kathryn williams, neill maccoll... also appearing on the album: martyn barker, simon edwards, graham hardy, aurora strings, tobias froberg, jo montgomery.
Influences
leonard cohen, joni mitchell, tom waits, bob dylan, nick cave, carole king, neil young, nick drake, nina simone, the beatles, fourtet, laurie anderson, david sedaris, john marytn,iron and wine, kings of leon, elliott smith, laura viers, van morrison, crosby stills & nash, vashti bunyan, kate bush, beach boys, ivor cutler, big star, the byrds, lou reed,magnetic fields, paul simon,randy newman, velvet underground, tim hardin,aimee mann, dusty sprinfield, boo hewerdine, david gray, steve earle, rickie lee jones, belle and sebastian, fred neil, kings of convenience, stephen fretwell, mo tucker,the be good tanyas, lee hazlewood,will oldham, patty smith,serge gainsbourg, ryan adams, jonny cash, john cale, pavement, kurt cobain, nico, janis joplin, the kinks, john lennon, the beatles, this mortal coil, kim deal, gillian welch, paul simon, gil scott heron,ray lamontagne, giant sand, howe gelb, simon and garfunkel...
A supremely talented mercury prize nominee with an unrivalled
critical reputation teams up with an amazing guitarist/vocalist and member of
a hugely influential musical clan... they write and record an album together.
This is the story so far of Kathryn Williams and Neill MacColl's "Two".
Kathryn and Neill first met at the Daughters of Albion concert
(part of the BBC's Folk Britannia season) where they had been paired to perform
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", a song which Neill's father,
Ewan MacColl, wrote for his mother, Peggy Seeger. "We just clicked, we
didn't need to say anything on stage, we could read where the other was going"
recalls Kathryn; "within a few hours of first saying 'hello' to each other,
we were saying 'yeah, lets get together and make a record'... which was both
strange and kind of liberating."
"A while later I went to stay with Kathryn up in Newcastle,"
says Neill, "we locked ourselves in a room for a few days and the songs
just poured out of us. The way we write and play together is like we're both
steering the same ship- in the most natural and instinctive way."
Kathryn adds, "It was like when I first started playing music with people;
there was just an openness between us and a real love of playing together, putting
everything you had into the pot"
The project has been surrounded by goodwill; friends have offered their time
or resources for the love of the music- the enthusiasm of Neill and Kathryn
is clearly infectious. Kimberley Rew offered his studio to the pair at no cost
and they set about making their collection of songs into an album.
Neill explains, "we just started playing and recording the songs live-
some with just the two of us and others with Martyn [Barker: percussion] and
Simon [Edwards: bass]."
Kathryn continues, "It was amazing, we were in the middle of the most beautiful
countryside... we'd jam through a song, all ending at the same time as if it
had been rehersed, but martyn and simon had never even heard the songs before
and we'd just get them down on tape straight away, before we lost them."
In just six days, they had recorded 21 songs; thirteen of these became "Two".
Later they brought in another friend, the veteran engineer/producer Phill Brown
(whose credits include Stairway To Heaven alongside numerous seminal albums
by the likes of the Rolling Stones, John Martyn, Roxy Music and Brian Eno as
well as Talk Talk's Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock). the record was mixed
in just 5 days and the result is one of the most astonishingly beautiful albums
to see the light of day in recent years; one which feels like an instant classic
and could have been made at any time in the last four decades.
If there's an over-arching idea to the album, it's about how to capture a moment
before it's lost forever. The album was written, recorded and mixed in a little
over two weeks- a miniscule timescale in these times of recording, re-recording
and digitally manipulating every note of every part played. This is a record
in its truest sense: a record of an event. The event is a group of people standing
in a room and playing a song together- this is what you're hearing and this
is why listening to these songs feels like such a privilege. We're being invited
to share in this world of intimacy, the natural affinity of two human beings
moving in symmetry. This is the world of Two.
The intimacy of these recordings produces the most sublime moments:
Kathryn's almost whispered vocal sliding into a wavering melotron on 6am Corner
perfectly captures the dreamy no-time of a night without sleep.
Come With Me, where two people at a party "taken by the tide way out to
sea, past the friends that we used to be", spend the night wondering if
they should go further. Neill's high harmonies are fragile and sweet initmate
pleas before the song ends.
The forelorn harmonies and sparse guitar picking of Holes in Your Life mirror
those times when we need to put ourselves back together, emotionally: "
if only my life would fit into the corners, i'd slot back the shapes that make
me myself".
There are so many great lyrical and musical moments in these recordings- you
know that this is one of those records where every track is going to be someone's
standout moment and they're going to want to sit alone and listen to it all
day.
"Two" Kathryn Williams and Neill MacColl's first album, is due out
on March 3rd 2008.
tourdates, more biog info, photos, videos: www.WilliamsMacColl.com
kathryn williams and neill maccoll's Friend Space (Top 9)
kathryn williams and neill maccoll has 227 friends.
Four more little sonic gems for your August pleasure are now available on the site. Blitzen Trapper, Boulder Acoustic Society, Jay Brannan and The Wiyos. Yet another fine quartet even though we say so ourselves as picked them out.
The Wolverhampton gig was superb... your voices gel together so beautifully... It seems effortless... almost organic, if that makes any sense? Hallelujah (Buckley version) as the finale was utterly wonderful, it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you both for a great evening! Hope you're feeling better soon Kathryn! Very best wishes, Andrea x
Enjoyed your choices of music on the radio. You're quite right - Michael Marra is totally fantastic. It was a great show all round what with Tim O'Brien an'all. love Rachel x
I'm not sure if you have tickets for our show yet but here's an interview with George anyway. It will give you a good idea of the show which is selling fast in all cities to be sure to book soon to make sure you get the best seats.
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