Sophie Crawford – Silver Pin
Self Released – Out Now
You sometimes wonder how some people manage to fit in all the things that they do in their lives, especially in this age when more and more have a portfolio of employment. However, it was forever thus for people in the performance business, treading that fine line between being in employment and upholding your own ideals.
But before I get bogged down in a discourse on the merits (or not) of such an existence, I come to this because an album that has been around since last November has gently fallen into my consciousness over the past few weeks. Sophie Crawford, folk musician, and much more, released her debut album Silver Pin at the back end of last year and since then it has been bubbling away gaining more publicity.
Sophie is an actor, musician, writer and producer and co-artistic director of Glimmer Theatre. If this was not enough, Sophie apparently runs a monthly poetry and music night, Patterned Ground, a monthly folk singing session, and produces and performs with the drag king band Boyz. However, it is Silver Pin that helps bring her to the attention of a wider listening audience.
This album is an interesting collection of songs that have a fairly dramatic feel to them, stories that one could believe being expanded into stage productions, or at least the prompt for them: clearly defined characters, strong plots and not necessarily the ending that the audience might have hoped for. Jack Hall is such a character, a chimney sweep in some versions but here we cut to the chase of his brash confession on the way to the scaffold following a life of robbery and murder. Familial relationships are tested in Green Grows the Lily, a version of The Cruel Brother/Three Knights and in an allied vein, a seduced girl laments her pregnancy in My Apron Now.
It is not just about the storyline though. Sophie has a clear and strong voice that can deliver these unhappy tales with appropriate attitude and does not hide behind a lot of instrumentation. Her sparse use of the dulcimer, accordion or ukulele, or that of producer Oliver Coates’ cello, serve to underline or add to the texture, the atmosphere becoming tangible, for example in the Wreck of the Dandenong.
A couple of surprises as well on this album. Little Yellow Roses bucks the trend of mainly Roud/Child catalogued tracks as it was written by Trevor Peacock and appeared originally on Adam Faith’s second album in 1962. This version is quite a distance from that original and probably comes via Fay Hield though there are clearly the odd tweaks that make it Sophie’s own. Idumea, originally a Charles Wesley hymn that became subsumed – and well-known – in the Shape Note singing canon, comes away from that four-part harmony as a delicate work – delicate though definitely not vulnerable.
As for the unexpected ending, listen to the bright title track, Silver Pin, a song with as many titles and versions as there must be people who have sung it. This version, unlike many of those though, has the joyous ending of the suitor telling the woman of his passion where to go when it becomes clear that she is only in it for the money. A happier ending than just giving in.
Silver Pin is an excellent first release with a great selection of songs. Sophie Crawford has a lot to offer in both her voice and her rendition. This has gently but firmly fallen into my consciousness and I hope she finds time in her busy schedule to record a follow-up.
Order Silver Pin here: https://sophiecrawford.bandcamp.com/releases