Before we leave Northumberland we pop into the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to meet the Andy May Trio. They formed in 2015 as a colloboration of 3 accomplished musicians, Northumbrian piper Andy May, guitarist Ian Stephenson and fiddler Sophie Ball. They only have one album to their name so far called About Time (I reckon it's about time they record another...), which is a collection of traditional tunes. This tune, Cuckold Came Out of the Amrey, features on that album:
The Northeast of England is of course historically famous for its coal mines and it is from this tradition that The Pitman Poets come from. This is a collaboration of 4 musicians from Northumberland and Durham who get together whenever their individual busy schedules allow in Newcastle. Their albums are only available in CD form directly from their website. This song, Black Leg Mining Man, features on their Live album:
One of the quartet above, Jez Lowe, was practically born in a coal mine in the village of Easington Colliery in County Durham. He is one of the busiest folk musicians in the country and has a huge back catalogue of recordings. Many of his songs have been covered by the likes of Fairport Convention, The Dubliners, The Unthanks and others. Apart from collaborating with the Pitman Poets he has his own band The Bad Pennies featuring amongst others Andy May. He also wrote a song which gave the above collaboration its name, The Pitman Poets, which features on his 2014 album The Ballad Beyond:
The young, mostly accapello trio appropriately named The Young'Uns hail from Stockton-on-Tees. This is a song from their 2015 album Another Man's Ground called You Won't Find Me on Benefit Street:
Next we are heading west to the Lake District in the County Cumbria. Here we meet singer-songwriter Maz O'Connor for something a bit more contemporary. From her latest album, Chosen Daughter, a tribute to the feminine, this song is called Cordelia:
So much for today. Stay safe in your homes. As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on tripline.
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