The return of live music?

Last weekend we played our first gig in over a year. It was a sun drenched weekend full of all the good things we’d missed, and gave us a chance to reflect on what has been, and what’s to come.

Prior to the pandemic, we’d been full steam ahead promoting our project Kolar’s Gold. Heads down, we’d launched into the realms of radio, TV, press, trying to find any way we could to get the project out there. Fired up by the belief that Kolar’s Gold was something special, we went banging on the doors of media gatekeepers who more often than not wouldn’t give an independent band lacking in famous names a second glance. Would we do it all again? Absolutely! For all the media bigwigs who ignored us, there were passionate radio hosts and journalists who shared our feeling that the Kolar’s Gold stories were worth telling. It was hard work, but we were on a roll.

Then came… nothing. Everyone was locked down and the music stopped. Tour plans were scrapped, zoom chats became the norm.

Fast forward a year and a bit and not only could we meet, but we could hug! Even Laura had dished out a few by the end of the weekend!

Instruments in one hand, beers in the other, we arrived in Neal’s garden. We had seen each other a couple of times over the past year, but this meeting held more promise. It wouldn’t just be the swallows hearing us this time, but real life people at a real life gig.

With relief, we discovered that not only could we still play our instruments, the connection that existed between us as musicians and friends had not been dimmed by distance or time. The following hours were spent not just remembering the notes, but creating new arrangements, new tunes, and in some cases, new patches of sunburn.

We topped the afternoon off with delicious fish and chips and with pink faces and full bellies packed away our instruments for the day.

On Sunday we ran the set one more time, then sat down to plan dates. The logistics of 5 diaries, and uncertainty of Covid restrictions meant that the first window of time we could find was October! We decided that rather than pack that weekend with gigs, we’d use the time to work on new music, and have fun together without the pressure to perform.

With a couple of hours till we were needed at the venue, we took a detour to Laura’s house to watch a bit of the England match, then set off to Lostwithiel.

It was a strange feeling, arriving at LostFest to find happy faces and live music playing. With the exception of face masks, life felt ‘normal’. We watched our lovely friends ‘Blowing my own trumpet’ play their set, then after a quick sound check it was our turn.

The music went surprisingly well, and performing together was a joy. We are so grateful to the organisers of LostFest for navigating the complex world of Covid restrictions to put on an event that was a safe, wonderful celebration of live music.

The pandemic took so many musical opportunities away, but by removing all distractions it also revealed the heart of what being in a band is all about. On that glorious sunny weekend, it was the simplicity of friends meeting to make music that bought us joy. As we navigate our way towards a more normal way of being, it wont be a longing for ‘success’ that drives us, but friendship, community, and the prospect of a few more beers in the sun. :-)

2020...from home brew to home school.

Well, what a year it’s been! In such strange times we thought it worth documenting a year that has very much not gone to plan…

2020 began full of promise, hope and expectation.

BBC Spotlight took up the Kolar’s Gold story and before long we found ourselves being filmed for a feature, and then in the Spotlight studio feeling sick with nerves as we prepared to perform live on TV for the first time.

Following the TV and radio appearances we headed down to the Burrell Theater in Truro for our Kolar’s Gold launch party.  Looking back at photos of the magical night in a packed theater it seems a lifetime ago.

In February we also met to record our second album, and were in contact with the BBC about a very exciting prospect for national TV…

In March we hesitated over our trip to London to perform at Kernow In The City…the news was telling us there were now 20 cases of this new virus in London…but 20 cases is nothing to worry about…right?

Kernow in The City proved to be our final gig of 2020.

By the end of March we were in lockdown, some of us figuring out how to do homeschool, some furloughed, some working from home, in Neal’s case in bed with Covid 19.

We had been delighted with the media coverage of Kolar’ Gold and the radio play it had received, but as spring brought with it hope, also came the realisation that our musical plans were likely to be put on hold for some time. A new album can’t be released or produced with no gigs to fund it!

With no chance of meeting in person we looked for new ways to keep the music going. We released a single ‘Pencarrow’, held a virtual listening party in the summer (thanks to all those who came!), recorded a series of live videos for Festival Interceltique (Lorient) and North Cornwall Book Festival. Tom, Rich and Laura even dusted off the Kolar’s Gold project for a presentation with the Bangalore International Centre.

But with a years worth of gigs cancelled, and unable to meet as a band, what did we do instead? As we’ve been separated for most of the year we thought we’d share our personal experiences of 2020 with you. We will hopefully see you before too long and look forward to (the later part!) of 2021 with hope of better times to come x

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Tom-

In spring 2020, as the country struggled to adjust to the first lockdown, I phoned my dad to see how he was getting on.

'Your Uncle's just dropped round some homebrew gear,' He said, 'So at least I'll have plenty to drink.'

This seemed very sensible, so I decided to follow suit. With many of my regular nerdy outlets closed off to me by the pandemic, I was free to invest much of my time and energy into learning how to brew beer from scratch. The first 250 pints all went down the drain, but having made bold promises to my wife about the long-term economic benefits of investing in brewing equipment, I was obliged to persevere.

Meanwhile, a red-legged Partridge made her nest in our small garden. We watched the 12 chicks hatch, keeping warm underneath their mother, until one evening she upped and left them to their fate. We arrived home late one memorable summer evening to the pitiful cries of distraught chicks racing around our garden looking for her in vain. Several of them, deprived of her vital warmth, already lay crumpled and lifeless on our lawn. We rigged up an artificial nest in a corner of our raised bed, using the electric heat mat intended to keep my fermenting beer warm, and managed to keep four of the survivors alive long enough for them to fledge. Shortly before Christmas, I spotted four juvenile red-legged partridges trotting across the field behind our house - I like to think they were our former house guests!

As these momentous events unfolded, I managed to finally find the time to pin down an album's worth of song fragments that had flitted in and out of my head over the proceeding decade, and am looking forward to recording them properly in the new year.

These have been my bright moments in a pretty dismal year, which unfortunately seems set to cast its shadow over the first bit of 2021. For now, I will gratefully head out to my newly converted garage/microbrewery, pop open a bottle of 'The Pale Partridge' (ABV 3.8%), and look forward to the lengthening days with their promise of time spent once again making music with friends.

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Laura

Lockdown was an interesting experience for me. My usual background anxiety melted away, but with it went all creativity. My flute sat untouched in its box, my piano gained an ever thickening layer of dust. My time was filled with home schooling and entertaining two lively boys. Ten years of teaching experience proved useless when it came to high school maths! My husband moved out in isolation as he worked the NHS frontline, whilst my mum taught us the names of flowers in the hedgerows.

Daily exercise (freedom!) became an obsession and Joe Wicks my hero as I squatted and lunged my way through lockdown. The biggest lockdown revelation was that despite its awful reputation, Bodmin and its countryside is actually the jewel in Cornwall’s crown (and I’ll argue with anyone who says otherwise 😉).

As lockdown lifted creativity returned and in the summer I wrote my first novel. It may never see the light of day, but if nothing else it proved that my brain still worked after months of watching Spooks and every Scandi Noir series on Netflix!  

Summer provided a brief opportunity to see family and the band, the two things I have missed most this year.

Autumn felt busy, as boys returned to school and I began a Covid proof job teaching Chinese children English online and remembered what music is by teaching it at a local school.

Overall, my 2020 can be summed up with-quality family time, a deeper appreciation of nature and spending the past 6 months dressed in wellies and waterproof trousers.

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Rich-

I was fortunate to work on and complete a fantastic piece of work for a new children’s theatre show Percy Pengelly and the Wibble Wobble for Cousin Jack’s Theatre group. Myself and the all round creative wonder woman that is Sian Pilley worked frantically and perhaps manically at times to create a Cornish inspired big top soundtrack which was recorded in just two days by the wonderful Josh Best Shaw. We finished recording on March the 11th. Unfortunately the world had other plans so the show is lying in wait, ready to cheer the families of Cornwall up again!

During the first lockdown I managed to take part in a couple of online gigs. One was organised by the wonderful artist ‘Hannah’ which meant we were in touch properly for the first time since 2013 we think. From this, we have now remotely collaborated on her song Earth Prayer – a reflective song on what is important in life and it has aired on BBC introducing.

Not being very technically savvy means I really do appreciate all my friends who do know what they are doing. This year, remotely, between lockdowns or with strict Covid precautions in place I have managed to release two singles with Brother Sea, a very strange masked gig at St Endellion church and multiple remote isolation videos. It has felt very empowering to still work on creative projects and to release these as something positive amongst the year that was.

I would normally spend most of December down in Mousehole with Cousin Jack’s Theatre group performing the magical tale of The Mousehole Cat to thousands of children. This obviously couldn’t happen in the same way this year so Cousin Jack’s decided to go ‘drive in!’ The weather tried it’s best to dampen spirits but we managed to perform three sell out performances at Trelissick Gardens to cars full of families able to see some top quality theatre which we take huge amounts of satisfaction from. The show was also beamed into peoples homes and we had thousands of watchers from the UK, USA, Australia and the Netherlands enjoying this Christmas tale!

At the beginning of September this year, amid the extraordinary events that 2020 has given us, I was welcomed into the College of Bards at Lys Kernow (County Hall) in Truro. The Cornish Gorsedh is an organisation which works to protect and celebrate Cornish history, culture and the achievements of those whose work has been recognised as promoting Cornwall as a Celtic nation. My bardic name ‘Kaner Drollys’ translates to ‘Singer of Stories’and it is the incredible stories from Cornwall’s past that inspires me to write and perform music.

I am looking forward to 2021 as it can only get better surely!? I am currently working on my own song and tune book (with the amazing help of Neal from the band) and am also researching and transcribing 19th century manuscripts from Breage composer Thomas Trethewey so there is plenty to look forward to!

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Neal-

After two weekends in London (Kernow in the city and a family wedding) I spent 5 days on Lundy Island leading a residential singing thing. We sang in the church, in the pub and at the top of the old lighthouse, which has the most amazing acoustics. Another trip is planned for 2022.

I started with Covid symptoms on Lundy and returned to mainland just as lockdown was imposed.
4 weeks of cough, tiredness and lack of sense of taste and smell made life rather boring, and relief was obtained through sitting in the garden cabin and watching Pointless and House of Games each evening. As energy returned I started writing more songs both for performance and for my singing groups. The jobs around the house almost got finished (are they ever?).

I embraced zoom as a medium for continuing my Jolly Good Singing events. Although appreciated by the participants it soon became apparent that we could not sing together on line so the punters were doing karaoke to my solo voice! As lockdown was lifted I arranged further outside singing events and that restored hope and offered encouragement.

The threat of food shortages spurred me to grow veg for the first time in decades. The new potatoes, garlic and blackcurrents were amazing. The chard.... not so much. Lots of it but not sure I like it.
I have missed playing music and the regular folk and acoustic sessions but Gill and I have been involved in a Sunday evening folk sing around. This has kept us performing together and learning new songs.

I am hoping that as the vaccine is rolled out we see a reduction in the effect of covid on the NHS and a return to performing and singing together.

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Richard-

The start of 2020 got off to an otherwise positive and optimistic start - Kolar’s Gold was in the very final stages of production and it was beginning to sound like a truly epic bit of work. A few gigs here and there and then the February half-term holiday arrived. I was useless to Kat (my wife) and the boys for the first few days as all I could think about was a couple of days rehearsal with the band then a truly epic album launch. I was enjoying prepping and fettling the technology we employed, daydreaming about the performance, essentially living the dream!

 When the rehearsals arrived there was a lot of excitement about what turned up to be the TV slot! That was an awesome experience - performing live on TV is not something everyone gets to do. Seeing behind the scenes was fascinating, as was the experience of the immense pressure of playing a hastily re-worked arrangement of one of the album tracks. Nothing compares however to the huge sense of relief when we watched it back and realised that the countless mistakes we thought we made turned out to be very minor in the playback! We stopped at a very ‘local’ pub on the way back and talked about how fortunate and blessed we were.

 We had no idea just how fortunate.

 The album launch was immense - as we played the final transition in Treasure, the rush of… well… I’m not sure what to call it other than ‘arrival’ was deep and tangible. So many once in a lifetime experiences crammed into about 4 days. We felt so alive!

 The news cycle turned to this mysterious virus and the government insisting that pluck and grit would do as a response. So we did a gig in London, which turned out to be the last one for a while… it turns out that pluck and grit works fine at Eton, but in the real world, competence is required!

 Gigs and rehearsals dried up and I started running my classes online. I discovered that I’m not meant to sit and stare at a screen all day… so I took to my bike and started enjoying the ridiculously beautiful landscape I get to call home.

 I wish I was able to play with the band. I wish I was able to teach in front of my classes again. And I wish Gavin Williamson would go back to selling fireplaces. Here’s to 2021 anyway - the only way is up!

A moment in the spotlight...

Last week we found ourselves sitting in a pub somewhere in Devon feeling that strange sensation you get when a huge rush of adrenaline is seeping away, leaving your body tired but your heart and mind racing. The locals had turned to stare as we walked in and for a split second we wondered…had they seen us on TV? No, we were just a group of strangers invading their local and causing the chef to curse us as we ordered several pizzas 5 minutes before they stopped serving food.

As we sat down with our drinks we tried to wrap our tired brains around all that had happened and all that was still to come. This was the culmination of 18 months work, an ending of sorts, but as we talked there was a sense of excitement, that maybe this wasn’t an ending but simply a turn in the road for ‘Kolar’s Gold’…

We’d met the day before at Neal’s house to begin rehearsals for the Kolar’s Gold launch party. There was a lot to do. In the absence of the thousands of pounds we would’ve needed to bring our Indian collaborators to the UK we were working on new arrangements for the Kolar’s Gold music, and using technology that we had never tried before. Richard M had spent several weeks putting together samples of our Indian collaborators so they could be with us virtually, if not in person. Neal’s wife Gill let us take over her dining room and it soon resembled something of a recording studio, computer, drums and amps where the table usually stood.

The rehearsal went well, but was continually interrupted by Laura’s phone ringing and ‘No Caller ID’ flashing up on the screen. The calls were coming from the BBC, first BBC Radio Cornwall then BBC Spotlight. For several weeks the Cornish contingent had been working closely with a brilliant journalist Holly Clemens, but it wasn’t until the calls came through that interviews were firmed up and we knew the story of Kolar’s Gold would air the next day.

The following morning was an early start for Laura and Rich as they headed to Truro to make the Radio Cornwall breakfast show. Driving down with the radio on it was a huge surprise to hear Kolar’s Gold on the hourly news bulletins! Laura’s interview passed in a nervous blur, but there was time find some coffee and a fry up before heading back for Rich to record an interview with Debbie McCrory. On returning to Neal’s there was just time for a quick practice before the car was packed and we made our way to Plymouth to the BBC Spotlight studio.

It’s fair to say the prospect of performing live on TV was terrifying, but everyone we met at BBC Spotlight was incredibly welcoming and supportive and succeeded in putting us at our ease…almost ;-) Watching it on TV it’s easy to underestimate the work that goes into including a live band on the show. We’re very grateful for the effort that went on behind the scenes to make it happen! The response we had afterwards was overwhelming, with messages of support and new stories from the Kolar Gold Fields flooding in. If you missed our appearance on Spotlight you can watch it here.

Saturday. Saturday was one of those rare days that you know you will remember forever and one that had a profound effect on all of us. During the day we were frantically preparing for the launch, crossing fingers it would go well, checking and re-checking we had everything we needed, thankfully the team at the Burrell Theatre were so helpful and the preparations all went to plan. The real magic happened when the audience began to arrive. It’s hard to capture in words the feeling of being surrounded by so many wonderful people, the feeling of love and support we received from people we knew well, and from people we had only just met. We had wanted to express the stories from Kolar’s Gold as much as the music, and between the sound guys who worked so hard, and Gill who narrated beautifully we hope we managed to achieve that. Being joined on stage by the Aggie Boys for One and All, and the ladies choir for Lead Kindly Light were real highlights, as was seeing friends born at KGF sitting in the front row. In our second set we wanted to celebrate, and we did just that, continuing the celebrations afterwards in the bar where we tried to talk to as many people as we could. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone that came and made the night so special, for those that couldn’t make it we’ll be putting together footage from the night and will let you know when it’s ready.

Thank you to the hundreds of people that have been involved in Kolar’s Gold in so many ways. It has been the most incredible experience and we have a feeling it may not be over quite yet.

This week has been back to reality with a very big bump, but yesterday evening Laura’s phone rang again and ‘No Caller ID’ flashed up on the screen…..

2019- a year of musical journeys…

2019 as been an exciting one for us a band, a year dominated by the Kolar’s Gold project, but with some great gigs and unexpected accolades thrown in too.

Our musical year began almost before the last mince pies of 2018 had been eaten, in the briefly comforting knowledge that after weeks of nail biting, breath holding waiting, funding for the Kolar’s Gold project had been secured. There wasn’t long to dwell in the comfort of successful funding bids though as quickly the reality and challenge of our year ahead dawned.

During the first week of January we met on Skype and began plotting out the shape our year would take, tentatively scribbling down notes on an album that we could just about glimpse on the distant horizon. For the next few weeks messages, audio clips and emails would fly across the internet as ideas began to form.

January also saw Tom head to India, and on the day Kolar’s Gold officially began he could be found at the Kolar Gold Fields, a visit that he documented with characteristic literary skill here.

In February we gathered at Neal’s house and began to sketch out tracks, musical ideas and some of the complicated logistics that would be needed if we were to pull this album off, ending our few days together with a sell out gig at the Old Library in Bodmin. Those few days together were one of the many highlights of our year and you can read our musings about them here.

At the end of March, as the first signs of Spring began to show in Cornwall, Laura boarded a plane bound for Bangalore. What followed was a packed schedule of meetings, recording and a visit to the Kolar Gold fields alongside time spent with friends, old and new. You can read more about her visit here.

Spring arrived in all its fullness and with it came another chance to regroup as a band, this time in Norfolk with a gig at one of our favourite venues- Mitre. Hot on the heels of that weekend we headed North and spent a fun packed weekend at the wonderful Shepley Spring festival being joined on stage by new friends made in the Cornish singing workshop we had led earlier in the day.

All the while recording for Kolar’s Gold was taking place in earnest both in Bangalore and Cornwall, our talented collaborators turning our sketched out ideas into reality.

June saw Tom hitting the A303 once more as he headed down to Cornwall for a performance at Fest Kernewek and as Spring turned to Summer we met once more, this time in Suffolk. We spent a long weekend in July escaping the heatwave outside in the welcome cool of Wrentham chapel as we wrote and recorded the final parts and tracks for Kolar’s Gold.

By the time we met again at the end of August there had been three house moves; Rich to the clay country, Tom to a cottage in the Norfolk countryside complete with a Riverside pub around the corner, and Richard significantly closer to the Cornwall contingent as he swapped Norfolk for Sidmouth.

August bank holiday was spent mixing the Kolar’s Gold tracks and preparing for our gig at the Cornwall Folk Festival which was one of our favourite gigs of the year.

 In September Neal, Laura and Richard attended the Gorsedh Kernow awards ceremony and recieved the award given to the band for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Cornish Music’. Receiving the award was a wonderful surprise, and a huge encouragement for us as a band.

With the exception of a wonderful gig in Newquay, Autumn and winter have been a time for putting the finishing touches to the Kolar’s Gold album, getting it ready for production, beginning work on the PR and marketing, and all the admin that goes alongside it.

For the whole of 2019 uncovering the stories of a Cornish community at KGF and the Indian community they lived alongside has been our goal as a band, for some of us it has been close to an obsession.

The project we laid out in our funding bids a year ago feels almost unrecognisable now. What we thought would be possible to achieve has been exceeded 10-fold, the adventure we’ve been on more than anything we would have dreamt possible back then.

It has been the people we’ve met over the past year that have made our journey through this project so special. We have learned so much from them whether they are historians, musicians or members of the KGF and Cornish communities. Without their support we wouldn’t have got this far.

As we near the end of the Kolar’s Gold project it feels like we have discovered a box hidden at the back of an attic, dusted it off and begun to look through its contents. There is so much in that box, so much we haven’t seen yet, and far more than can be told through one album or by us alone. Several people have asked us ‘What’s next for Kolar’s Gold?’. The truthful answer is ‘We don’t know’. Whether we continue to sift through the metaphorical box’s contents, or whether that will fall to someone else we shall see.

In the short term it is more a case of moving forward than moving on. The Kolar’s Gold album is currently in the hands of reviewers and will be released in February. The are some very exciting gigs planned for 2020 and we have a new album in the pipeline, going back to our original desire to explore Cornish folk music and the Cornish language. But there is also a feeling that the end of the Kolar’s Gold project is a beginning. Certainly, the friendships we’ve made both in Cornwall and India will endure, as we hope will the connection made between KGF and Cornwall.

As we look ahead to the coming year, 2020 looks set to be very different from 2019, but equally exciting.

‘The end is where we start from’ T.S.Elliott

Releasing an album...the DIY way!

There is no question that self-releasing an album is a challenging thing to do. It can feel like walking through treacle when you’re trying to plan, promote and get the attention of reviewers or radio shows. We are no experts and make no attempt to represent ourselves as such, but we thought it may be interesting to hear about what goes on behind the scenes once the last chord has been played and the CDs have been made.

 ‘What are we doing?’ is a question we’ve asked ourselves many times through this project ;-) When it comes to the album release it’s a question that’s been asked more than ever! We are complete novices at this, finding our way through a tangled web of marketing and promotion strategies that would usually be undertaken by someone with experience, training, contacts and a healthy budget. We’ve been trawling through blogs, articles and videos on DIY album promotion, trying to learn the basics and put together a plan. It’s not perfect, we’ll make mistakes, but we’re going to give it our best shot!  

Why bother? Well, the reasons range from the selfless to the selfish with many in between. Kolar’s Gold is different from a usual album release as the project is not for profit. We really believe in the work of the KGF Schools Foundation and The Cornwall Heritage Trust and a driving force behind our PR & marketing work is that the more albums we sell, the more money we raise for them.

There is also the more selfish reason- we’ve spent a year working on this album and are proud of what we have achieved. We believe it is special and want other people to experience it and hopefully think so too!

When is the right time to release? This seemed the simplest question for a long time, the release date had been set before a single note had been played. As the process has moved on though, it has become more complicated. Having been ahead of schedule for most of the year, the final stage of getting the artwork and graphics ready for production has been fraught with challenges. We always felt it was important to have a booklet with the CD that explained the stories and historical context behind the music, and that it should be beautifully illustrated. This means that far from the standard few photos and credits you’d expect to find when buying a CD, there have been pages and pages of text and illustrations to put together. We’ve pushed the release date back by a week to the 7th Feb, not too bad considering!

The key thing has been to accept that we can’t do everything ourselves and to find people with the skills we lack. Jon Bryant from Electric Cup Cake Designs took on the challenge of the booklet and album graphics and lifted a huge weight off our shoulders as he did so. We’d decided to get the CDs manufactured by DMS, on the recommendation of Rough Island Band. This has been one of the best decisions we’ve made. They have been so patient, helpful and understanding of what we’re trying to achieve and have gone way above and beyond to turn our vision into a tangible reality.

How will we promote the album? To make the album release a success we’ll have to use the greatest tool at our disposal- hard work! The plans have been made, the envelopes addressed, the One Sheets printed, the emails sent, the phone calls made, the press releases written. The weeks leading up to our February release date will be a frantic mix of all of the above plus too many tasks to include here! Social media will also be key, it’s a great leveler and will allow us to connect with people directly.

Whether our plans work, we shall see, but whatever happens, this project will have been an incredible musical adventure. We have made so many new friends, experienced new cultures, and been welcomed into families in Cornwall and KGF. If we can bring the cultures and stories of Cornwall and KGF to a wider audience, that will be the greatest reward :-)

Music, Caves and Gin

Last week something wonderfully unusual happened and we found ourselves all in the same place at the same time! We were meeting for a writing weekend to begin work on the music for Kolar’s Gold and after confirming important details such as who would bring gin, and who would pick up beers, we were good to go.

For us the writing process is a very collaborative one. Someone will bring a tune or idea to the group, and together we turn it into a complete piece of music. It’s a melting pot of ideas, we try out all of them (however unusual!), sometimes our first idea is the one we go with, at other times we try numerous approaches before finding the right one.

For this project, we have the added consideration of how to combine our own ideas with those of the Indian musicians we are collaborating with. This would be a far simpler process if we could all be in a room together, but as Laura is the only band member that will be meeting the Indian musicians in person, much of the joint composition will be done over the internet. Luckily we are working with a very accomplished composer/arranger/performer in India and a talented group of musicians. We will announce these collaborations very soon.

By Thursday night we had ‘rough drafts’ of 4 of the pieces for Kolar’s Gold. We went home, listened to them (a lot), and came back the following morning to revisit and revise the work of the previous day.

On Friday, after hours of writing and rehearsing we decided to clear our heads and walked down to Neal’s local beach. We couldn’t resist taking the music with us and spent some time singing together in a large cave, a very magical experience, so much so that even reluctant singer Tom joined in!

It was incredibly beautiful, but the intention of re energising us was questionable after we hauled ourselves back up the steep cliff with the assistance of a rope and wobbly railing and collapsed at the top in need of an afternoon nap!

After 12 hours writing and rehearsing and sustained by a tasty vegan curry, we had achieved a lot, but were in need of a break, a fit of giggles signalling it was time to abandon music for the day.

On Saturday we played a sell out gig at The Old Library in Bodmin, a fantastic new venue run by intoBodmin, an organisation doing transformative work within the town. It was a very special night and only our second ever gig with drummer Richard Morgan who has brought a whole new energy to our music. Richard’s composition and arranging skills were put to good use over the course of the previous few days!

We are really pushing ourselves musically in this project and after two days we were mentally and physically exhausted, but feeling incredibly lucky to have this opportunity, and to be doing it as a group of musicians that have a lot of love and respect for one another. It would be an impossible task without that.   

Kolar's Gold

For several months now we have been planning a project behind the scenes that we are now finally able to make public!

Almost by accident we stumbled across the fact that there was a large community of Cornish miners living and working at the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), Karnataka, India from 1890- 1940 and beyond. Very quickly it became clear that this fascinating story had been all but forgotten in conversations of the Cornish Diaspora and we felt very strongly that this was a story that needed to be told.

After the intial discovery we set to work reading and researching about the Kolar Gold Fields and the project began to take shape. The momentum of the project grew largely thanks to contacts made in India- Mrs Gayatri Chandrashekar, Mrs Bridget White Kumar, and Dr S. SriKumar all of whom have written fascinating books about the Kolar Gold Fields and who have all responded to our questions and initial ignorance with warmth, patience and a wealth of information.

So, what are we actually planning?? Well, all the research so far has been leading up to our project start date 1st February 2019. We will spend a year on the project and by the end of it we will have produced a CD of music, an accompanying booklet, a dedicated section on our website and a short film telling the story of the Cornish miners and their Indian counterparts who lived and worked at KGF.

Music was and is a huge part of life at the Kolar Gold Fields and our project will reflect that, with new compositions, traditional Cornish and Indian folk music, songs, hymns and carols we know to have been sung at KGF by Cornish miners, and, most importantly it will be a collaboration between us and musicians from the Kolar Gold Fields area. It is very important to us that we tell all sides of this story and represent the different cultures that coexisted at KGF.

We knew that for the project to work we would need funding, and were thrilled when both the Arts Council England and Cornwall Heritage Trust agreed to support us, we are incredibly grateful for their support.

From February we will have a dedicated project section on our website where as well as keeping up to date with our progress you will also be able to read individual stories of Cornish miners, find more general information about the Kolar Gold Fields, and specific resources such as a list of the Cornish miners who lived at KGF and the music we know to have been performed there. If you have any information you would like to share, if you had relatives who lived at the Kolar Gold Fields or would just like more information you can email us at therowantreemusic@outlook.com.

We can’t wait to get started and share this project with you! x

*Photographs belong to Pauline Tamblyn Bick (Cornwall) who was born at KGF and who has shared with us the story of her father Roy Tamblyn who lived at KGF with his family. We are very grateful to the family for their support of this project and for sharing their story with us.

A weekend in East Anglia, new projects...and a new band member!

One of the more unusual things about The Rowan Tree is our geography. As a band some of us live in the most westerly part of the UK (Cornwall) and Tom lives in the most easterly (Norfolk). This presents us with lots of challenges, but we try to think creatively round the fact we have a 7 hour drive if we want to make music together! Technology plays a big part, 'Tresor' (our winning song at Liet International) was composed by all four members of the band over WhatsApp, and we chat most days on messenger. When it comes to rehearsals, what would often be spread over many weeks if we lived closer gets condensed into weekends, and we've disovered that when we are together we work very quickly when it comes to arranging or composing new material,  just as well when you only get a few hours together every now and then!

 Tom has spent many long hours driving between Norwich and Cornwall this past year, and it was about time we did it the other way round! So Neal, Rich and Laura set off from Cornwall to East Anglia for a weekend of working on new material, meeting our new drummer(!), a gig in Norwich...and planning some exciting new projects we'll be working on soon.

A 'quick' stop at Chapel Cross Tea Room just off the A303 turned into a rather longer stop. We ate cake in the sun, sang in the converted chapel, met the lovely owner Rose and by the time we left we’d arranged to go back and play a gig there in a few weeks time! 

We arrived in Suffolk quite late on Friday evening and reunited with Tom, drinking wine, catching up and talking through plans for the coming year.

The following morning we began work on a really exciting commision for the Lowender Peran festival. We will be performing in the 'Levow Brythonek' concert which is a collection of Cornish, Breton and Welsh songs, alongside the Lorho-Pascos from Brittany and members of Jamie Smith's Mabon from Wales. It was great to be working on new material and by lunchtime the songs had taken shape enough for us to make rough recordings to practice along to until we can next meet together. 

After lunch we met band artist and all round lovely lady Gilly Middleton (Alisier Art) for a quick drink, before heading over to Lowestoft for dinner with Laura and Tom's family. We were very fortunate to be given use of a studio at The Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft for a practice session so the theatre was our next stop.

Since we began the band Tom has been doing an impressive job of playing both guitar and drums (sometimes at the same time!) but we had been considering the possibility of bringing a drummer into the band for a while. Tom's friend and mega talented dummer Richard Morgan had recorded drums on our EP, and when Tom approached him about playing drums with us on a more regular basis he was up for meeting us and having a jam. We only had a couple of days in East Anglia so had booked a gig in Norwich the following day. It's testament to his talent (and bravery!!) that Richard agreed to play a gig with us only 24 hours after meeting us for the first time! We rehearsed all evening and Richard slotted in to the band as if he had always been there. We met again the following morning to run through the set then packed up and drove over to Norwich. 

Norwich describes itself as 'a fine city', and having returned to the car (after a trip to the pub and a look round the cathedral) to find we'd left a door wide open and all instruments were still inside, we decided it was a very 'fine city' indeed!

Our gig that evening was at The Mitre Norwich, Tom's local and a beautifully renovated pub. The staff at the Mitre had been really helpful promoting the event and they were equally as helpful and welcoming in the 'real' rather than virtual world! We were joined by local band The Shackleton Trio and it was a treat to listen to them, their wonderful albums provided us with a soundtrack on the journey back to Cornwall. 

We spent a lot of time plotting future projects while we were away, and while it’s too soon to reveal any details we can give a couple of hints…Let’s just say that Tom’s unusual (weird) obsession with the A303 will be put to good use, and we will be exploring an area much further East than East Anglia. Next year’s going to be an exciting one…watch this space!

A winning week at Liet International XXL!

This week saw us hitting the road once more, and there was a LOT of road to travel! We were headed for Liet International XXL in Leeuwarden, Friesland NL. We set off with a sense of anticipation, this was an adventure into the unknown, a province and an event that none of us had been to before. 

We arrived on Monday evening in Leeuwarden to be greeted by Tjallien, Coordinator of Liet International, who was as friendly and welcoming as the city was beautiful...very! She showed us to our accomodation, a sailing ship moored up in the centre of the city. It was an impressive home for the week, though with about 30 people on board and the four of us in a rather bijou cabin we got the sense it would be rather 'cosy' and we would get to know our fellow musicians very well...After some time to settle in and get our bearings we found our most important location, a pub by the canal, and were soon joined by the familiar faces of Mark Trevethan, Cornish language lead and judge for the week, Whyte from Scotland who we had met previously at the Pan Celtic festival and other groups and artists from across Europe. It was our first taster of the week to come, and we had a feeling it was going to be good, even if the mildly claustrophobic member of the band swapped cabin for car on the first night at bed time! 

Tuesday was our soundcheck day, and first experience (other than mealtimes) of Neushoorn, the venue for the competition the following day. It was a fantastic venue with the most relaxed sound and stage team we've worked with! After soundcheck we played some tunes on the ships deck, had some photographs taken by the talented Aron Weidenaar and listened to the beautiful music of Gerda Stevenson and Kyrre Slind. 

Tuesday's highlight had to be the boat trip we were taken on by new friends, amazing musicians and 'expert' local tour guides Luko Reinders and Bas Postma. We spent 3 hours navigating the canals of Leeurwarden in the sunshine and in the wonderful company of Luko, Bas, Whyte and Billy Fumey. There was added excitment as we went off the reccomended route (a deliberate mistake by Luko and Bas of course...) and ended up lying in the bottom of the boat to get under what must surely be the worlds lowest bridges! Laura even managed a swim, but should perhaps have thought about how to get back in the boat before getting out...We topped the day off with a night out at local bar Scooters, where we gave the locals a taste of Cornish folk, probably not something they've experienced before at their regular jam nights! 

Wednesday was the big day, and after watching the other acts during the dress rehearsal we felt privaledged to be in the company of such talented groups and artists. We were unsurprisingly nervous once the evening began, but the whole event felt much more like a celebration of minority languages and music than a competition. As the 14 judges on stage began giving their scores things were looking good for us, but we've learned through experience that nothing is certain and with such quality songs we had no expectations. When the actual moment came when we were announced as the winners we were completely stunned. Every act that had taken to the stage would have been a worthy winner, so for us placing 1st felt unreal, but also a huge honour and amazing to get the Cornish language out there to a wider audience. After accepting our prize and playing Tresor once more we moved onto the after party...which was a great party.....a really great party....

Thankfully Tom had played so much music during the party that he hadn't had much time for beer and was within the driving limit, so at 4am we packed up and instead of going to bed we hit the road. It's a long way from Leeuwarden to Cornwall...16 hours to be exact! 

In the film Austin to Boston, Gill Landry comments that "we find ourselves here quite often saying goodbye again and again....after all, the road is just one long goodbye". The sadness we felt at leaving is testament to the friendships we made, and the extraordinary people we met. It is always the people we share an experience with that make it special, and thankfully we find in this strange musical world we're in whilst we can never go back and relieve an experience we often get to meet people again in other contexts and make new memories.

Thank you to the organisers of Liet International for putting on an event that shares and promotes minority languages, we learned so much about other languages and cultures whilst we were there! We were looked after so well by all involved and are so grateful for the opportunity you gave us. We hope to see you all for another adventure one day!

The Rowan Tree & The Grenaways play Echos & Merveilles, Toulouse!

We had a couple of weeks at home catching our breath after the Pan Celtic then was time to hit the road once more, this time to Echos Et Merveilles in Toulouse, France. On this trip we were joining The Grenaways and taking both bands to play at this unique festival. Ireland had been our first trip as just one band and had felt strange to be away without our Grenaways family, so we were very happy to be reunited. There was however a spare seat on the plane, meant for trumpet player Claude who was stuck at home in hospital. We missed both his playing and company!

On Friday morning, after a good night's sleep at our hotel, Tom was met at the airport and we headed to Le Bascala in Bruguieres. All the volunteers, organisers and crew made us very welcome and we were spoiled with a 3 hour soundcheck! 

The Rowan Tree were first to take to the stage, and after listening in the wings to the beautiful sounds of Eirdan  and the enthusiastic crowd, the nerves were replaced by excitment. The Toulouse audience didn't disappoint and between the cheering, dancing and incredible lights on stage we couldn't fail to find this one of the most exciting gigs we have played so far. After the surreal experience of signing and selling out of CDs we joined the audience to watch the mighty Neko Light Orchestra who wowed us with their magical performance and musicianship! Rather later than we're used to (we need to work on our Rock n Roll body clocks!) The Grenaways took to the stage for our headline gig. The audience's enthusiasm and the fantastic atmosphere of the festival meant that this was another gig to remember. Our experience of playing in France will stay with us, and is one we hope to repeat very soon!

The festival itself was a wonderful mix of craftsmanship, battle re-enactments, beautiful music and unity amongst people with common interests. It was an honour to share the stage with bands such as Faun and Fanel who really knew how to put on a show!

Thank you to all the fellow musicians we met and new friends that were made over the weekend. Special thanks to Nicolas and his team for all their hard work over the weekend, and to the wonderful Franz who not only ferried us around all weekend but was also a joy to spend time with and whose beautiful CD kept us sane on the late night drive home back to Kernow!