A glance through Jonathan Day’s tour dates serves as a reminder that he’s no stranger to the road less travelled. Late last year Jonathan shared with us a Tour Blog (read it here) taking in China to the Hebrides, there seemed to be no limits to where his musical adventures would take him. The experience of travelling on the road is something which helped shape his latest album ‘Atlantic Drifter‘, an album that was recorded on the road in Europe, the US and Asia, mostly with a valve desk onto 2-inch tape, in an attempt to capture the genius loci, the ‘spirit of a place’. You can read Helen’s review of the album here.
Jonathan’s a man of many talents and not just restricted to music, as his book of photography Postcards from the Road – Robert Frank’s the Americans showed. Taking the iconic images shot by Frank Roberts in the 1950’s as a point of reference he shot new photographs that commented on the road and contemporary America.
Until very recently I’ve always assumed that he played guitar as his sole instrument but, as this improvisation with Rob Carolan on hang drum shows, he’s a dab hand at the alto as well. Taking it’s title from the live setting of the performance this is Hang Drum in the Night Garden performed at forest hall at Mellowcroft in the Welsh mountains.
As I type this Jonathan is somewhere between Finland and China where he plays two dates before returning to the UK where he’ll continue his Deciduous Tour – a sound of birds on the road less travelled. This includes appearances at Wenlock Poetry Festival, Workhouse Festival and Phoenix Festival both of which are held at Llanfyllin Victorian Workhouse in Powys.
Below you can find those tour dates as well as a radio interview in which Jonathan talks ancient music, found instruments and singing into the silence with Gary Wilcox on ‘the Quiet Revolution’.
More here:
www.jonathanday.net