Next month (November 28th), Bristol-based artist Tamsin Elliott will release her highly anticipated second solo album, The Meeting Tree, in follow-up to her highly acclaimed debut solo album FREY (Penny Fiddle Records, 2022). While her debut explored themes of chronic illness and environmental grief, The Meeting Tree highlights and celebrates connection, nature and the joy of sharing tunes with friends. Tamsin says, “following on from my debut FREY, which was quite a heavy and cathartic processing of my years of severe illness, I wanted to create a collection to celebrate everything which makes me feel alive”.
Tamsin’s trio features long-term collaborators Sid Goldsmith on cittern and Rowan Elliott on fiddle, who, along with Tamsin on lever harp, can be seen performing her lead single, “Lonely Jig”, below; the single is released today. While the title may sound counterintuitive to the theme of the album, there’s more to it, as Tamsin explains below. Solitude does not always equate to loneliness, and joy can also be derived from a stronger connection with nature, something that’s easy to become detached from in a world of digital distraction.
“I wrote Lonely Jig during a weekend spent alone in a remote cabin, actually not feeling lonely at all: the company of crows and moss and rain was plenty. The simple, unfussy melody felt like a celebration of being content in my own company. I considered recording it on just solo harp, but when I shared it with Sid and Rowan it came to life and reminded me why I love playing tunes with good people.”
The video, which really captures that passion of sharing tunes, was filmed and edited by Jai Bellchambers.
For more information and tour dates, please visit www.tamsinelliott.co.uk