Son of Town Hall – The Adventures of Son of Town Hall
Self Released – 1 November 2019
There’s no dictionary for defining Son of Town Hall, they simply exist on a different plane than everyone else, as does their album The Adventures of Son of Town Hall. These two ageless men, Ben Parker and David Berkeley, met over a century ago, in the midst of a barroom brawl, yet both escaped without sporting cuts or bruises. Over the course of that evening, the two set a course leading off to the still newish world of the United States at the cusp of the 20th century.
The deeper the dive into their story, the more fanciful it becomes. Lacking the money for ship travel and the essential well-being to convince a ship captain of their worth, they developed a plan to build a vessel from scrap and junk. Constructing a raft from flotsam and jetsam they took to the seas, where their gifts as seamen were limited, but their ability to craft songs withstood the waves and screams of the sea.
For the intrepid interviewer, their legacy of life on the water and in the world can become a challenge. Asked which current artist takes their breath away, they respond, “There’s a girl who sings in the saloon in Cerrillos, New Mexico. Couldn’t recall her name, but she has a voice like a yellow-tailed black cockatoo.” When it comes to the last song that made them cry, their response, “There was a hymn we used to sing in church which we called the ‘onion.’ Had you on the floor in puddles after a mere stanza.”
As for Netflix and Amazon they offer up, “We never made it to the Amazon, nor those other jungles. But we have heard it can be warm and damp there, so we imagine they’d be pretty good for the voice.” In fact when it comes to binge-watching, “We will admit to watching and loving those days where the sea is as flat as a pricked bladder, and bluer than a robin’s egg.”
Discerning the truth from the fanciful is not an easy task, but the name Son of Town Hall comes from a raft built to cross the Atlantic at the end of the Twentieth Century. Because Ben Parker had a fascination with the Gangs of New York from the end of the Nineteenth Century, costumes were donned, and there began the journey. What was initially a concept for one show has grown and taken on a life all its own.
Over the sound of the sea Ship’s Harmonium sets the scene for what follows, tales of time and tides and the things that tie us all together. There’s a sense of solemnity and sorrow to St. Christopher. They sing, “…there is a world, and it calls me out. It beckons and begs, and starts to shout. And I don’t know why I can’t sit still, like telling the waterfall not to spill.” Yet the call of the sea beckons still.
A bed of acoustic guitars creates the foundation of The Line Between, while the act of trying to understand life’s questions is undertaken, “Out of all the questions the hardest one is why, so we don’t even ask. Just close your mouth and kiss me and time will pass us by, and you and I will last.” Muted brass provides a welcome of resolve.
Poseidon, a song of the sea, opens with an acapella reading of the phrase “o del li,’ as Son of Town Hall begin recounting their tales of times on the water. Amidst the calm beginnings, there are signs of fury in the beast, yet there are also moments of gentle peace. That’s the nature of Poseidon, gentleness and rage in equal parts, which is why “The songs of our fathers, the songs of the sea, when they crossed the water we fell to our knees.”
The subtle interplay on these songs is nothing less than amazing. To Breathe Is To Burn begins with the sound of a guitar, yet along the way another guitar, and then a muted horn join the proceedings. They add to the wonder of the piece without adding noticeably to the volume. While all this is going on the song builds from the depths of despair then a shift occurs, “There’s a fire and it’s burning. That is life it’s what we’re learning. In the end all but love turns to ash.”
Sara Watkins’ (Nickel Creek and I’m With Her) fiddle plays a vital role on California, offering both the hope and heartbreak at are the soul of the song. The land of plenty calls, “Fruit trees hang low, Momma there is gold right beneath the ground.” Naivety fully on display as they declare their destiny is tied to the holy land of California. These were simpler times yet the reality was often not quite so simple.
The beauty of Cobbler’s Hill lies in the detail and the way the song shifts back and forth from an initially acapella reading to the sound of little more than an acoustic guitar as a married couple discuss their relationship over time, and why it took so long to get to the point where they are now. “See I’ve been in love with you since I first saw your eyes, but I was so very shy, we were just seventeen, how did you know back then?”
Morning Fields is a song that does so much it makes you wonder how Son of Town Hall came up with it. Starting out revealing what a man has learned about nature from the signs the earth provides. Love and wonder in equal measure begin to appear as the man begins to relate all that he has learned about this world from becoming aware of this love for this woman. As he begins his revelations another voice provides the counterpoint, first singing of this incredible world, then later singing from a place in his own heart.
Coming at the end of The Adventures Of Son Of Town Hall, The Song You Never Heard plays off an earlier song, The Man With Two Wives. Together they form the story of a man’s infidelity and how it ends up affecting him. Linking the songs is a wordless refrain that turns up in each participant’s tale, before becoming the melancholic moment that precedes the lines underscoring the heartbreak, “Three legs to make a table. Three hearts to break a heart. Three tines to make a pitchfork. Three years of being apart.”
Closing this incredibly intricate disc, Ship’s Piano, which reprises Ship’s Harmonium, also has an intricate string arrangement only slightly resolves the heartbreak of the previous song. As The Son Of Town Hall, Ben Parker and David Berkeley have created an album that plays like nothing else you will hear this year. Equal parts care and craftsmanship, joy and sorrow, it is a splendour to behold.
Video Premiere: The Line Between
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Son of Town Hall UK Tour Dates
NOVEMBER
12 – London, Water Rats
13 – Church Stretton, Carding Mill Valley and the Long Mynd
14 – Stroud, The Prince Albert
15 – Winchester, The Hyde Tavern
16 – Maidenhead, Norden Farm
17 – Eccleshall, The Royal Oak
19 – Leicester, The Musician
20 – Pickering, The Cockpit Music Venue
21 – Folkestone, Upstairs @ The Eleto Chocolate Cafe
Photo Credit: Sjoske Buursink