Last month, Bradford-based guitarist and composer Dean McPhee released Northern Earth. Among the album’s highlights was Appleby Fair, on which Glenn Kimpton wrote: “…inspired by Europe’s largest gathering of gypsies and travellers, the overlaid guitars here are almost playing the parts of traditional instruments, with echoes of Balkan and far eastern stylings in places and hints of bagpipes in others, all supported by the bodhran-like kick drum.”
Dean McPhee has shared a live performance video, which you can watch below. He shared the following on the making of the track:
I filmed and edited the video myself at home in Bradford. It gives an insight into the track and how it’s performed, with a look at the looping process and some of the gear I used to record the album. The track is inspired by the annual Appleby Horse Fair, one of Europe’s largest gatherings of Travellers, Gypsies and Roma. There’s a real horse culture in Bradford, and I’ve been to Appleby twice. Both visits were really inspiring – I got to see the horse trading markets, the famous “Flashing Lane”, where horses are trotted at speed, and the River Eden, where my wife took her horse for a swim. It was great to have a beer, explore the massive car boot sale and wander around, soaking up the sights and sounds…
Northern Earth is out now on Bass Ritual (distributed via Cargo Records)