Broadside Hacks is a new collective derived from a group of like-minded musicians with a wild and lustrous curiosity for traditional, radical folk heritage. If that caught your attention, the lineup that’s been gathered for this project is certainly one of the most exciting I’ve seen in such a collaboration for some time.
Broadside Hacks features members from a variety of bands and musical projects including Katy J Pearson, Pixx, Junior Brother, Lankum, Sorry, Yorkston Thorne Khan, Gently Tender, Blaenavon, Shovel Dance Collective, Brigid Mae Power and more. They are set to release a 17-track collaborative compilation album on vinyl titled ‘Songs Without Authors Vol.1’ on September 24th, which will also be available digitally via Broadside Hacks Recordings.
The project was founded by Campbell Baum (Sorry, Maudlin) and although initially conceived as a lockdown project, Broadside Hacks spiralled into something much greater than what was initially anticipated to be a club night in Camden Town.
Our first album taster comes from Katy J Pearson and Maudlin’s re-imagining of ‘Willie of Winsbury’. While the tune is instantly recognizable there’s a strong contemporary feel and freedom at play here that underpins the whole idea of the project and makes it so attractive – a collective paying homage to the past whilst remaining creatively free.
Campbell Baum explains, “This circa 18th Century song (rumoured to be based on James V’s marriage to Madeleine de Valois of France) is accompanied by an air that, although seemingly made for each other, were first paired as recently as the 1960s when folk music icon Andy Irvine mistakenly matched the text to the tune of another ballad, ‘Fause Foodrage’. In their separate lineage, both go much further back, though”.
Speaking about the track, Katy J Pearson said, “The beginnings of Willie of Winsbury are utterly fascinating and the fact the song has survived hundreds of years is wonderful. The lyrics to me have a big feminist undertone which is very forward thinking for the 1700s”
The concept for ‘Songs Without Authors Vol.1’ features re-works of traditional songs with no set origin, where either the song or the lyrics has no known author. It is a way to return to how folk music existed before the Victorian song collectors began putting everything down on paper and codifying the tradition. It is bringing life back into the songs, making them live and breathe again, within the singer’s own right. An album that starts in the deep roots of folk, later flowing into contemporary realms, there’s a passionate belief throughout that these songs can captivate and hold relevance today, toying with the definition of folk music in 2021 with incredible style.
Speaking about the project, Broadside Hacks say:
“Songs Without Authors was put together by a mixed company of musicians who share, above all, a passion for honouring our heritage in song. The marvel of Folk music is, in our view, its ability to find relevance in all times and places, while remaining essentially local. In this way, a Folk song may remain firmly rooted in a village, town or province, while being taken up by individuals who are centuries and continents apart. They are collaborations surpassing time, place, and genre. In this compilation, we have embraced this spirit of Folk. We do not believe that these songs should be preserved in stasis: they survive by their reinvention. They are the property of everyone and no-one, and our joint inheritance.”
Broadside Hacks believe the old songs can still be relevant – that in the ancient melodies and words about past times can be found truths about today. If you want proof, revisit one of the albums that introduced them to folk – Liege and Lief – and hear songs that could be drawn from today’s headlines, about honour killings, about class, about lives forced into certain directions for want of the choices wealth brings. In 2021, to so many people folk just means “someone with an acoustic guitar”. Songs Without Authors is not that: it is music rooted in a place that has grown to encompass something universal.
With more special guests to be announced, the current Broadside Hacks touring band, consisting of Katy J Pearson, Naima Bock, Maudlin, Oscar Browne and members of Goat Girl, caroline and Sorry, will perform music from Songs Without Authors Vol.1, and the recently released Our Singing Tradition Vol. 1, in September 2021 across the dates below. Tickets are on sale here. The Broadside Hacks band will also perform at 2021 festivals including Green Man and End Of The Road. A Broadside Hacks residency at Skehans Freehouse in Nunhead will begin from July 26th, running every other Monday with an open floor policy to all players who wish to join.
Songs Without Authors Vol.1 will be released digitally on September 10th, with a vinyl street date of September 24th. Pre-order here
All profits of this album will be split between:
A non-profit organisation working with people who are homeless or are at risk of losing their homes across Ireland.
A charity working to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Scotland, inclusive of non-binary people.
A charity working with African heritage women & girls who’ve experienced domestic or sexual abuse or who have lost a loved one to domestic violence.
Songs Without Authors Vol.1 track Listing:
1) Sophie Harris & Maudlin ‘If I Were A Blackbird’
2) Shovel Dance Collective ‘Georgie’
3) Thyrsis ‘Brigg Fair’
4) Pixx & Maudlin ‘Barbara Allen’
5) Junior Brother ‘The Lambs On The Green Hills’
6) Maudlin (ft.Powerhouse Gospel Choir) ‘900 Miles / The Orphan’
7) Rosa Zajac & Daragh Lynch ‘The Burning of Auchindoun’
8) Aga Ujma ‘Uwoz Mamo’
9) Yorkston Thorne Khan ‘The Jealous Woman’
10) Naima Bock & Maudlin ‘The Game Of Cards’
11) Organ Morgan ‘Si Bheag, Si Mhor’
12) Katy J Pearson & Maudlin ‘Willie of Winsbury’
13) Asha Lorenz ‘I Don’t Feel At Home In This World’
14) Oscar Browne ‘Spencer The Rover’
15) Gently Tender ‘Ae Fond Kiss’
16) Brigid Mae Power ‘True Lover’s Farewell’
17) Jasper Llewellyn ‘Melody From Jarai Love Song’
Players and Collaborators in Order of Appearance:
Sophie Harris (Modern Woman)
Shovel Dance Collective
Thyrsis
Pixx
Junior Brother
Maudlin (Sorry’s Campbell Baum, Blanaeven’s Frank Wright, caroline’s Oliver Hamilton, Sam Grassie and Jamie Staples)
Powerhouse Gospel Choir
Rosa Zajac
Daragh Lynch (Lankum)
Aga Ujma
Yorkston Thorne Khan
Naima Bock (ex-Goat Girl)
Organ Morgan
Katy J Pearson
Asha Lorenz (Sorry)
Oscar Browne
Gently Tender (Members of Palma Violets, The Big Moon)
Brigid Mae Power
Jasper Llewellyn (caroline)
2021 Live Dates
August
22nd – Green Man Festival, Walled Garden Stage
September
2nd – 5th – End of The Road Festival, Wiltshire
11th – The Gate, Cardiff
12th – The Cube Microplex, Bristol
14th – Komedia Brighton, Brighton
15th – St Matthias Church, Stoke Newington, London
21st – The Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield
22nd – Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox, Glasgow
23rd – Sacred Trinity Church, Manchester
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