Back in July, Jim Moray was our Artist of the Month in the lead up to the release of his new album The Outlander. In his album review, Thomas Blake concluded “The Outlander may seem like the slightest and the straightest of Jim Moray albums, but in truth, it is the most condensed and representative document of the artist that we have and that alone – besides all the great songs, of course – makes it a treasure.”
Jim also gave us a personal insight into the album when he sat down for a coffee with Folk Radio’s Glenn Kimpton in Bristol to discuss the album in more depth. “…my idea of playing in a straight way is probably not the same as everybody’s. I feel like our understanding and the audience’s understanding of traditional music is slightly moveable at this point; what do we mean by traditional songs and what do they represent? Since the folk revival of the 1950s, there are so many layers of other people’s agendas that you have to sift through. With this music, the more you dig away at it, the more you realise that everything isn’t what you thought it was. What is an authentic traditional way of performing? When you start to look into the origins and at the evidence, going back to facts, none of it is what you think it is, because we’re all looking at it through people’s eyes. That’s the fascinating part of oral history, or any history, who gets to do the telling? And with folk music, everybody is doing the telling all at once.”
Jim is on tour from this Friday (the 27th) until mid-December, including a return to Bristol (Folk House on Saturday 5th October) where part of the album was recorded (at Joe’s Garage and J&J studios). To celebrate his tour (full dates below), we have a new video to share. Watch Jim performing Bold Lovell alongside Tom Moore (Filmed by Alec Bowman) who also performed on the album alongside a host of other great musicians.
Jim shared the following:
Bold Lovell is an American variant of Whiskey In The Jar, collected in Vermont by Helen Hartness Fladers. I learned it from Roy Harris’ 1975 Topic album ‘Champions Of Folly’. The verses come from a collection called The New Green Mountain Songster, but I suspect the chorus was added by A.L. Lloyd, from whom Roy learned it.
The video is taken from a 40min live session filmed in the historic library room of Ullet Road Unitarian Church in Liverpool. I’m joined on violin by Tom Moore (False Lights, Moore Moss Rutter) who plays on the album The Outlander with me. The full session will premiere on Oct 11th to mark the release of the album.
Jim Moray Tour Dates
Sept
27th • Bournemouth Shelley Theatre
Oct
5th • Bristol Folkhouse
13th • Whitchurch Folk Club
19th • Whitby Musicport
Nov
4th • Blyth The Lightship
10th • Topsham Folk Club
13th • Birmingham Red Lion Folk Club
16th • Eyemouth Hippodrome
22nd • Folkestone Tower Theatre
Dec
7th • Corsham The Pound
8th • Hove House Concerts
13th • Barnard Castle The Witham
All ticket links and details are at www.jimmoray.co.uk