On 24 June 2022, Lewis Wood will release his debut solo album, Footwork. After a decade of playing as part of bands, most notably Granny’s Attic, he felt like now was the time to make his first solo recording.
As the name suggests, this is an album of dance tunes. However, what sets this apart is that these are all original tunes written for regional English Step Dancing. Throughout the album, you will hear the feet of Melanie Barber, Toby Bennett, Lynette Eldon, Lisa Sture, and Simon and Jo Harmer, all leading exponents of this family of dance styles.
Talking about the tradition, he says: “In this country we tend to focus on Ceilidh and Morris Dancing, but we have an incredibly diverse array of step and clog dance styles from all across the country, which hold up to the more well-known Appalachian and Sean-nós styles. It’s made for a really eclectic album.”
The rich history of clog dancing in this country among working-class communities is something I became more aware of through The Boat Band and an album of Traditional Cumbrian Tunes they released called ‘A Trip to the Lakes’ (via Harbour Town Records, a label run by Gordon Jones of Silly Wizard). That album came with extensive liner notes that included an article by Greg Stephens about the Keswick-born fiddle player William Irwin. Irwin’s first gig as a fiddle player, at the Grapes Inn, Keswick, on May 18, 1839, saw him paid ten shillings, more than a week’s wages at the time. There is one example of celebration where the ‘fiddling and dancing went on till dawn, fuelled by tea and cake’…maybe a little more than tea was consumed. Stephens also considered the origin of tunes, noting the transient seasonal nature of many workers at the time: “Manx and Cumbrian mackerel fishermen worked out of Dingle harbour, Co Kerry, in the summer months in the mid-19th century” and “Itinerant Donegal farmworkers also worked their way up through Lancashire, Cumbria and southern Scotland through the summers…Cumbria was remote but not isolated.” He adds: “It would be a brave man, and a foolish one, who would stick his neck out and say which tunes started in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, or indeed, the Isle of Man.” Today, it’s a tradition that often gets overlooked, which is a shame, as it’s one that, as hinted above, is rich in working-class history…so it’s thanks to musicians like Lewis Wood that this tradition gets some well-deserved time in the spotlight…and, of course, they now have a new set of tunes to be enjoyed and taught. He has a lot to be proud of.
The standard of Lewis’ tune-writing is exceptional, and his playing is mesmerising. He is so wrapped up in those tunes, and they have a beautiful flow that engages the feet instantly…but what’s so gorgeous about all of these tunes is that their spirit emanates from a community tradition…like William Irwin, Lewis Wood is now part of that.
Watch his new video for Kick Down the Door, which Lewis expands on below.
Lewis on the tune ‘Kick Down The Door’
‘Footwork’ is my album of original tunes for English step dancing, and this is the 10th track. It contains two tunes, ‘Kick Down The Door’ and ‘Kairos’, both of which were written in the Lakeland or Westmorland Clog style, with dancing by the fantastic Toby Bennett.
Modern Lakeland Clog is mostly derived from the writings of Tom and Joan Flett, who collected and published details of the local steps in 1979. The dancing in the area was handed down from Dancing Masters in the 19th Century, and these days is differentiated from other Northern Clog styles by its fast speed and the crossing of the feet. Toby is one of the foremost practitioners of the modern style and combines Flett’s steps with his own in the style.
The video itself was filmed on the third day of the four-day session in which we recorded the dancing for the album. It captures the energy of a draining but fun recording session in the hottest week of the year! Massive thanks to Alex Garden for recording the dancing and mixing the album and to Bradley Bowers for the filming and editing.
The venue is The Brook in Southampton, a music venue who were just preparing to re-open after the lifting of Covid restrictions in July 2021. All the dancers said how special the location felt to them during the recording, and so it seemed right to film here. In September, we will be playing the first live show here as a way to bring the project full circle.
We have three gigs planned for that month, and we hope to play more shows in 2023.
Pre-Order Footwork here: https://www.grannysattic.org.uk/product/footwork-pre-order-lewis-wood/
Footwork Live Dates
- 5th September – The Brook, Southampton
- 7th September – Denshaw Village Hall, W. Yorks.
- 8th September – Bromyard Folk Festival
For more information, please visit www.lewiswoodmusic.co.uk