Pilgrims’ Way’s debut CD, Wayside Courtesies is this week’s Album of the Week
Listen to Tom Kitching talk to Ross about Pilgrims’ Way from 12 noon and 12 midnight on Saturday 2nd July and from 6pm on Monday 4th July.
Refreshingly different, reassuringly traditional, Pilgrims’ Way are a 3-piece band with a big personality and big sound.
Playing their own particular brand of Folk music, they were brought together by a series of chance meetings at sessions around the North West of England, bonding over red hair and a shared love of traditional music, they have been shaking up assorted kitchens, public houses and folk venues ever since.
Their influences individually are many and varied but they share a deep respect for the tradition and take as their inspiration some of the most influential bands from the 60s/70s revival.
Named for the Rudyard Kipling poem, set to music by the great Peter Bellamy, their aim is to present gimmick-free English folk of the finest kind.
Edwin Beasant (melodeons, guitar, bass, etc!) is a musician of varied and possibly dubious background having grown up in a Morris Dancing family. Steeped in (or saturated by?) the traditions of England, he sought other influences, finding inspiration in the Continental and trans-Atlantic traditions.
An incorrigible multi-instrumentalist, Edwin plays many, indeed most things (and for the rest, it’s only a matter of time!), but is best known as a talented and inventive box player and for his stint as the drummer with Jabadaw. A natural and intelligent musician with a real flair for just the right accompaniment, his motto is “you sing it, I’ll play it”.
Lucy Wright (vocals, jews harp, second fiddle) is a traditional singer with a repertoire of songs from the British Isles, Ireland and America. Growing up in the marchlands of rural Lincolnshire she was treated to an eclectic musical upbringing from her family of jews harp players, ending up with a particular devotion to Dolly Parton and a desire to specialise in Siberian music at university.
She has a refined and sensitive style, strongly influenced by Irish traditional singer, particularly Maggie Boyle and Michael Wright and seeks to tell compelling stories through song. Also an internationally renowned jews harp player, she is increasingly in demand as a session musician and bottle opener.
A Young Folk Award finalist, Tom Kitching (fiddle, mandolin, reluctant vocals) was described in Living Tradition as “one of the best young fiddlers in England” and has made his name on the British folk scene as one half of the dynamic duo with singer-songwriter and guitarist Gren Bartley.
Playing a huge variety of music in almost every imaginable location, Tom has racked up over 700 live performances in 5 years. A sympathetic accompanist as well as a distinctive solo artist, with his infectious enthusiasm and energetic stage presence he may well be the biggest, bounciest fiddle player you’ll ever see. He also plays a mean mandolin and has even been known to sing.
Listen to Tom Kitching talk to Ross about Pilgrims’ Way from 12 noon and 12 midnight on Saturday 2nd July and from 6pm on Monday 4th July.
Click here to purchase a copy of Wayside Courtesies by Pilgrims’ Way from Amazon.