Scottish piper, whistle and guitar player Ali Hutton is a familiar face to anyone who follows the Scottish traditional music scene. Best known for his part in the Treacherous Orchestra and Old Blind Dogs as well as his partnership with Ross Ainslie his name constantly crops up in the credits of numerous albums, not just as a musician but also producer and co-producer.
Like Ali, Laura-Beth Salter is equally at home in the band settings of The Shee and Kinnaris Quintet as she is as a duo with Jenn Butterworth. Raised in Lincolnshire, she is also very much influenced by the American old-time and bluegrass music that her parents played as became apparent on her Bound album with Jenn.
With such a wide array of influences between them, I’m sure the crowd would be split on how they imagine a pairing of Ali Hutton and Laurea-Beth Salter may sound, should the two form a duo. Well, now you can find out as they have been inspired to get together to form From The Ground, with the name hinting at the common ground found between two musicians from very different musical upbringings.
They have just released an EP titled ‘Beginnings’ on which they shared the following: “These tracks encapsulate the music that brought us together and inspired us to give life to this project. This music is a snapshot of our musical beginnings. The roots of our musical exploration into the world around us. These are the seeds from which our music will grow……From the Ground!”
Curious? So you should be but you won’t be disappointed, go and feast your ears on this beautiful and brilliant new collaboration and get hold of their three-track EP via Bandcamp. I hope this is just the beginning and we hear more soon.