Having made a name for himself as a successful composer of music for film and television, Roly Witherow has chosen an entirely different direction for the first solo release – traditional folk music. Telling stories through his music comes naturally to Roly and by expanding his universe to include sea shanties, styles from not just around the British Isles but also around the world, as well as the whole gamut of life, love, death and a dash of humour, Ballads and Yarns provides a modern yet classic celebration of the art of folk music.
Ballads and Yarns is preceded by the rollicking sea shanty, Row Bullies Row, recorded most famously by Ewan MacColl but now updated to feature electric instruments and even Korg synthesiser, with an even keener emphasis on the sleazy and the bawdy. It’s a song that wouldn’t have been out of place on Hal Willner’s 2006 Rogue’s Gallery album which pulled together an all-star cast for some vigorous cinematic deliveries of shanties sung by the sailors of the time that were dancing with death. It’s also a brilliant and evocative tribute to the crumbling British seaside town as he explains below:
“Ballads and Yarns is a very personal album for me. It really arose from the desire to make something just for me that explores the rich world of folk music in my own way. As such it sort of dissolves folk influences from all sorts of sources: my favourite artists like Peter Bellamy, Richard Thompson, Ewan MacColl and Sam Lee, but also a recording of The Old Gaffers, a sea shanty group, who played at my wedding, and some world music influences too. When I first heard Ewan MacColl’s version of Row Bullies Row, I instantly fell for it and thought that I could do something quite interesting with this – something more rowdy, electric and a bit sleazy. I had a romanticised idea of dilapidated British seaside towns in my mind”.
Hailing from Peckham, London, though currently based in East Portlemouth on the South Devon coast during the lockdown with his heavily pregnant wife, Roly Witherow has composed for television programmes such as BBC’s hit, Who Do You Think You Are? and Channel 4’s On the Edge as well as for films such as 2014’s Gregor; Sex Ed (2017) and Try (2018). Ballads and Yarns was written and recorded in Roly’s own home studio and was mixed by Joao Noronha in Brazil (where his wife hails from). A nod to the past, present and future, Roly Witherow’s Ballads and Yarns is 21st Century folk music in all its glory.
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https://www.facebook.com/rolywitherowmusic
Ballads and Yarns is released on 8th May 2020.