I’ve just seen Ewan Mclennan play the Foundling Folk night at London’s Foundling Museum. It’s one of an ongoing concert series that take advantage of one of the museum’s medium sized rooms, an unusual setting, with the walls hung with large oil paintings of important figures from the foundling history and a few other historical scenes. None the less the gigs have been well attended and well worth having on your radar if you live in London, but unlike Coope Boyes & Simpson, whose three voices were easily big enough to feel the temporary venue, there’s small, but adequate PA in place for Ewan, which with his guitar and vocals set up is right for the night. The sound and the show are superb and post performance, Ewan’s doing a brisk trade in CDs signings and good natured chat, but I wait my turn we manage to exchange greetings and organise a meeting for the following day.
As it transpires he’s staying overnight just a couple of miles from me, but when he arrives is cursing the London traffic and could almost certainly have walked it quicker. We head for the nearest café, as the skies above threaten rain. As it duly arrives, a significant number of those in the vicinity follow us in and we are quickly surrounded by mothers and fathers with babes in arms, small children, dogs and assorted flotsam from the deluge. Yet above all of this, with the clink of cups and plates, coffee orders, breakfasts, cakes and the in house soundtrack, we manage to talk for well over an hour.
By miracle the conversation is discernable above the background din and I start by asking Ewan about moving to Bristol. He replies, “I didn’t move there for any musical reason as such, but had friends there and really liked the city. I’d been living in Leeds for a few years and fancied a change. I figured I’m young enough and I can do what I do anywhere, so I might as well take advantage of that and try a few places out. It’s not that any roots are being put down anywhere.”
I tell Ewan the reason for my asking is that I sense that his Scottish identity is still an important part of his work. He’s thoughtful for a moment, before saying, “It’s a big question, identity, where it’s rooted and even whether it’s rooted. Sure, having lived in England for eight years now, I’ve lost some parts of being Scottish. The accent has toned down,” he laughs, “and so has the vocabulary. But in a funny way I stand out more and I get identified as being Scottish, so in some circles, I’m known as Scottish Ewan. There’s also an element of the old cliché that absence makes the heart grow fonder that are certainly true. As I spend time away I find myself being drawn to Scottish culture, or more specifically the folksongs. At the same time I don’t want to be limited by it. I’ll sing English songs, American songs or Irish songs if I want to.”
It’s a fair point that Ewan is a folks singer and songwriter first, but I suggest that the point I’m after is that sometime regionality can be a very positive thing in folk and it’s a genre that obviously sustains local traditions and storylines. He agrees and then runs with the idea, “I think that’s true but it’s like it has radiated outwards over the last decade and more and there are lots of people who now sing with a regional British accent. They sing in the voice they talk with. Whether there’s any direct link to folk I don’t know, but people like Guy Garvey, who sings with a notably North West accent, also seems to be singing about things that feel like real life rather than big, glamorised cinematic stories.”
This leads us directly into Ewan’s aims of building stories from the bottom up, as clearly stated in his sleeve notes for Stories Still Untold. Ewan quickly expands on the point, “I think that because folksongs have generally been written by ordinary people and about ordinary things, they naturally take that perspective and fulfil that role. Topic’s series, Voice Of The People says it all, although I think that title had been used before anyway. But again it’s not just folk and I think others, whether you’d call them folk singers or not, who sing very compelling stories that seem to involve very ordinary people. I think that regardless of genre, those are the sort of songwriters I’ve always been drawn to.”
I wonder then how it feeds into Ewan’s own inspiration and especially the very moving trio of his own compositions on Stories Still Untold. I tell him that The Ballad Of Amy Nielson in particular had the better of my emotions. “Good,” he responds quickly before laughing and adding, “I don’t mean that in a harsh way, but it means I’m doing my job.” He smiles and picks up the thread, “I think with the exception of Whistling The Espernza, form my previous album, The Last Bird To Sing, which was written about the Chilean miners and so obviously based on news reports of the event, I write about the things that happen to me, or that I see around me, or people that I know. They are stories that I hear at first hand, but of course poetic licence allows me to change the details, the name and places as I write them.”
[pullquote]Some would want to argue whether politics has a place in folk music, but I think folk music is politics, so I think it’s a dead end argument.[/pullquote]In the songs that Ewan writes and arranges there is a strong political thread and social conscience that runs throughout. I tell him I’m particularly impressed by the strong element of sedition in the new album: people with strong voices who have unpopular points of view for the powers that be and are thorns in the side. Again, he laughs, “Yes I’ve always been drawn to those people in songs, in my reading or in my life. Some would want to argue whether politics has a place in folk music, but I think folk music is politics, so I think it’s a dead end argument. It can be lurking in a ballad about an honour killing, and there are plenty of them, but what is that if not gender politics.”
He expands the point taking another perspective, “There’s also something I feel really strongly about and that’s when people are singing about things that they believe in, or things that really matter to them. It’s not just a quirky or interesting story, or something humorous, but something that you really feel. It can be a number of things, even love and heartache, but when the singer makes that personal connection with the subject then they are able to sing it in a different way. To an extent the political content of my songs enables me to do that.”
It’s unquestionably true that for a performance to work there has to be a connection and it must be far easier to make that if the singer is getting something from the song too. Ewan suggests, “I think that’s very true, you’re always looking to create a spark with individuals in the audience. As I’ve said when I write, it is personal to me, but it also affects the traditional folk songs that I chose. I’m looking for something to jump out of a song or text and connect with me to begin with. But even when I’ve got that, I work on the song, there may be words or phrases, ideas I’m trying to emphasise that put the feeling into my performance, because it’s that that people respond to.”
There’s another slight change of direction as he continues, “I think there’s an understanding in folk circles, certainly amongst the older generation, if not all of the younger players, that you’re honing a craft. There is a body of work that has gone before to help you find the tools to do that, but it’s just on loan to help you find your own way. I think that over the three albums that I’ve made nothing radical has changed, but my understanding of what I’m doing and why I’m doing it has grown steadily. As a musician and singer, I’ve worked hard, so I’d like to think that both my singing and guitar have got better. You might also say that I was a bit naïve in my approach to folksongs to start with, but as I’ve learnt more, so my appreciation of them has grown. Its all a work in progress though.”
He shifts the thread on again telling me, “I’d say the one area that I’m really pleased with is my own songwriting and even since the new record was recorded. When it came to making Stories Still Untold, I had lots of my own songs that I didn’t put nto that record for one reason and another. Really over the last year to 18 months that’s been ongoing to, so I’m writing more and more and that’s a really exciting part of my growing craft.”
Returning to that theme he continues, “I don’t feel that I’ve achieved any end goal as yet. Along the way I’ve had the chance to work with Dick Gaughan and Martin Simpson, both people who I have a huge admiration for. The opportunity to play alongside them and learn from them has just been incredible. They’ve been incredibly generous with their time and willingness to share their skills and appreciation of folk music with me and it’s been a great influence on me.” He continues, “It’s a great aspect of the folk world. There are lots of people who are very much more established than me and better at what they do than I currently am, but they’ve been very encouraging and very willing to share their knowledge. It’s the absolute antithesis of the cut throat world of music. There’s a real appreciation for what you’re doing, or trying to do, rather than just focussing on who you are.”
There’s good news too as Ewan explains, “I’m really pleased with the reaction to the new record. Not that it’s any real measure of anything, but I’m really pleased with how many people have said that it’s the best thing I’ve done, so that feels like progress. The gigs are definitely getting better as well, more predictable in their regularity. I guess that’s direct feedback that I’m heading in the right direction. People at folk gigs aren’t afraid to tell you if they think you are going wrong,” he laughs again, “it can be a pain, but actually it’s that someone cares enough to give you their opinion and it is direct feedback.”
So the immediate future will see more of the same, just Ewan guitar in hand working on his craft. Arguably he emerged pretty much at the top of his game anyway, but the generosity and support of others has obviously been well received and put to good use. It will also doubtless be repaid and passed on down the line. Stories Still Untold is evidence of just how good that craft has become over the course of the last four years and seeing his immaculate live performance confirms the belief that he stands head and shoulders clear of the pack. I can only urge you to find out for yourself.
Interview by: Simon Holland
The Shearing
The shearing refers to the cutting of wheat and corn and the story taps into the common folk tale of a young woman being abandoned by a soldier.*
https://soundcloud.com/folk-radio-uk/ewan-mclennan-the-shearing
Also click here Watch Ewan’s exclusive Folk Radio UK Session here.
Tour Dates
17/10/14 The Music Institute, Guildford
18/10/14 Miss Peapod’s, Penryn
25/10/14 Glossop Labour Club
07/11/14 Korks, Otley, West Yorkshire
19/11/14 The Red Lion, Birmingham
20/11/14 Topic Folk Club, Bradford
21/11/14 Roots Music Club, Doncaster
22/11/14 Davy Lamp Folk Club, Washington
23/11/14 The Glad Cafe, Glasgow
24/11/14 Glenfarg Village Folk Club, Glenfarg
Stories Still Untold is Out Now via Fellside
Order via: Artist Direct | Fellside | Amazon
www.ewanmclennan.co.uk
*Sourced from liner notes