There were three releases over Autumn that I meant to write about but didn’t get chance. Turns out they are all Northern, so they fit nicely into one blog!
John Hardy – Country and Northern EP
I worked with John Hardy on his last EP and it was great to work with him again for his current EP, the very aptly named Country and Northern.
A Hull native, his songs generally split into stunningly beautiful ballads (Car Radio, Fair Love, Ebb and Flow) and dry-witted, upbeat ditties.
John usually has a pretty solid idea of what he wants on the tracks so I tend to largely take a back seat from playing and instead facilitate the sounds he hears in his head.
He’s a superb singer and guitarist, and he brings a whole plethora of extra musicians into the mix, including his wife Loreto on extra vocals, a cellist, pianist and a harmonica player.
For tracks like Same Old Country Song he wanted to create the sound of a rough and ready band playing in a room together, whereas Old Bones hints at the classic sound and songwriting of another northerner, Richard Hawley.
Here’s John’s Bandcamp, or you can listen on Spotify here.
Michelle Laverick – Selkie Child EP
Teeside-raised Michelle visited the studio over the summer to record her debut EP of astonishingly atmospheric and evocative folk songs, Selkie Child.
The vocals and guitars were recorded live in one take, to keep the natural organic pace and haunting feel of the songs.
Onstage, Michelle plays harmoniums and shruti boxes by taping the revelant keys down and pressing the squeeze boxes with her foot. For this recording, we decided to overdub these so that we could get a better sound and more dynamics.
I added some subtle embellishments in places (electric ambient guitar, bass, piano, plus drums on Sweet Tees), and we got some superb strings added by Jas Scott for Selkie Child, but really the goal was to let Michelle’s voice, guitar and songs shine.
Before these sessions, I never knew that you could buy partial capos! Michelle used two on one guitar, which blew my mind. I do love capos, so Immediately ordered two…
Michelle isn’t on Spotify but you can listen and download the EP on Bandcamp here.
Scarlett Whincup – Where I’ll Stay
And finally, the debut single from Halifax-based singer Scarlett Whincup. Although she’s been a professional Country singer for a while now, this is the first song she’s ever written, and what a way to start!
Scarlett spent a day with me, and we built the song up with both of us playing acoustic guitars, then I added electric guitars, piano, bass, drums and percussion, before we recorded Scarlett’s vocals.
Scarlett’s lead vocal took very little time as she’s an accomplished singer, but we also added loads of backing vocals, which took the song up another level.
The whole time I was thinking, I can’t believe this is her first song! I will very much look forward to hear what she does next.
Where I’ll Stay is available on Spotify here, as well as other streaming services.