Two interviews with Wales Online
May 31, 2009
Seth Lakeman gave two interviews in local Welsh press to promote the recent tour, which stopped off in Cardiff on Sat 23 May. They’re both up on WalesOnline.
On the benefits on being with a major label:
“when it comes down to it, you still can’t beat that massive marketing push major labels are able to provide so that’s what we did in signing for Relentless.
To be honest, the label didn’t do as much promotion for [Poor Man's Heaven] as it has for others, but to get the album in the pop charts was quite cool.
I think the amazing thing for us was that it showed us how many dedicated followers and fans we have.”
On album.next:
“I have already written my next album; I’ve got 20 or so songs to chose from, and I will be playing a lot of those [on the tour]”
… He promises his next record “pushes the rock envelope even further”…
“I can see myself making all kinds of records in the future, dance, rock, whatever. I am very ambitious.”
And, in what I realise for some will be the most important part of the interview, it is confirmed that yes, Seth Lakeman does have a “very lovely” girlfriend.
Full Interviews:
‘Seth Lakeman grows his own success‘, Gavin Allen, Western Mail, 22 May 2009
‘Seth Lakeman is one of the cool folk‘, Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo, 20 May 2009
A couple of interviews in local West Country press ahead of Seth’s UK tour, which kicks off tomorrow.
North Devon Journal, Thu 14 May 2009
The North Devon Journal interviewed Seth ahead of his gig at Barnstaple’s Queen’s Hall on Thu 18 May.
Seth has been holed-up at home on Dartmoor over the winter writing new material:
"I prefer to write here. I find it quite difficult to be anywhere else. I like to go out and explore while I’m doing it to try and feed off the wilds."
If you made it to any of the March club dates you’ll have already been privileged to hear the results of these wild winter rambles. But if you didn’t, never fear. Seth promises those attending the forthcoming tour gigs won’t miss out:
"We are going to play loads and loads of new songs," he reveals. "You will hear the music from our other three records but we’ve got some exciting new stuff."
…
"I love performing. It’s my favourite part of music. It’s great fun to get a reaction from the crowd and I hope that they go away with a different perception of how acoustic music can be played. That is quite unique in what we do."
On a more light-hearted note, he reminisces about the ghost he once shared a house with (who, according to other interviews, also used to randomly turn on the gas):
"She was a nice ghost . … She used to send us out every night to the pub … We couldn’t help it. We had to go. She locked the door behind us."
Yeah. Right.
Lots more in the full interview: Seth Lakeman tells Rosanna Rothery why he believes in ghosts », North Devon Journal/thisisnorthdevon.co.uk , Thu 14 May 2009
ThisIsCornwall, Wed 13 May 2009
Minack Theatre, Cornwall © Mat Strange
A much shorter piece, whose main interest is that it confirms plans to film the gig at Cornwall’s dramatic open-air Minack Theatre next Tues for a live DVD release.
"It really is such an amazing venue," said Seth, … "We are one of the first to play and record there – it is a real privilege and we are all pretty excited about it – let’s just hope we get some good weather."
Full story: Seth Lakeman returns ‘home’ for Minack gig », ThisIsCornwall.co.uk, Wed 13 May 2009.
Seth nominated for Ireland’s Music Awards
May 15, 2009
Seth has been nominated for Best Male Vocalist in Ireland’s Music Awards, which celebrate the best in traditional Irish, celtic and folk music.
Vote for Seth at www.irelandsmusicawards.com/nominees.php?c=18&id=83
Sister-in-law Cara Dillon is up for Best Female Vocalist, alongside fellow former Equation member Kate Rusby. You can see all the nominees across all categories at www.irelandsmusicawards.com/nominees.php
Voting closes on 15 July 2009.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony as part of The World Fleadh festival in Castlebar, Co Mayo on 1st August.
Support Acts for May 2009 Tour
May 12, 2009
Update 21 May: Benji Kirkpatrick played support at Minack Theatre on Tue 20 May, but for the rest of the tour will be playing as part of the main band and not as a support act. There will, apparently, be no support act for most of the dates except Bath and possibly Barnstaple.
Sorry for the confusion. I still thoroughly recommend Benji’s solo album though ;-)
Benji Kirkpatrick will play support for all bar two dates on Seth’s forthcoming UK tour, which kicks off in Birmingham this Sunday, 17 May at the Minack Theatre on Tue 19 May. Support for Birmingham on 17 May will be from Megson and Nancy Elizabeth, with local band Inu appearing at Bath on 3 June.
Benji Kirkpatrick:
Support at Minack Theatre, Tue 19 May
Band member all other tour dates
Photo © Hugo Morris
Perhaps best known as founder member of Bellowhead and Faustus, committments to which have left little time for his own solo career, Benji is a gifted player of guitar, bouzouki and banjo as well as a singer/songwriter. A long-time collaborator with Seth Lakeman, they toured as a duo and as a trio with Oysterband’s Jon Jones in Seth’s pre-Mercury Music Prize days, and Benji has guested on most of Lakeman’s albums, with Seth returning the favour on Benji’s 2008 solo album, Boomerang.
Where Bellowhead and Faustus deliver new takes on traditional material, Benji’s solo work sees him follow in the footsteps of Nick Drake and Richard Thompson with original, self-penned contemporary songs which reflect his traditional roots but are never purely "folk". Boomerang struggled to achieve the exposure it deserved after Benji’s committments to Bellowhead and Faustus left little time to tour with it. Still, he’s recently managed to pack in a few solo dates with fellow former Seth Lakeman band member Cormac Byrne (bodhran) and Sam Norman (double bass).
After playing support at Minack Theatre on 19 May as a solo artist, Benji will be joining Seth’s regular band of Sean Lakeman (guitar), Ben Nicholls (double bass) and Simon Lea (percussion) for the rest of the tour.
Benji Kirkpatrick Links
Website | MySpace
Boomerang: Amazon | iTunes | Spotify
Here’s Benji – joined by Seth Lakeman on fiddle, and Megson’s Su Hanna – at one of his few solo dates of 2008:
Megson & Nancy Elizabeth:
Birmingham Symphony Hall, Sun 17 May
Support at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall will be provided by folk duo Megson, and singer Nancy Elizabeth.
Megson are highly rated folk duo Stu Hanna and Debbie Hanna-Palmer. They have released three albums since coming together in 2004, including 2008’s critically acclaimed Take Yourself a Wife, which earned 4-star reviews from The Guardian and Songlines magazine.
In the incestuous world that is folk music, Stu Hanna of was producer on Benji Kirkpatrick’s album, Boomerang.
Megson Links
Website | MySpace | Last.fm
Take Yourself a Wife: Amazon | iTunes
Nancy Elizabeth is a contemporary singer/songwriter from Manchester, with a vaguely Dido-esque vocal style that contrasts to the strong folk vein of the other support acts for the tour. Her most recent solo album is 2007’s Battle and Victory, but she also appears in more recent collaborations on James Yorkston’s When the Haar Rolls In and with Susumu Yokota on mother.
Nancy Elizabeth Links
Website | MySpace
Inu:
Komedia Bath, Wed 3 June
Members of local Bath folk act, Inu, will be support at Komedia on 3 June. Marick Baxter (Flutes and Whistles)
Louise Baxter (Guitar and Vocals) and Beth Porter (Cello) play strong, fairly straight renditions of Irish traditional music (and none the worse for it). They have a new album out, The Thousand Mile Journey, which you can buy from their website.
BrightYoungFolk have nabbed an interview with Seth at the Union Chapel gig in London on the 24 May and they’d like you to tell them what they should ask him. So, if there’s something you’ve always wanted to know, head on over to www.brightyoungfolk.com and leave a comment with your question. They will put the best suggestions to Seth on 24th.
Updated 12 May with extra photos from Philip Ryalls and Jeremy LLewellyn-Jones.
“it was pretty stadium. I wanted to crowd surf but I thought the girls at the front wouldn’t catch me” - Jim Moray
The long-awaited round-up of press coverage, photos and video from last weekend’s gig on Trafalgar Square is here. A bit light on the former, but plenty of the latter for you.
Press Coverage
The gig didn’t get much press, but there were short write-ups in The London Paper (including a few photos), various bits in The Guardian and over on The Telegraph Emma Hartley interviewed Damian Barber from the Demon Barbers.
Photos & Video
 Photo © Garry Knight |
 Photo © Caroline Voaden |
The fans unsurprisingly came through where the mainsteam media feared to tread. Lots of photos with some great shots from Caroline Voaden (flickr), Karen Armstrong (flickr), High Eight (flickr), and Helen Fenner (photobucket).
Plus these late-breaking extras from Philip Ryalls and Jeremy LLewellyn-Jones – a couple of the professional photographers who were in attendance.
There was also some surprisingly good-quality video shot from the crowd:
Full highlights, with Seth performing Blood Upon Copper
(and Sean rocking out in his fabulous red shoes)
Seth Lakeman: Kitty Jay and Poor Man’s Heaven
More video
More slightly-more-iffy video of Solomon Browne, King and Country, and Riflemen of War
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