Liz Conway & Friends – Downhill All The Way
Stonehouse Music – Out Now
The name of Liz Conway may not be overly familiar to readers outside of the north-east of England, and the Northumberland/Tyneside/Teesside regions in particular. Better known under her maiden name of Law, Liz has for many years been recognised as one of the UK’s leading exponents of the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer, an instrument which she passionately believes is much underestimated (still); she has played and championed the instrument extensively both as a solo musician and in various group lineups, and has taught countless individuals and workshops. In the mid-to-late-’90s, Liz was a member of the delectable female quartet Lucky Bags (in company with Judy Dinning, Julie-Ann Kay and Zena Tubmen), who made a couple of very pleasing albums for Fellside (1996’s Food For Thought and 1998’s Delight In Disorder).
Liz’s life-partner Terry Conway also had something of a reputation in the north-east (especially Northumberland), as an uncommonly fine – and very distinctive – singer and songwriter with a beautifully laid-back style. He was equally comfortable, and distinguished, in performing his own songs (if at times unduly modestly!) and purely traditional indigenous (mostly, but not exclusively, north-eastern and borders) repertoire. Terry and Liz performed together as a duo, and released two studio CDs, Premier (2001) and Of Riots And Rabbits (2008), then a live-in-concert (2012) CD on which they were joined by Julie-Ann (now Morrison). Terry had also contributed his unique voice to two tracks on Kathryn Tickell’s Northumberland Collection CD, and five tracks on the mammoth 20-CD Northumbria Anthology issued under the Mawson & Wareham imprint. And a number of his songs were (and happily, still are) increasingly being taken up by other singers, including high-profile artists such as Pete Coe and The Unthanks. However, Terry was to become seriously ill with mesothelioma (a cancer caused by inhalation of asbestos), from which he so tragically died in 2013. In September 2015, a special concert celebrating Terry’s life and songs was staged at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham and featured performances from a number of the region’s finest folk luminaries (The Unthanks, Pete Coe, The Keelers, George Welch & Stewart Hardy, Carolyn Robson and The Bushbys).
Downhill All The Way, then, may appear rather a gloomy prospect for Terry’s widow Liz, and on the face of it a surprisingly downbeat title for a CD in memory of the incomparable Terry. But there’s a healthy dose of irony therein, for this CD proves a distinctly uplifting experience. In fact, Liz describes it as “a bit of a musical autobiography”, wherein she surrounds herself with musical friends in a modest showcase of her own talents on a definitively well-chosen spread of material, taking in solo performances and duo performances with Terry along the way. Actually, it represents an all-too-rare chance to hear Liz herself; she’s a superb musician who in repeatedly shunning the spotlight has been denied the recognition she so richly deserves. Liz explains in her liner note that it took a lot of deliberation and persuasion to overcome her natural reticence and self-deprecating modesty (“nobody’s going to be interested” – ha! I say to that), but as it turns out the clincher was the realisation that a CD dedicated to the memory of her late husband Terry, an uncommonly fine singer and songwriter who had so tragically died from mesothelioma in 2013, could be a mechanism for raising some much-needed funds for the charity Mesothelioma UK.
It’s only right and proper, then, that Terry’s own unmistakable voice should ring out clear and true on the CD’s opening track Sons Of Liberty, an outtake from Liz and Terry’s wonderful 2008 duo album Of Riots And Rabbits. Three more of the CD’s tracks also feature Terry’s gloriously distinctive singing. There’s the affecting and simply poetic Winter Song, jointly penned with Liz, and the almost unbearably poignant Lady Fortune (which was Terry’s very last recording); and finally, we’re treated to a richly-upholstered new studio recording of Terry’s best-known opus, the magnificent, proud anthem Fareweel Regality.
The CD would be worth the asking price for just one of these four tracks alone, but there’s plenty of further enticement on its remaining ten tracks. On eight of these, Liz shows off her considerable proficiency on the humble mountain dulcimer. The pieces she’s chosen range from some “traditional” Irish tunes (three O’ Carolan compositions: Lady Dillon, Blind Mary, and a notably “bright” take on his famous Concerto) to a piece by J. Scott Skinner (Bonny Lass Of Bon Accord) and a rare self-penned item (the evocative Return From Ripponden, which Liz started to formulate on the way home from a booking with Terry at Pete Coe’s club about 15 years ago – I remember the evening well!). There’s also a tune from the Northumbrian Pipers’ Tune Book (Keelman Ower The Land), which is one of a small number of tracks that also feature the superlative musicianship of accomplished multi-instrumentalist John Bushby. Additionally, we find three different harp players (Caroline Bushby, Ailsa MacKenzie and Julie-Ann Souter) contributing variously to individual tracks, while Andy May’s smallpipes further swell the massed ranks for Fareweel Regality.
The remaining two tracks are also quite special: Terry’s own gently reflective composition All Their Small Days is beautifully sung by Julie-Ann with affectionate and supportive dulcimer and harp accompaniment, while the fairly obscure American traditional song Rattlesnake Mountain (learned from the singing of Patrick Sky on his 1065 debut LP, we’re told) features Liz, Julie-Ann and Ailsa singing in spirited a cappella consort.
The recent, non-archive recordings on this CD were recorded by Dave Maughan and John Bushby in their own studio and home environments, and demonstrate a commendable, and entirely right, sense of balance and sympathy. Most importantly, though, Downhill All The Way serves as a lovingly configured, carefully produced artefact in memory of the incomparable Terry Conway, who (notwithstanding constant, well-deserved championship from his many musical friends and the trusty Pete Coe in particular) still remains comparatively unknown in folk circles and grossly under-represented on record, but whose all-too-infrequent live performances still resound in the memory, years on.
Available here http://mauricecondie.co.uk/ (All profits from CD sales will go to Mesothelioma UK)