English folk trio Leveret, featuring Andy Cutting on melodeon, Sam Sweeney on fiddle and Rob Harbron on concertina, head out on the road this October for a series of tour dates in celebration of their live Variations Live album released last year.
Variations Live was their first live album and was recorded at one of the last few live gigs to have taken place before Covid put an end to touring for a while. As mentioned in Billy Rough’s album review here, most of the album was recorded at two concerts, Kings Place and Sage Gateshead in February 2020 with the final track, Rachel Darling’s ‘Snow on the Tracks’, recorded at St George’s Bristol in June 2020 as part of a streamed gig.
Alongside some self-penned inclusions, the fifteen tracks were sourced from Playford, Rutherford, Leadley and others. It was a striking and enjoyable album on which Billy Rough concluded:
Variations Live is simultaneously harmonious, vital, timeless, and invigoratingly fresh, featuring three masters at work and clearly relishing the joy and companionship of playing together. For players and listeners, it genuinely doesn’t get much better than this.
So don’t hang around, book your tickets early to see one of the finest live acts playing within the English tradition (details below – to note: a few more gigs are to be announced).
Soon after our album review, Billy also caught up with Rob Harbron who he interviewed here. When he asked Rob about what prompted the trio to record a live album Rob explained “It’s something we’ve thought about for a while, because of the way we approach our music – we don’t have any fixed arrangements so the same piece can sound totally different from gig to gig. Capturing a performance in the studio doesn’t always feel as spontaneous even if it is done in one take so we really liked the idea of recording a few gigs and putting out a record that captured the essence of a live Leveret gig.”
Watch them performing ‘Snow on the Tracks’ below.
Leveret: The Variations Tour October 2021*
Fri, Oct 08 – Reeth Memorial Hall, Reeth, North Yorkshire
Sun, Oct 10 – CatStrand, New Galloway
Tue, Oct 12 – Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds
Wed, Oct 13 – Stoller Hall, Manchester
Thu, Oct 14 – Cecil Sharp House, London
Fri, Oct 15 – Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon
Sun, Oct 17 – Bamford Community Arts & Crafts, Bamford
Mon, Oct 18 – The Fleece, Bretforton
*Check their website linked below as a few more gigs are to be announced.
Ticket links and more details here: https://www.leveretband.com/gigs
You can still order Variations Live double CD here: https://www.leveretband.com/music-shop