Hudson Records Listening Club – Jenny Sturgeon – The Living Mountain
Sunday 18th October – 10.30am
The Living Mountain by Shetland based Jenny Sturgeon, our current Artist of the Month, is inspired by trailblazing nature writer Nan Shepherd’s book of the same name and Jenny’s experience growing up near, and walking in, the Cairngorms. Within the song cycle, Jenny explores her personal connection to this highland area as well as delving into Nan’s philosophy of simply ‘being’ in the mountains and interacting with the wild.
Shepherd’s 1940s mountain memoir, which lay unpublished for some three decades, has been described by The Guardian as “the finest book ever written on nature and landscape in Britain”.
Multi-instrumentalist Jenny, who has a PhD in seabird ecology, recorded the album with producer Andy Bell at Clashnettie Arts Centre in the Cairngorms National Park, Sturgeon’s twelve songs mirror the chapter titles of Shepherd’s book – ten self-penned songs and two arrangements of Shepherd’s poems, interwoven with field recordings captured from within the Cairngorms – from flowing rivers to birdsong. (you can hear the real thing if you visit 57°10’34.9″N 2°59’27.6″W).
Join Jenny as she listens to and discusses her new album, Jenny will be online to chat about the album throughout the listening club so say hello in the comments area. You can watch the live stream on Hudson Records Youtube channel, subscribe, like and follow to receive notifications.
You can see the previous Listening Clubs from Shooglenifty, Flook, Sam Sweeney, Fay Hield, Salt House, Rowan Rheingans, The East Pointers, Kinnaris Quintet, Rob Harbron, The Lost Words Spells Songs, Karine Polwart, Martin Simpson, The Furrow Collective, Neil McSweeney, Sam Carter, Northern Flyway, Hannah Read, The Servants’ Ball & Jon Boden here – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPaOuwxBK4LSEa2SmBp4S2GEkhyqSFUTi
Streaming Link: https://www.youtube.com/hudsonrecords