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....It's not about farming!
Lisa Birkett reviews Suntrap at the Brewtown Folk Club 20/09/02
As a particularly parsimonious Northerner,
it's not often I can be persuaded to splash out on CDs by bands I've never
heard of. It would almost certainly be unprecedented for me to rush to the
CD stall at the end of a gig, chequebook in hand and ask for "one of
everything."
Unprecedented, that is, until I saw Suntrap
in concert.
Halfway through the first song ("This is on
our first album...") I thought, "I'm going to have to buy this." During the
third song ("And this is on our new album...") I thought, "Oh bugger! Not
going to be able to choose between them - will have to buy both." A complete
shock to both my system and my bank balance.
Now, I'm by no means naive when it comes to
music; I spent a couple of years as the Artistic Director of a festival,
responsible for sifting through the demo tapes (a particularly painful job
at times. I'm sure some of the things I've been forced to listen to as part
of my job would give me a good case for compensation under the Human Rights
Act), booking bands and sorting out the programming. I'm not known for being
impulsive, or easily impressed. I've knocked back bookings for artists who
have been "professionals" since before I was born, and negotiated deals
worth thousands with barely a whimper (well, obviously. It wasn't really my
money).
Suntrap completely poleaxed me.
Musically, they play fairly traditional
folk stuff, with their own compositions written along similar lines. It's
hard to say what makes them stand out from other bands playing similar
material, but stand out they certainly do. I don’t “do” the really
traditional “finger in the ear” folk – it just does nothing for me. Suntrap
put their own innovative interpretations on old favourites, interspersing
well-performed tunes with the verses (was it a strathspey, Nicola?), mixing
exciting vocal harmonies to produce a sound that is uniquely Suntrap. The
resulting performance is incredible, especially when you think that there
are only actually four people on stage. Combining two fiddles, a couple of
guitars, a whistle, an accordion, a harmonica and a bodhran (yes, four
people) with quite possibly the best vocal harmonies I've heard in my life,
a Suntrap concert is an event of almost orgasmic proportions. They also
deliver harmony workshops at festivals and other venues, and would certainly
appear well qualified for the job. Again, this is something which has
tended to leave me cold in the past, but not this time.
"..and out off his knapsack he pulled a
fine fiddle." He did not get out a musical instrument.
"I think that she will ride with me, all
the long way home, I think that she will ride with me, all the way”.
Although, in this case, the young man in question did actually arrive on a
horse, it's unlikely that he is suggesting the young woman in question joins
the Pony Club with him. The mile high club is far more likely.
Then from a Suntrap composition, my
personal favourite: "She took my fingers and bade me to wander through the
fields and the hedgerows of all of her lands. And she wandered with me all
of the evening, at daybreak she said "Now you're more of a man." Needless to
say - IT'S NOT ABOUT FARMING! Or rambling. Or fishing.
Oh, and the song about flowers, where the
bloke wants to give the girl a rose - he's isn't talking about something he
got from Interflora. Roses, in folk songs where young maidens are concerned,
are variously babies or nasty little bugs necessitating a particularly
unpleasant visit to your local clinic.
Much as I like to educate, I also like to
be educated, and I came out of the concert feeling much more knowledgeable.
‘Red Red Shoes’ is a song about "involuntary adultery," which is apparently
where you don't know you've done anything wrong at the time because you
don't find out someone is married until it's too late to worry about it (a
phenomenon closely linked to "alcohol related involuntary adultery."
Allegedly.) I can almost see my parish priest going for that excuse. Maybe
not, but it is such a very nice song....despite the actual meaning of the
lyrics.
Paul Hoad, author of both songs claims
that, although many of his songs are autobiographical, the songs in his
"adultery trio" are not based on personal experience. Hmmm. I'm sure I
wasn't the only woman in the audience to think "shame!" when that was
announced.
I was also pleased (if that's the
appropriate sentiment?) to hear, from other autobiographical songs, that
there is someone else in the world with a romantic track record almost as
disastrous as my own. Sorry, Sara, but if "Stars" and "Grass is Greener" are
based on personal experience, you and I should probably be sharing a
therapist. Or a man.
Another thing about Suntrap is that they
seem really, very, genuinely.....nice. There's no escaping the word.
Usually, when a band arrives at a folk club where that old staple "The
Floor Act" is on the agenda, they can be seen making themselves scarce,
racing for the bar straight after their sound check and not appearing until
their introduction. I've got to admit, through past experience, I tend to
hover fairly near the door myself, in case of dire need for an escape route.
In this instance, I would think the sound check would have been minimal, if
not non-existent, as Suntrap did a totally acoustic set. Not only that, but
they were conspicuous throughout the evening, chatting to fans about, well,
anything really, signing autographs and, above all, joining in on choruses
(a brave attempt at times, chaps. Was it just me, or was the bloke with the
accordion playing one tune with his right hand and a completely different
one with his left? Maybe I'm being a little bit cruel, but it was definitely
a case of "name that tune in 367." Sorry!)
Suntrap fully demonstrated their
instrumental and vocal virtuosity at this gig – it takes a lot of courage to
do a gig without a P.A., and they didn’t embarrass themselves at all!
For those of you that read magazines like
this for facts, not waffle and spurious gossip (God forbid!) Suntrap are:
Paul Hoad on vocals, guitar and
harmonica
Sarah Byers on vocals, guitar,
accordion (it's not that bad, really), whistle and bodhran (honestly, that's
okay, too. I know, I know I sometimes feel five hundred bodhans at the
bottom of the sea would be a good start, but it's much better when it's
actually played in time with the music.) Mary Wilson on vocals and violin;
and, the most recent addition,
Nicola Davies, also on vocals and
violin.
In addition to their solo gigs, Suntrap
have supported, amongst others, Kate Rusby (Mike Harding's Barnsley
Nightingale, for those of you who have been experimenting with
self-cryogenics or living in a cave for the past few years), The Oyster
Band, Vin Garbutt, The Albion Band and Waterson Carthy. Given that, I was
almost embarrassed to admit that...mmm... I hadn't actually heard of them.
Right, the secret's out. I've said it now. After all this, I've admitted
that until very recently, I hadn't even heard of Suntrap. And now
I'm here with the sheer gall to try and convince you to go and see them or
visit the website or buy a CD. How humiliating! Excusable, however.
Suntrap have been touring, almost exclusively, in the south of the country,
near their
For anyone out there with the power to do
anything to change that, they have now expressed a tentative interest in
visiting the frozen north (yes, there is life, of a sort, above
If you fancy sampling them in the meantime
(but not Paul, sorry ladies!) they have two albums currently available -
Long Winter Coat and Red Red Shoes. I was right, I couldn't have chosen
between them. You can contact them at 8 Kingsmead Close, West Ewell,
Go on then! What are you waiting for? Lisa Birkett (lizzieannie2@yahoo.co.uk)
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