album in such a gorgeous space, and I really wanted to be able to give something back.”
A six-week UK-wide tour will follow the album launch and continue through the end of November. Sarah’s 2022 tour plans include Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and the USA. For more information, visit sarahmcquaid.com
First studio album for Worcestershire singer-songwriter Mike Weaver
Worcestershire singer-songwriter Mike Weaver released his first studio album this September. After a break of over twenty years, Cheltenham-born Mike return to songwriting and performing live in 2013. Since his 'come back' he has opened for several leading performers on the contemporary folk scene, as well as appearances at clubs, events and festivals throughout the English Midlands and South West.
Too Soon It's Time To Fly is a six track mini album, produced, recorded and mastered by Lukas Drinkwater, who also plays double bass, guitar and piano on four of the songs.
"The world changed dramatically and without warning in 2020, and many of us were left reflecting upon what had gone before - tempered with the realisation that life might never be the same again," said Mike.
"Somewhat improbably, I found myself immersed in a state of unexpected calm, underlined with a feeling that time really does move more quickly as we take one more step towards the great unknown. Too soon, it's time to fly. Initially I'd planned to record six tracks from my back catalogue to mark by sixtieth birthday, but the events of 2020 made me look at the album from a fresh perspective.
"I'd already written two new songs: firstly, Balcarras Road - which is a journey back to my childhood and nature walks we took from Charlton Kings' infants and junior schools, getting on for fifty years ago. Heart of Reunion - the second new composition - is a shimmering tune inspired by becoming re-acquainted with valued and near forgotten pals from those days, and the joy that shared memories can bring. Ties never broken, just loosened.
"The time seemed right to blend these musical bedfellows with some previously unreleased material, and songs re-worked to reflect upon the shifting patterns of my life.
"In March I lost Daisy, my constant canine companion of thirteen years. Chasing Squirrels remembers the simple shared pleasures of a symbiotic relationship that will never be forgotten, but frequently lamented. Century Caught is a song I wrote back in 2014, which imagines how a house might view the generations of lives lived within its walls, and its eventual return to nature. Ashes to ashes, and all that.
"The Richness In You was written in 1996, when I discovered I was to become a father. I didn't realise then that I was to share the pleasurable parenting of twins - nor did I imagine what fine, caring and compassionate young ladies they would grow up to be. They first flew the nest in 2015 - to study at universities in Lancashire and Gloucestershire. It was for Megan and Alice that I then wrote Pembrokeshire Fair. Five years later, equipped with impressive respective degrees in Korean and English Literature, they boldly moved to Asia to take up teaching positions at a Primary School in Korea. A re-worked version of their parting song brings the album to a fitting close.
"Finally, I would like to thank Lukas Drinkwater for helping me to bring these songs to life at his Polyphonic Recording studio. I'm indebted to his skill as a producer, musician and engineer - but also to his musical intuition. I wanted to retain the live feel of my previous recordings, with more polish and depth through the addition of additional instruments. Lukas helped me to reach this goal - and then some. Check out Lukas's own music by visiting his website www.lukasdrinkwater.com"
Too Soon It's Time To Fly can be downloaded and streamed from the usual digital platforms and Bandcamp (£5.00)- where you can also order a physical CD (£7.00 inc P&P in the UK): mikeweaver.bandcamp.com. For more information about Mike and his music, visit www.mikeweavermusic.com
Too Soon It's Time To Fly is a six track mini album, produced, recorded and mastered by Lukas Drinkwater, who also plays double bass, guitar and piano on four of the songs.
"The world changed dramatically and without warning in 2020, and many of us were left reflecting upon what had gone before - tempered with the realisation that life might never be the same again," said Mike.
"Somewhat improbably, I found myself immersed in a state of unexpected calm, underlined with a feeling that time really does move more quickly as we take one more step towards the great unknown. Too soon, it's time to fly. Initially I'd planned to record six tracks from my back catalogue to mark by sixtieth birthday, but the events of 2020 made me look at the album from a fresh perspective.
"I'd already written two new songs: firstly, Balcarras Road - which is a journey back to my childhood and nature walks we took from Charlton Kings' infants and junior schools, getting on for fifty years ago. Heart of Reunion - the second new composition - is a shimmering tune inspired by becoming re-acquainted with valued and near forgotten pals from those days, and the joy that shared memories can bring. Ties never broken, just loosened.
"The time seemed right to blend these musical bedfellows with some previously unreleased material, and songs re-worked to reflect upon the shifting patterns of my life.
"In March I lost Daisy, my constant canine companion of thirteen years. Chasing Squirrels remembers the simple shared pleasures of a symbiotic relationship that will never be forgotten, but frequently lamented. Century Caught is a song I wrote back in 2014, which imagines how a house might view the generations of lives lived within its walls, and its eventual return to nature. Ashes to ashes, and all that.
"The Richness In You was written in 1996, when I discovered I was to become a father. I didn't realise then that I was to share the pleasurable parenting of twins - nor did I imagine what fine, caring and compassionate young ladies they would grow up to be. They first flew the nest in 2015 - to study at universities in Lancashire and Gloucestershire. It was for Megan and Alice that I then wrote Pembrokeshire Fair. Five years later, equipped with impressive respective degrees in Korean and English Literature, they boldly moved to Asia to take up teaching positions at a Primary School in Korea. A re-worked version of their parting song brings the album to a fitting close.
"Finally, I would like to thank Lukas Drinkwater for helping me to bring these songs to life at his Polyphonic Recording studio. I'm indebted to his skill as a producer, musician and engineer - but also to his musical intuition. I wanted to retain the live feel of my previous recordings, with more polish and depth through the addition of additional instruments. Lukas helped me to reach this goal - and then some. Check out Lukas's own music by visiting his website www.lukasdrinkwater.com"
Too Soon It's Time To Fly can be downloaded and streamed from the usual digital platforms and Bandcamp (£5.00)- where you can also order a physical CD (£7.00 inc P&P in the UK): mikeweaver.bandcamp.com. For more information about Mike and his music, visit www.mikeweavermusic.com
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