Old Spot are a new Old-Time duo featuring the exceptional talents of Joe Danks on banjo and Rowan Piggott on fiddle. You’re maybe more used to hearing these two performing folk music of the British Isles. Joe released his solo album Seaspeak last year following his year-long residency at the National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Greenwich, which David Pratt described as “a sumptuous and adroitly crafted collection of both beautiful original compositions together with deft arrangements of traditional songs and tunes and the adaptation of words from a poet laureate.” Rowan’s a strong singer and impressive fiddle player and also a member of The Wilderness Yet who recently released What Holds The World Together, which Robin Denselow, in his Folk Radio review, declared ‘one of the folk albums of the year.’
Luckily for us, the duo were introduced at Trip to Verwood Festival in 2021 and bonded over a shared passion for Old-time Appalachian music. An initial campsite session turned into living room jams, sharing lifts to sessions and ultimately the creation of a new old-time duo – ‘Old Spot’. Expect foot-stomping old-time music on fiddle, banjo, gourd banjo & guitar. Influenced by contemporary musicians like Rayna Gellert and Jake Blount, our current Artist of the Month, as well as first-wave recording artists like John Hartford and Bill Monroe, they create contemporary Appalachian music with modern audiences in mind. Old Spot sees two musicians from different traditions come together to explore a shared musical love, creating traditional music that is bursting with joy and imagination.
The first video from Old Spot’s debut album sees earthy gourd banjo and the natural beauty of Padley Gorge underpinning the winding Old Time fiddle tune ‘Black Eyed Susie Jane’. The addition of harmony vocals and subtle percussion accentuate their mellow, elegant reimagining of this session standard.
Their debut album, ‘Old Spot’, will be released on the 7th April, 2023; pre-orders are now available from their website www.oldspotmusic.com.