A hugely talented melodeon and fiddle player (as well as mandolin, four and five-string banjo and bouzouki) with an incredible repertoire of tunes, folk musician Will Allen recently released his debut solo album ‘English Fiddle‘. He is joined by Rowan Piggott (The Wilderness Yet) on Cittern, and while simple in concept, it’s a vibrant and engaging folk album of traditional English fiddle tunes.
Based in the South East, Will was shortlisted for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Competition in 2015 and has a repertoire of tunes not just from England but also from Ireland and Scotland. He has played for ceilidhs, morris and concerts and has been popping up at Sidmouth Folk Festival this week, playing reels, jigs, polkas, hornpipes and slides for an Irish Set Dance Workshops. He is also a proud member of the electrifying ceilidh band Urban Folk Theory, also performing at Sidmouth this week.
He’s like a millennial Chris Wood
On the front of his ‘English Fiddle’ album is a beautiful photo of a pheasant wing about which he tells a humorous story. This pheasant seemed to have forged some connection to Will and kept following him to the point where he ran from it. It was clearly destined to have its moment of fame on his solo debut album cover.
Selecting a tune of the day was no easy task. Will’s playing has such a lovely vibrancy throughout this album, and Rowan’s accompaniment adds to that overall feel and edge that really makes these tunes feel alive; it’s full of character, a little like Will’s beard.
The one tune I kept returning to was the oddly titled Hod the Lass While I Run at Her. I especially love the plucked string opening over which the fiddle glides in on. Despite the odd title, the tune is hard to get out of your head once you hear it. There’s a graceful playfulness about it, but the delivery is total class. I highly recommend you buy the album.
Order English Fiddle via Bandcamp – https://willallentradmusic.bandcamp.com/