BAND MEMBERS:
Kim - guitar, vocals, flute, recorder, zither, harp, bowed psaltery Dave Kent - guitar, keyboards Naomy Browton - cello, vocals Andy Renshaw - Percussion, kalimba
Album contributors and occasional musicians :
Sarah Tadros- violin Philip Martin - hurdy gurdy Will Summers - crumhorns, recorders, flute Ian Tullett - percussion
Influences
The wind rattling the windows, the way the light of the setting sun hits the trees just before twilight, bonfires and hearthfires, misty meadows, running streams, curled up ferns, untouched places, magical places, worlds within worlds
I live in Rye in East Sussex and I've been writing songs for about 10 years. The latest crop has just been released under the title Songs From the Uglee Meadow as my first commercial release and hence really my debut. The Uglee Meadow is actually a place just outside Battle where there is a stream running through the woods which are smothered in bluebells in the Spring. We have campfires there and some evenings as the twilight deepens the mist comes up from the river and enfolds the meadow like a blanket. I like that and find it inspiring. Just You and Me is written about those moments. I also like to read a lot, mostly fantasy fiction, and some of my songs are inspired by the stories in those books. Under the Greenwood Tree is one of these - it came about whilst reading The Sword in the Stone by T H White, which is a marvellous book and not just for kids.
I live with my daughter Tasha, my cat Rocky and several dozen instruments ranging from Indian and Irish drums, my guitars, a 22-string harp, a bowed psaltery and a veritable army of flutes and other blowy things. I love all sorts of music including quite heavy stuff, so one day I might just rock out - watch this space!
" let the boat of your mind slip gently from it's moorings, brushing through the green fingers of the rushes, and out into the lake's cool silver"
Sounds Like
A Bacchanalian Maenad having a Kit Kat!
..... Or in the words of Fleas from Root Deity Poems
'She sings of birds and they of her'
She sits beneath the tree to sing
To bring the very Nature in
To my hearts sorrow saddened plight
Does come a warmth a pure delight
To soothe the frown of turmoil mind
And in those moments all is kind
With pure her voice and truth her smile
Sweet honesty of Nature wild.
"Kim Thompsett's Songs from the Uglee Meadow is a moss-covered gemstone found in an ancient Faerie vault. Timeless songs, a voice like a glass bell reflecting an untouched mountain river, magic music captured from the luminous woods. Ultimate soundtrack for olde-world courtships, invocations of forest deities, dancing, putting a child to sleep - or just feeling in touch with the universe. I feel so lucky to have found Kim Thompsett's work. The first album's great musicianship transcends and defies all genre & pagan-folk presumptions; becoming an exciting and fresh body of music that will last forever."
CHARLES SCHNEIDER
""Songs From The Uglee Meadow" is an album of contrasts, deliciously arranged string sections impart a fullness of sounds in one songs to be countered by a percussion lead piece with haunting flute and recorder the next. There's not enough flute and recorder used these days. Kim Thompsett pulls it all together in a way that seems as natural as the passing of the seasons, summer into autumn into winter into spring. Her own songs capturing a sense of the spokes of life’s great wheel, the joys and the shattered spokes that make things harder and people stronger. "
FATEA
"Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon holed up in a snow-bound cabin in the wilds of Wisconsin to produce last year’s introspective masterpiece For Emily Forever-ago – Kim Thompsett took herself off to a secluded wood outside Battle for her inspiration. The result is the Rye singer-songwriter’s debut CD Songs From the Uglee Meadow. As well as singing, multi-instrumentalist Kim plays guitar, flute, zither, recorder and percussion. The result is an intimate and intensely personal recording, rich in pastoral imagery and rooted in the English landscape.
It draws on Celtic, medieval and English folk, but the album is not overwhelmed by its influences, retaining its own shape and identity. The tone is ruminative, reflective and at times celebratory, whether a poignant love song crafted from an epitaph or taking in the beauty of leaf and stream. For more reference points, think Sandy Denny’s Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
Philip G Martin guests on hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, while Sarah Tadros weaves cobweb patterns on violin. Production values on the recording are high and it comes with a beautifully illustrated fold-out lyric sheet. A very mellow recording, not so much shoe-gaze as tree-gaze, and a finely crafted piece of English whimsy. "
ANDY HEMSLEY, RYE AND BATTLE OBSERVER
" honest, most magickal and real, a treasure indeed " Root Deity Poems
OUT NOW! AVAILABLE ON DOWNLOAD FROM I-TUNES, CD BABY, AMIE STREET and all good download stores
"Really lovely and flowing - Kitty's Angel is amazing" Michael Tyack, Circulus
"Most of all, the vibe ..... is lovely." Marianne Segal, Jade
A prior, somewhat more home-spun album URBAN DRYAD was recorded over the space of a year or so in 2004/2005. It is available for download only from Amie Street.
http://amiestreet.com/music/kim-thompsett/
Have a great week and tell me, do you like 'The Wicker man'? I love it, such a perfect film and as Damh The Bard says "Its really a musical". Bless ;) Now must dash and see if I can find that Willow. I can hear her tapping on the wall 'Hey Ho'
Thank you Kim, though you know as he scurried away I'm sure I heard him muttering 'Pick your own bloody shrooms you lazy bugger.' Hope things are goodly with you. Much love, Fleas x
Listen to the whisper on the wind it speaks of times gone and times yet to come. Thank you for being my friend and for being you, the you that this world needs at this time.
'She's Late!' This came to me today on my walk along the way, hope you enjoy. Merry love, Fleas x
"She's late she's late," his small eyes implored as he continued "The Maids of the wood hold still most their gowns." "She's here" I replied. "Do not worry yourself so." "But she's late," and this he all but squeaked. "Lady Autumn is here though," I soothed. "Regard the Horse Chestnut spent." "But the Rowen, the Rowen," he said with one tiny paw held tightly in tuther. "She is bountiful and ready to feed a host, surely she must have wise of Lady Winters early and harsh arrival? I am so confused, I fear Lady Autumn will skip light with us this year." "She shall not," I said and then ventured, "Perhaps take yourself for a little while to the Pine who is evergreen and ever undeterred by such matters." He eyed me rather suspiciously and then asked what was truly on his mind. "Erm, have you any idea when I may be able to wear a Liberty Cap this season?" Though to this I could only smile and replied, "Try upon tomorrows misty most dawn and indeed if you find there are many then please bring me just a few to share."
Hi, thanks for join my list. If you had a chance to listen to my music I'd like to thank you. If you haven't yet,let me know later if you liked it. ............................ José Luis
TWILIGHT FOLK PRESENTS…. SHARRON KRAUS With support from Peter Delaney and C Joynes Live at Orange Street Music Club, Canterbury Weds October the 21st 8.00pm £5 in advance/£6 on door
“Sharron Kraus is a dark-folk gem. Listening to her high, clear voice cut through melodies woven from acoustic guitar, banjo and hurdy-gurdy, you may struggle to remember which late-'60s traditionalists beat her to the material.Here's one folklore expert whose originals feel both authentic and alive….Exquisite second album by this wonderful singer. She conjures up visions of Karen Dalton, Shirley Collins, Judy Dyble and even early Joni. Live she was fantastic too. ..this moves from traditional folk (in a Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs style) to her own songs and enchants all the way. An immaculate album from a major new singer.”
Peter Delaney lives in Limerick, Ireland. He comes from a folk music background and plays his own unique style, drawing on early Hawaiian folk songs and Alan Lomax field recordings as well as more contemporary musicians such as Joanna Newsom and Josephine Foster. Peter released his debut EP/Mini Album "Duck Egg Blue" in April 2007 to much acclaim.
Peter has played throughout the UK, Ireland and Norway and has shared the bill with A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Alasdair Roberts, Jozef van Wissem, Juana Molina and The Swell Season. www.myspace.com/peterdelaney
"English acoustic guitarist C Joynes uses traditional country-blues and early ragtime to explore alternative melodic traditions: the English folk-tune; North and West African music; elements of classical Indian music; proto-minimalist and impressionist musics from the European classical tradition. His approach contains a subtle and unassuming experimentation, with a penchant for reworking over-familiar pieces and stripping them of their kitsch and cliché, presenting them afresh. Joynes' music is instinctive, placid, and evokes a certain simplicity and naiveté.&
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