It’s over 50 years since Liege & Lief almost single handedly created the genre folk rock. Since then, that simple marriage of traditional music and electric instruments had been suborned and sidetracked, dissected and documented, Oystered, Albioned and Steeleyed.
Eleven years ago, another band took up the challenge. Enter TRADarrr.
Recalling the assault of the new which Fairport’s 1969 LP represented, they have reimagined folk rock, painting from a much larger palette, introducing the tints, tones and textures of a whole panoply of musical genres.
As you’d expect, here are the precision percussion, searingly tasteful guitars, melodic basses and fiery fiddles that one associates with the genre. But in addition, one finds brass in truly British styles, the dazzling brightness of Purcell, the oomph of Elgar, the emotive richness of a Yorkshire brass band soloist, but also hints of jazz, trad and modern, and even the occasional mariachi riff, string sections, and countless astute references to a long legacy of pop and rock in its many forms.
Many of the songs and tunes they perform are reworked familiar classics. Many are simply gems from the tradition that band members have always wanted to perform, could there be a better reason for singing a song?
After three acclaimed studio albums, appearances at festivals (including Fairport’s Cropredy Convention) and venues across the country and overseas, TRADarrr returns to the Mill, the setting for their first pre Cropredy bash 11 years ago.
PJ Wright, Guy Fletcher, Mark Stevens, Marion Fleetwood, Gregg Cave, Gemma Shirley and Brendan O’Neil together create the perfect night of music for folk fans who have made their annual pilgrimage to Oxfordshire. Come and join them and their special guests (to be announced!!)
