In Thin Air: Spellsongs 3
It is now two weeks since The Book of Birds fledged into its wild life. Earlier this year, in the period of waiting, I was working with Dan Streat on the artwork for the nest-box that holds the music, drawn from the words and images in the book by Spellsongs during a residency at Ty Sanctaidd in Pembrokeshire.
For those who are new to my work you may not know of Spellsongs. They were born out of The Lost Words, a ‘project’ put together by Adam and Caroline Slough to ‘sing nature back into life, into hearts, into minds’. Beginning with a sold out performance at Snape Maltings and becoming a prom at the Albert Hall, the musicians gathered again to sing The Lost Spells into being, a most difficult task built around the hard times of covid. Gifts of Light became the second album, and included an online performance at the Natural History Museum. The band are Seckou Kieta, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Rachel Newton, Jim Molyneux, Beth Porter and Kris Drever. ( photos above and below are by Elly Lucas- who also is a beautiful part of the Spellsongs team)
The residency for the new music began with a boat trip around Ramsey Island with Falcon Boats to visit birds, and a picnic in my garden as all of the crew came to have a short tour of my studio.
In Thin Air is a beautiful thing. You can pre-order from The Folk by the Oak website, and see all the different options available, including limited edition prints, the ‘nest box’, vinyl. Also, tickets and dates for the tour in autumn.
One of the ‘bundles’ includes a limited edition signed print of a piece of artwork that does come in a smaller format inside the nested box with cd. Called Blue Migration, this piece was created using claybord and paint and wire wool. It shows bartailed godwits riding the world’s winds. The images of me signing and numbering the prints will give an idea of the size.
Pre-orders are now available for the cd, the vinyl, and supporting material.
We are touring in September, and tour dates are included on the link above, so you can buy tickets from there. I know Bristol is close to selling out, and just a heads up to say that Edinburgh is my birthday. So, party in Usher Hall, with band!
The first piece of music was played on the Radio 2 Folk Show on Wednesday. 12 minutes in to the show. With an intro by Julie.
The music, as I say, is beautiful. Headphones on to listen. Meanwhile, keep listening to the ever changing soundscape of birds voices. Who is your favourite singer? ( bird/human/both?)
Tickets bought for the Perth concert ( thank you for including the Highlands in the tour ) – it will be a great celebration for our Golden Wedding !
Recently had a superb night at Karine’s “Windblown” – utterly beautiful words, singing and piano by Dave. The skilful graphics with ‘Big Pam’ were a triumph. If you have a moment, have a listen to the CD, + book etc on Hudson records .
I’ve just bought the music. I love Karine so much. And all that she does.