Last year we were introduced to raga’merikana, a partnership between guitarists Glenn Kimpton (a Bristol-based fingerstyle guitarist and freelance writer who is also a regular contributor at Folk Radio UK) & Paul Bradley, probably best known for alt-folk minimalists Three Cane Whale whose talents are many – a right-strung left-handed guitarist, bandleader, composer, triple-octave singer, improviser, sessioneer, collaborator, children’s musician and multi-instrumental live-looper-cum-raconteur (don’t miss their upcoming Winter Guitar Jamboree with C Joynes – details below).
I was walking along a section of West Deane Way last weekend when we caught sight of a murmuration (that looked like fieldfares and redwings). It lasted for just over a minute before the birds descended into a field. The pattern of their communal flight created large sweeping patterns which shapeshifted continually without the birds breaking away from each other – they were in unison but also in freeform flight. Later that evening, while listening to this new offering from Glenn Kimpton, my mind was drawn back to that moment on my walk and the ephemeral nature of these pieces, which seem to exercise a similar pattern of holding together but also enjoying moments of freeform flight.
Listening to him play with the sound of the city and birds calling in the background also lends his work a meditative quality, a moment away from the hustle and bustle of the city. He shared the following:
Two long-form improvised acoustic meditations in CGCGAD
I have recently been listening to a lot of Tashi Dorji and Bill Orcutt’s music and appreciating the immediacy and spontaneity of it. This recording was taken on a beautiful late summer afternoon; I took my acoustic and a tiny Shure iPhone mic and walked up to the allotments near our flat. The allotment we have access to is becoming fairly overgrown, so it’s quite private, but it has great views of Bristol and plenty of wildlife zipping around. These two tracks are a simple appreciation of fine weather and surroundings and of having hands still warm enough to play outside.
Thanks to Nick Jonah Davis for mastering and being an all-round top guy.
It is available via Bandcamp as a ‘name your price’.
Bandcamp: https://glennkimpton.bandcamp.com/album/he-thinks-i-am-the-wisest-man
Live Gig: Winter Guitar Jamboree at Friendly Records
Join C Joynes and Paul Bradley & Glenn Kimpton at Friendly Records, Bristol, on the 12th of December.
As it’s a Winter jamboree, they will have records playing from 5pm (Guitar performances from 19:30), carol singing, mulled wine with Winter cards hand-printed on-site from Ellen & Nick of The Letterpress Collective.
Tickets via: Headfirst here