gigspanner

Hannah Martin (Edgelarks, Gigspanner Big Band) talks about the impact of the lockdown on musicians and how they are making ends meet. There may also be positives…such as placing a greater value on music.

Thomas Blake interviews the Gigspanner Big Band, our Artists of the Month, who demonstrate they are admirably democratic not just in their music-making process, but also in their interviews where everyone gets their say.

In a special guest post, Hannah Martin (Edgelarks, Gigspanner Big Band) talks about her own journey into folk music and how we can better attract younger people into the folk scene.

Natural Invention is a piece of music that feels thrillingly, frighteningly, beautifully of our time. With the Gigspanner Big Band, Peter Knight has assembled a group of musicians intent on making some of the most important and exhilarating art ever to sit under the banner of folk music.

The Gigspanner Big Band take to the road again next month with an expanded lineup which, as well as Edgelarks, now includes John Spiers. Watch them performing Awake Awake which will feature on their new album set for release in April 2020.

Next month marks ten years since the release of Lipreading the Poet, the debut album by Peter Knight’s Gigspanner. They will be celebrating with an anniversary tour which kicks off this month.

Gigspanner are on the road again including dates with Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin as The Gigspanner Big Band. Watch the new Perrine Nouvier video for Urban Reel and their entire Big Band set from Shrewsbury Folk Festival.

Gigspanner, formed by (ex-Steeleye Span) fiddle player Peter Knight and BBC Folk Award winners (Best Duo) Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin (now Edgelarks) head out on the road together tomorrow as Gigspanner Big Band – “a unique musical proposition; they are taking folk music down new and enthralling paths.”

Peter Knight (ex-Steeleye Span) and John Spiers (ex-Bellowhead) announce March UK Tour and share ‘The Cuckoo’, a medley of tunes taken from their debut album ‘Well Met’ which is ready for imminent release.

This week’s show is an eclectic one that features 27 tracks and runs just over one and a half hours. Featuring The Limeliters, Jimmie Driftwood, Stick in the Wheel, Jim White, Blue Rose Code, Luke Daniels, Gigspanner and heaps more.

With Gigspanner, Peter Knight has assembled one of the most quietly brilliant sets of musicians in the folk world and beyond. The WIfe Of Urban Law is both experimental and accessible; it is music that respects the past without being in thrall to it. And more importantly, it is a record of stunning and sustained beauty. 

Following the release of their ‘Live’ album and a top performance at Cropredy Festival, we catch up with Gigspanner and Edgelarks (Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin) to talk about their collaboration as Gigspanner Big Band.