Megson, featuring Debs Hanna (Vocals, Whistle, Piano Accordion) and Stu Hanna (Guitar, Mandola, Banjo), released their first album, On The Side, twenty years ago. As mentioned previously on KLOF, they are still amongst the most exciting and accomplished musical partnerships around, and their music has never shied away from the political, historical and personal.
I could lift many quotes from across KLOF from previous reviews, but one that stands out as a summary of their greatness is from Thomas Blake’s review of their 2019 album Contradicshun (Con-tra-dic-shun).
One of the things that sets Megson apart is their sheer range of ideas, their willingness to try something new, even nine albums and fifteen years into their career. They are equally adept at updating well-known traditional material and composing their own sharply observed and often politically astute songs. Previous releases have included an album of children’s songs (2012’s When I Was A Lad) and a collection of songs from the last 250 years of North East England’s musical history, released to coincide with the pair’s wedding. Another secret to their success may be the fact that they keep everything in-house…This allows a degree of creative autonomy you’d normally associate with Bandcamp’s bedroom-pop revolution and allows Stu and Debbie’s highly original take on folk music to bear fruit.
He concludes: Contradicshun is a masterpiece of shared creativity, the fullest flowering of a partnership that has been nurtured for fifteen years.
Five years after that album, their creative partnership is still thriving.
To celebrate twenty years on the road, the duo have now delved into their northern roots to bring fresh life to the traditional ballad “The Oak & The Ash”, the first version of which dates as far back as 1609. Telling of a maid from northern England who has strayed to London & now wishes to return to home, the song proclaims;
“The oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree, They flourish at home in my own country.”
Stu says, “We created MEGSON as a vehicle to explore our attachment to northern England’s traditional music and it’s narrative song tradition. The Oak & The Ash is iconic in this, especially amongst those like us who have left their home towns. Arranging this song felt like coming home.”
The Oak & The Ash is released on 1st November via their own EDJ Records (distributed by Proper Music) and will be showcased on their 20 Years On The Side Tour that kicks off this month; details are below.
Pre-Save Megson’s The Oak & The Ash here: https://megson.lnk.to/oakandash
MEGSON – 20 Years On The Side Tour
25 OCT – OXFORD The North Wall
26 OCT – CORSHAM Pound Arts Centre
27 OCT – PORTSMOUTH (SOLD OUT)
02 NOV – CAMBS. (SOLD OUT)
08 NOV – DISS Wingfield Barns
14 NOV – HERTFORD St Andrews
16 NOV – NORTH NORFOLK Swanton Novers Hall
23 NOV – BRISTOL Westbury-On-Trymm Hall
Tickets: https://www.megsonmusic.co.uk/2023-here-we-come/