Cambridge Folk Festival on BBC4, 9.30pm Fri 29 Aug
August 30, 2008
Seth appeared on the BBC’s belated coverage of the Cambridge Folk Festival on Friday 29 August at 9.30pm (repeated 2.40am, Sat 30th). The half-hour programme, presented by Mark Radcliffe, also featured Noah and the Whale and is available on iPlayer » until Thu 4 September and in five parts on YouTube.
More from Cambridge in our Cambridge Folk Festival 2008 Roundup »
Last-minute addition to North Devon Folk Festival, Sat 6 Sep
August 30, 2008
Seth is a last-minute addition to the Saturday night line-up at the North Devon Folk Festival in Ilfracombe. Tickets are £50 for the weekend, £27.50 for all-day Saturday or you can grab an evening-only ticket for £19.
Seth will be on at 9.30pm in the marquee. Saturday’s line-up also includes Cambridge-Folk-Festival-darling Devon Sproule, Jim Moray, Steve Tilston and Transglobal Underground.
More information from
www.northdevonfestival.org/northdevonfestival/folkfest.asp
Line-up and ticket info
www.northdevontheatres.org.uk/showinfo.asp?showid=198
“on CD he’s brilliant, but live he’s something else”
August 29, 2008
Seth makes an impression at Greenbelt
http://pirate-moo.livejournal.com/25433.html
Also don’t miss Caroline Voaden’s fantastic photos
www.flickr.com/photos/cazzav/tags/greenbeltfestival2008/
Another fluffy-bunny interview, finally revealing the story behind Sean’s claim on the MD7 programme to have once nailed Seth to a tree (all true, apparently), and other revelations of our hero’s fire-starting, pierced-eared, sk8tr-boy youth including:
‘I used to be in a band with my brothers – I was eight, Sean was 11 and Sam played tea-chest bass. We were on “Saturday Superstore” playing a song called “Sister Kate” which went, “If I could shake it like my sister Kate, shake it like a bowl of jelly on a plate”. Keith Chegwin said I was the smallest violinist in the world. After that I got all the girls at school.’
Full interview: Seth Lakeman Interview, Bella Todd, Time Out, Wed 20 Aug 2008 »
Regent’s Park gig review in The Guardian
August 28, 2008
Robin Denselow reviews this year’s visit to the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre last Sunday, complete with the predictable “altercations between would-be dancers and officials who clearly hadn’t expected such behaviour from a folk audience”. (The dancers won.)
Lakeman has brought folk to new audiences by taking strong narratives and treating them with relentless attack… The results were often spectacular, from the furious Take No Rogues to The Hurlers, a stomper about young men being turned to stone for playing sport rather than going to church. There was a drama and urgency that didn’t vary even when he slowed down for the declamatory Greed and Gold, or when he played solo, backed by his own foot-stomping violin on Kitty Jay.
Ultimately, however, he gives our hero a mere 3 out of 5, complaining that he lacked:
… variety – not in the instrumentation, but in the tone. He said Solomon Browne was “the most poignant song” on his new album, but this story of the 1981 Penlee lifeboat disaster was treated as yet another rhythmic romp, and the audience clapped along incongruously to this modern tragedy. Lakeman deserves his success, but a good storyteller needs to match excitement with soul and emotion.
Full review: ‘Folk Review: Seth Lakeman, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’ by Robin Denselow, The Guardian, Wed 27 Aug 2008 »
Interview in Guitarist Magazine, July 2008
August 23, 2008
After the style interviews and pints of beer, a “strictly here for the music” interview from back in the July issue of Guitarist magazine lovingly transcribed by Ruby on The Mire ».
On the Led Zep comparisons:
“I’ve rediscovered Led Zeppelin recently,” explains Seth. “The dark nature or our songs and the way they’re quite rough and ready is similar to Led Zeppelin 3. They’re incredible, so I’m careful not to compare ourselves, but in terms of a sound and of what’s being played; those dark chords are what we go for.”
On acquiring his 1952 Martin tenor guitar:
“It really inspired my writing. I have to use the capo a hell of a lot because the tuning I use is GDGD but sometimes I drop the G to a D. I had to kind of invent the chord progressions but it gives this great percussive sound. It makes the songs quite driven – unique.”
and let’s not forget brother Sean:
“He did a degree in jazz and a lot of that taught him all that sort of Django chord structure – gypsy jazz. He’s worked with great players so he’s got that driven rhythm sound where’s he all over the fret board, playing chords you can’t get your head around!”
Guitarist Magazine website
www.guitarist.co.uk
Back issues from
www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
‘60 seconds with Seth Lakeman’ – interview in Metro
August 22, 2008
Short interview in Metro today. Quick highlights:
What’s your flashest violin?
I’ve got six or seven decent vintage guitars and two or three violins. The most expensive is my great-great granny’s violin, which I play all the time. It’s the most special to me for sentimental reasons.…
What sort of groupie does the folk scene attract?
Ones that buy you a strong ale and knit you cardigans ….…
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve played the fiddle?
I’ve played the fiddle over graves, on a boat and in a studio being doused with water from a fire hose. I’ve played it lying on my back. I’ve done everything with the fiddle.…
Have you got any special tricks for preserving your voice?
I stopped smoking seven months ago, which has really helped. I’m quite an intense singer, so after five gigs on the trot I do lose my voice. I stopped smoking cold turkey. I freaked out for a week but persevered with it. My tip is to replace smoking with drinking alcohol. That’s what I did.
Full interview: ‘60 Seconds: Seth Lakeman’, Metro, 22 Aug 2008 »
“Seth has the attention span of a sparrow”… Sean Lakeman interview in Plymouth Herald
August 22, 2008
Sean Lakeman — “one of the UK’s foremost musical masterminds” according to The Mirror — is interviewed in the Plymouth Herald about his work on The Levellers’ new album, Letters from the Underground, and, of course, Seth’s albums:
“At the time [we recorded Kitty Jay] no-one would give him any gigs,” says Sean. “We’d play absolutely anywhere anyone would have us – upstairs in village pubs, wherever, just me, Ben (double bass player) and Seth.
“It was quite good fun, actually, just the three of us in a van, playing the toilet circuit.
…
“Seth came up with this Dartmoor-themed concept for an album, but even if you sat him down in a room with a big button saying ‘record’, he wouldn’t know what to do, so it was left up to me to come up with the idea of how to bring this concept to life.”
Much was made in the national press of Kitty Jay being recorded in Sean’s Dartmoor kitchen for less than £300. “The kitchen was perfect, as it was all river-stone and slate, a harsh sounding gritty acoustic which really helped bring the songs to life.
“Seth has the attention span of a sparrow, so you’d have to fire him up with coffee and encouragement and he’d give you about 40 minutes. Half the trick of production is getting the performance”
Although the kitchen studio was replaced with more conventional surroundings for recording Poor Man’s Heaven, Sean continued his producer role on the new album. Though not, it sounds, completely free of at least a little record company meddling:
“There were lots of people with strong opinions on how they didn’t want Heaven to sound, and I worked on it until last Christmas, then left them to it.
“Fortunately, they didn’t change it all that much. There was a huge amount of pressure for the album to perform, so when it went to No 8 in the charts, there was a real sense of relief.”
Full interview: ‘Lesser-known Lakeman is making ripples’, Plymouth Herald, 15 Aug 2008 »
Solomon Browne Single Release
August 21, 2008
Solomon Browne has been officially announced as the next single, and will be released as a download on 29 September 13 October.
Telling the story of the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster in 1981, in which the entire crew of the lifeboat Solomon Browne lost their lives, along with the crew and passengers of the Union Star they had set out to save, appropriately a percentage of profits will be donated to the RNLI, a charity of which Seth has been a long-time supporter.
Launching the RNLI’s SOS Day on 24 September, Seth said:
‘When I was working on my album in December 2006 it was the 25th anniversary of the Penlee lifeboat disaster, which inspired Solomon Browne. I was only young at the time of the disaster, but my father (journalist, Geoff) covered the story. The song is about the bravery and courage of those eight volunteer lifeboatmen who went to sea and lost their lives. I hope we are able to raise some funds for this fantastic charity.’
The single will be bundled with live versions of three tracks from Seth’s performance at this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival. The single and live tracks will only be available in download format with no physical CD or vinyl release planned at this time.
Blog Post: Solomon Browne to be Next Single »
Make your own donation to the Lifeboats:
https://www.rnlipdd.org.uk/donations
Interview and acoustic session on BBC Radio London
August 21, 2008
Seth was on the Robert Elms show on BBC London today for a brief interview and solo performance of new single ‘Solomon Browne’. You can listen to the show on iPlayer until Thu 28 August. Seth is on around the 2h 34m mark.
Listen again: Seth Lakeman on the Robert Elms Show, BBC Radio London, Thu 21 Aug »
‘Because he’s worth it…’ style interview in Mail on Sunday
August 20, 2008
‘It’s a Man’s World: The folk star on fashion and fitness’ appeared in the Mail on Sunday’s ‘Live’ magazine at the weekend, with Seth discussing his personal style and his favourite clothes and boy’s toys.
The short version:
Likes: using microwaves as clothes driers, getting the perfect black t-shirt from Gap, skinny jeans (on women), Martin guitars, and the RNLI.
Dislikes: industrial microwaves, no longer being able to get the perfect black t-shirt from Gap, tatoos, piercings and body waxing, skinny jeans (on men), green shell suits (good call – ed) and early mornings.
For those who are here for the music rather than tips on Seth’s preferred brand of anti-wrinkle cream, according to the footnote Solomon Browne will be released as a single on 15 29 September.
Full interview: ‘It’s a Man’s World: Seth Lakeman, The folk star on fashion and fitness’, Stephanie Smith, The Mail on Sunday, 17 Aug 2008 »
Thanks to CK1 there is also a scan of the original article on The Mire »
New Look Moblog
August 16, 2008
Seth’s moblog – “the place to see Seth on the road, backstage, in the studio, at home, anywhere and everywhere!” – has had a facelift, and you can now ‘join’ it to get updates and post content to it online.
Post your Seth photos, videos and other ramblings:
- From your mobile to 07786201241 starting your message with the keyword “seth“
- By email to sethlakeman@moblog.net
- Online by signing up for a moblog account and then joining the Seth Lakeman group
The more geek-minded can subscribe to the moblog’s RSS Feed (What the hell’s that?) which also lets you get updates through My Yahoo!, iGoogle and the like.
Whether the facelift means we’ll now get more of “Seth on the road, backstage, in the studio, at home, anywhere and everywhere!”, or will just continue to hang around making each other virtual cups of tea, remains to be seen.
Seth Lakeman Moblog
http://moblog.net/sethlakeman/
Fun interview in the September 2008 issue Q Magazine. Click on the images to read courtesy of the lovely ladies of The Mire »
We love Sean! (and Leveller Jon loves him too)
August 13, 2008
Jon Sevink of The Levellers talks about the recording of their new album Letters from the Underground:
How did recording with Sean Lakeman come about?
“I’ve known Sean for about three years and was always impressed with how he produced his brother’s (Seth Lakeman) albums. There were some thoughts about me producing our album, but I knew it was better for me to stick to playing and Sean has such a good sense of how to get a band playing to its strengths. We love him!”
Full interview: ‘Levellers: Free music downloading is the present’, inthenews.co.uk, Mon 11 Aug 2008 »
Update with more Sean love from Leveller Mark:
Much of the energy of the sound on the album is down to the album’s producer, Sean Lakeman, whom Mark can’t praise highly enough. “This album simply wouldn’t have happened without Sean,” he says. “He is the secret behind Seth’s career and he was absolutely brilliant for us, as he just engendered total and utter enthusiasm.
“Having grown up with our music in his head, he knows our stuff inside out, and was able to filter out songs for the album, saying ‘that’s not Levellers, that’s rubbish, that’s good…’ “
The band met Sean through sharing stages with Seth, and Mark says they are “sort of interwoven now”.
“Seth’s probably folk’s biggest asset at the moment. He’s brought on folk massively.”
Seth at Rip Curl Boardmasters 2008
August 12, 2008
Seth played the Rip Curl Beach Sessions last Thursday 7th, and gets a brief mention in The Mirror’s write up:
Backstage we hooked up with folk star Seth Lakeman who had five days off after releasing his new (and fourth) solo album Poor Man’s Heaven. The Westcountry violinist was there with mates and was sleeping in his car, in a very rock and roll manner.
No Seth on the videos though :(
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