Ellen Mary McGee- vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonium, dulcimer, zither, banjo, glockenspiel, melodica, harmonica, percussion etc
Influences
Pearls Before Swine, Henry Darger, Roy Harper, Christina Rosetti, Edward Gorey, Miranda July, Richard Brautigan, Lorrie Moore, Bessie Smith, Silmaril, Paul Auster, John Fante, Ananda Shankar, Popul Vuh, Bridget St. John, Henry Miller, Lorrie Moore, Jean Ritchie, The Left Banke, Milan Kundera, Primo Levi, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jackson C Frank, Judee Sill, Talisman, Amon Duul II, Charalambides, the Incredible String Band, Ingmar Bergman, Trees, Comus, Current 93, Bill Fay, Angela Carter, Michael Hurley, Pentangle, Mogollar, Fairport Convention, Ghost, Ella Fitzgerald, The Free Design, Kaleidoscope, Six Organs of Admittance, Baris Manco, Shirley Collins, Ann Briggs, Linda Perhacs, Tindersticks, Vashti Bunyan, Mazzy Star, Os Mutantes, Erkin Koray, Wendy and Bonnie, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, John Fahey
Debut album The Crescent Sun available now from www.southern.com, www.normanrecords.com, www.boomkat.com etc
"Ellen Mary McGee has taken a turn for the macabre with her solo debut, a mixture of traditional ballads and self-penned material. Sparsely accompanied by acoustic guitar and banjo, she sings of the disappearance of 19th century Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (Lord Franklin), child murdering gypsies (the fatal flower garden) and a lonely suicide (The Wintering). The body count is worthy of a Scwarzenegger film, but it’s compellingly executed, and makes a suitably dark companion piece to Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads." 4 Stars, Phil Mongredien, Q Magazine
"Beguiling debut from Notts bred, London based singer whose 10 fluid, folk- based compositions show both a steady melodic craft and an instinctive joy in song. Lyrically McGee is at turns fanciful and realistic, navigating her sometimes shy words with a gorgeously mobile and thoroughly English voice." Plan B Magazine
"I’ve eulogised on her charms elsewhere in this issue, but it does bear repeating - ELLEN MARY McGEE, formerly of Saint Joan, has come up with a cracker for her first solo album The Crescent Sun (Midwich). Her voice is a tremulous, searing one with a hint of menace to it and the often murder ballad content of her songs is intent on showing folk music up for the powerful, unorthodox, messy beast it can be. Her rendition of ‘He Is No Earthly Man’ is one of the most potent tracks I’ve heard all year." Shindig magazine
"London-based Ellen Mary McGee, a multi-instrumentalist who specializes in stringed things like guitar, dulcimer, and zither, belongs to a small class of exquisite weirdos that also claims the great Kendra Smith, Faun Fables, and Spires That in the Sunset Rise—in other words, artists who don’t see why folk music should necessarily sound earthly. Though her music is undeniably pretty, McGee is no fragile flower; the proud resignation in her voice evokes a young Stevie Nicks." Monica Kendrick, Chicago Reader
"Considering its rich history of local legends, it’s a shame that Nottingham’s typical media portrayal is more This Is England than Robin Hood. Ellen Mary McGee, hailing from a syringe-laden Nottingham estate, but full of tales of mythological figures, may well change some of that. Returning to the folk songs that she learnt while teaching herself guitar, McGee draws upon mythology for lyrical inspiration, but never sounds twee; Acoltyes is underpinned by unnervingly atonal banjo, and you could hardly call references to Theseus and Sisyphus whimsical. Anyone who appreciates the art of folk storytelling will no doubt be impressed by this album, with the suicide-note tale of The Winterling, equal parts morbid and touching, being the highlight. Like a youthful version of Norma Waterson, McGee’s wavering vocal harks back to a genuine folk tradition, avoiding any explicit references to 21st century life, yet still managing to sound relevant to the modern day." Joe Barton, The Skinny
"Ellen Mary McGee should be no stranger to Terrascope readers or indeed the whole of the Terrastock Nation, since she’s been an integral part of the scene for seven or eight years now, and made her solo debut last year at Terrastock 7. Her startlingly clear, passion-filled voice was at the forefront of Saint Joan who lasted from 2002 to 2007, Ellen only calling it a day when the rest of the band were unable to throw themselves into a punishing touring schedule to promote their final album ‘The Wreckers Lantern’ – Never sitting still for long, Ellen’s not one to allow the grass grown under her feet, and her Irish and Romany gypsy roots have left her brushed with wanderlust, which to her credit she uses to great effect in seeking out material for her songs. And what songs they are! Both brilliantly literary and deceptively poetic, they draw on mythology, metaphysics, fantasy and philosophy in equal measure. They are road songs, but her road is never a straight white line through wide-open spaces: it’s a road that meanders from town to country, leaving behind the bright lights, losing itself amidst suburban housing estates, emerging into lonely, windswept heathland and crossing into dense forests where even the clearings hold threats.
Backing herself on guitar, banjo and zither Ellen’ songs are steeped in folk traditions, although one or two have definite echoes of the earlier ensemble playing inspired by Movietone which Saint Joan fans will recognise immediately: ‘Theseus’ and ‘From The Stars’ spring to mind. ‘A Watch of Nightingales’ is a particularly strong opening for the album which showcases her voice majestically, and ‘The Fatal Flower Garden’ is one of those songs which are so timelessly brilliant they seem as if they must have been plucked from a dog-eared book of folk-song (actually it’s long been a favourite of her live set). ‘Lord Franklin’ is a traditional arrangement which will be (or should be if you’ve been paying attention!) recognised from the TEA-2 compilation CD released in October last year to coincide with the London Terrastock Tea Party. My personal favourite of the whole set though is ‘Teeth of the Hydra’, which features a haunting guitar into, a metronomic rhythmic backing from Ellen herself and an edge to her voice which is completely and utterly chilling. A wonderful centrepiece to a brilliant album on which all of Ellen’s many talents really do seem to finally come together – I can’t recommend this one enough." Terrascope Online
A bit of advance notice - MondayMonday proudly presents Rún and Steven Finn and more at The Wilmington Arms, Clerkenwell on Monday 7th December
Rún collect and arrange old folk songs written in the ancient language of Erin. So far, thanks to Nora from Donegal, they have a nice wee collection of well-known ditties and are now adding to their repertoire with some unusual old forgotten songs from the province of Ulster. Rún are five fantastic lassies who perform four-part vocal arrangements of old Gaelic songs like ’An Cailín Rua’ (the red-haired girl), ’Casadh an tSúgain’ (twisting the hayrope) and ’Bo Na Leath Adhairce’ (the one-horned cow). Rún is the Gaelic word for ’secret, wish or love’ (cf. rune). See http://www.myspace.com/runceol ..
Steven Finn’s ears were filled with the music of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Johnny Cash and old time country music. Aged 15 he began teaching himself the guitar, learning songs like Leadbelly’s ‘Bourgeois Blues’ and Charlie Daniels’ ‘The devil went down to Georgia’. On hearing Bob Dylan songs Finn started to write his own words and in doing so found a lifelong passion for Jazz and Folk Blues, a getaway car he could drive. See http://www.myspace.com/stevenfinn for more details
Just a reminder that Clerkenwell's best Monday Night Folk Night will next be taking place on Monday 2nd November, featuring: Chris Sarjeant and Emma Scarr,plus floor spots and more
Emma Scarr has been active on London’s live scene for approaching two decades. A proficient performer on guitar, fiddle and banjo, in recent years she has concentrated on song craft.
Chris Sarjeant has been recently described as,".a very major addition to the British Folk Scene.." by BBC Folk-musician of the year Tom McConville who added that his guitar work is "...impeccable.."
It was so ace to finally see you play live last week, lady. Thanks so much for playing with us. Come visit Italy soon, whether for holidays or shows or both. And hopefully see you in London around Xmas/New Year. Grace -x-
