Following the release of his critically acclaimed 2017 solo debut album Hills, traditional folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Jack Rutter has today announced a follow-up with Gold of Scar & Shale, which will be available on CD and download from October 4th 2019.
Watch the video for his first single ‘I Was Once a Young Ploughboy’ (From The Foggy Dew songbook of the Hammond and Gardiner manuscripts) which is out today:
It is Jack’s ability to live and breathe these songs and invite listeners to do the same that elevates this majestic work to something very special indeed. Peter Shaw, Folk Radio UK
Pre-order Gold of Scar & Shale: www.jackruttermusic.com/shop
Produced by Joe Rusby and recorded as live, the new album continues the stripped back approach of its critically acclaimed predecessor, Jack’s debut solo outing Hills. The songs are unearthed gems from the folk canon – almost all of them rare and many previously unrecorded – gathered from old song books and source singers as Rutter uncovered material for this major new release.
Jack’s soaring vocal takes centre stage on the album, delivering each traditional tale in a fresh and current way; his masterful playing and arrangements providing the perfect accompaniment. Jack contributes guitar, bouzouki, duet concertina and harmonium to the album with featured guest musicians Sam Sweeney on fiddle, Alice Robinson on Northumbrian pipes and Sam Fisher on flugelhorn.
There is a strong sense of place on the new record too; over half of the songs have a connection to Jack’s native Yorkshire. The album title itself Gold of Scar & Shale comes from a line in one such track ‘The Hills of Longdendale’, with words written by ‘The Moorland Poet’ Ammon Wrigley (1861-1946).
Jack says “To me Ammon Wrigley is describing the rough and bleak parts of the moorland with this line, the scar and the shale that is always nevertheless gold to him. I love this line and realised that for me it’s also a great metaphor for traditional songs; rough, stark and honest things that contain such riches. I found then that I’d stumbled upon the perfect title for this album, or at least one that I really loved anyhow.”
Jack grew up in the Holme Valley area of West Yorkshire, a place steeped in a wealth of traditional song, and following a BSc degree in Countryside Management at Newcastle University has forged a highly successful career playing music across the UK and Europe. In addition to his acclaimed solo work, he has become a highly sought-after collaborator for a host of the biggest names in folk music such as Seth Lakeman, Sam Sweeney and Jackie Oates as well as performing in the celebrated instrumental trio Moore Moss Rutter.
The release of Gold of Scar & Shale is set to confirm Jack Rutter’s place as a solo artist, singer and performer of traditional songs first and foremost, marking him as one of the standout voices of the folk, roots and acoustic music scene. By shining a light on these original sources and singers, Jack has crafted a collection very much his own.
Tour Dates
6/07 Folk at the Hall, North Wales
19/07 Downend Folk Club, Bristol
27/07 Folk on the Tyne, Sage Gateshead
31/07 Dorking Folk Club
02/08 Cambridge Folk Festival
11/10 Frodsham Folk Club, Cheshire
12/10 Gwaenysgor Village Hall, North Wales
13/10 North Wales Music House Concert, Anglesey
14/10 Stockton Folk Club, Stockton-on-Tees
16/10 Faversham Folk Club, Kent
21/10 Ashby Parva Village Hall, Leicestershire
22/10 Hen and Chicken, Bristol
23/10 Painswick Centre, Stroud
24/10 Stafford Folk Club, Staffordshire
25/10 Doncaster Roots Music Club, South Yorkshire
26/10 Folk at the House Carlisle, Cumbria
1/11 Second Time Around Folk Club, Nottinghamshire
2/11 SHEFFIELD Album Launch Show, Shakespeares, South Yorkshire
8/11 Guildford Folk Club, Surrey
12/11 LONDON Album Launch Show, Green Note, Camden
More Dates TBA
Tickets: www.jackruttermusic.com/gigs
Photo credit: Kate Griffin