Seth Lakeman will be releasing his new album on his new label Honour Oak Records next month called Tales from the Barrel House. The album promises to be different and Seth is sounding very emancipated about it all:
I’ve been aching to do something musically like this for some time, to get right back to the basics of Kitty Jay – and beyond. It’s also the first release on my own label Honour Oak Records and that’s helped me to do what I want and in my own way. I’m grateful for having worked in some of the best-equipped studios and with top producers, but with this record I feel free. I’ve not had A&R men looking over my shoulder or record bosses influencing me in any way. It’s all me, the songs are mine, I played everything you hear on the album and I produced and mixed the record.
The album was recorded at the fantastic Morwellham Quay in Devon in the workshops there and even down one of the mines. I want listeners to feel they are down that mine, or in the barrel house, immersed in this living history while hearing the stories of the people who inhabit the songs. I’d like fans to literally feel the atmosphere in which the album was recorded. The theme I was seeking was to pay homage to hard-working miners, sailors, skilled craftsmen and artisans, who worked for little reward but took a pride in what they did.
I couldn’t wait to get back to Morwellham every day, it was such a unique experience. It was an extraordinary freedom to explore my music in this magical valley, which is close to my Devon home. And I was determined from the outset to do it as simply as possible, with just one recording engineer and as little multi-tracking and overdubs as possible. We used just one sound field microphone.
Tales from the Barrel House was made in a unique way and so I’m releasing it in my own way too. The album is NOT going to be available from all the usual places; it will only be available from my website via my friends at the Propermusic.com store. The album is going to be a strictly limited deluxe digipak edition, each copy is numbered and I am going to sign the first 1,000 copies sold! In order for everyone to have a chance at getting one of these, the pre-order link for the record will be live on www.sethlakeman.co.uk from 10.00am this Friday 4th November.
Tales from the Barrel House Tour
Fri 02 – Cheltenham Town Hall
Sat 03 – Dartford The Orchard
Sun 04 – Skegness, Great British Folk Weekend
Mon 12 – Exeter Lemon Grove
Tue 13 – Bilston The Robin
Wed 14 – Brighton Concorde
Thu 15 – Southampton The Brook SOLD OUT
Fri 16 – Holmfirth Picturedrome
Sat 17 – Frome Cheese & Grain
Sun 18 – Falmouth Princess Pavilion