Well, it’s been a bit busy here for a few months now. I’m up to my ears in all things ‘Songs of Separation’. SoS is a project I’ve been working on since 2013, involving ten fantastic female folkies. With Eliza Carthy, Karine Polwart, Kate Young, Mary Macmaster, Hannah Read, Hannah James, Hazel Askew, Rowan Rheingans, Jenn Butterworth and myself gathered together on the Isle of Eigg, we made an album exploring the musical traditions of the UK, with songs which prompt reflection on the many types of separation we experience as we go through life. It is a project with strong political drivers, many songs are ‘calls to arms’ or action.
It’s been my ‘big project’, from concept to production, and now (unexpectedly) we are taking it out on the road! The album launches on 29th January, with a tour.
Find out more about Songs of Separation and its aims, both musical and wider, here.
One of the spin offs of the SoS project has been this article, in the highly respected Songlines magazine. It’s quite unusual for bass players to get any kind of feature, I’m not used to it, so it feels quite weird. I enjoyed the process of working out what my favourite albums are, which musicians inspire me and what I’d have rather been if I wasn’t a musician! Still feels weird though…