When I spoke to the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician Of The Year Mohsen Amini of Talisk on the phone recently all I could hear in the background was the sound of crickets chirping, he sounded like he was in some sort of wilderness. I wish I’d asked where he was as a glance through the Talisk itinerary shows that the trio, consisting of Mohsen on concertina, Hayley Keenan (fiddle) and Graeme Armstrong (guitar), are incredibly well travelled. In August they were in the US performing at festivals in Wisconsin, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, before heading back to Scotland then over to Norway before again heading back to the US for Sisters Folk Festival in Oregon and then over to France. It sounds exhausting but as their new album shows, these travels have come to play an important part in their music.
This month sees the release of their second studio album Beyond which marks another milestone release on the Glasgow-based trio’s line of ascent which is peppered with many fine moments: Winners of the 2017 MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards’ Folk Band Of The Year, 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Young Folk Award and nominees of the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Horizon Award. The album features Greg Lawson as well as the Farewell Choir which seems to feature everyone from the folk scene: Aidan Moodie, Breabach, Claire Hastings, Ciaran Algar, Connla, Cuig, Diana Ladio, Elephant Sessions, Ewen Henderson, Gary Innes, Iona Grace Fyfe, Josie Duncan, Kim Carnie, Jenn Butterworth, Laura Beth Salter, Mischa Macpherson, Sarah Markey, Shannon Quinn, Simon Thoumire, Siobhan Miller, Skerryvore, Ten Strings and a Goatskin, The East Pointers, The Friel Sisters, The Young Un’s, Tide Lines, We Banjo 3….. The album was recorded by Andrea Gobbi, mastered by Grammy Award winner Brian Lucey and co-produced by Mohsen Amini.
As mentioned above, their travels have been a source of inspiration and much of the album is designed to take you on a journey from start to finish as opposed to just eight individual tracks. They recently released a video for Montreal which is our Tune of the Day on which they shared the following:
Montreal was inspired by our travels and in particular to a place we love, Canada. Mohsen Amini was travelling over to Halifax and got snowed in at Montreal. He had to spend the night there and by pure chance bumped into his family in the Airport whom he’d not seen in 15 years.
Before they head off abroad again in November they are playing a number of UK dates in support of the new album including Sage Gateshead and Kings Place in London, see UK dates below.
Beyond is released on 26th October and distributed by Proper Records. Pre-Order here
http://www.talisk.co.uk/shop/beyond-pre-order/
Talisk UK Dates
OCTOBER
22ND – Traverse Theatre, EDINBURGH
23RD – National Centre for Early Music, YORK
27TH – Old King’s Head, BELPER
28TH – Sage Gateshead, GATESHEAD
29TH – Kings Place, LONDON
30TH – Widcombe Social Club, BATH
31ST – The Fleece, EVESHAM
NOVEMBER
2ND – GLASGOW Support TBA, THE BLUE ARROW, GLASGOW
3RD – Eden Court, INVERNESS
4TH – The Sound Archive, KIRKWALL, ORKNEY
For full tour dates and ticket links visit: http://www.talisk.co.uk/gigs/