Unearthing by Patterson Dipper
Although folk song sources have supplied most of our raw material, we have, over the past few years, explored the possibility and embraced the challenge of arranging songs from the English classical tradition in an English revival folk idiom.
The idea of ‘unearthing’ is not just a matter of looking in different sources, printed and recorded, to discover ma- terial to perform, though that is how it begins. It is more about the journey we take in discovering the musical possibilities of the material in the context of our performance.
The musical complexity of the classi- cal tradition stands in stark contrast to the oral tradition in its glorious simplicity. Our musical thinking and approach are, inevitably, impacted by the material, but in the end words and melodies are our starting point wher- ever they come from and we would never want to stop exploring and de- veloping ideas. We hope the resulting work is both true to our musical roots and respectful of its source.
Tracklist
| 1. | I Will Go with My Father a-Ploughing | 4:12 |
| 2. | Rere's Hill | 3:59 |
| 3. | If it's Ever Spring Again | 2:53 |
| 4. | King of Poland / The Waterwitch | 6:57 |
| 5. | In Summertime on Bredon | 3:51 |
| 6. | In the Time of the Breaking of Nations | 2:32 |
| 7. | The Isle of France | 4:53 |
| 8. | The Murdered Servant Man | 4:25 |
| 9. | He Fades Away | 4:27 |
| 10. | Mathilda's / Lads in their Hundreds | 6:09 |
| 11. | Gardening | 3:30 |
Credits
James Patterson: Vocal, Guitar (James plays a Martin 0021)
John Dipper: Viola d’amore (John’s Viola was made for him by Jonathan Hill)
All tracks arranged Patterson Dipper except 5 and 10 arranged Dipper Lever
Adrian Lever plays Guitar (track 2), Tamboura (track 7), Harmonium (tracks 5 & 10) Emily Askew plays cello (track 5)
Recorded by: John Dipper, March 2020
Mixed and produced by: Ben Corrigan and John Dipper
Mastered by: Tim Turan
Portrait painted by: Caroline Pick
Photos by: David Heke
Sleeve design by: Joe Pick
License
All rights reserved.
James has been singing on the English folk music scene since the early 1970s. In 1975 he met his long term musical partner, the late Ralph Jordan, with whom he worked as the duo Silas. He was part of Crows from 1978 until 1986. James and Ralph were joined in 2000 by John to form Patterson Jordan Dipper and John and James have continued their collaboration, working towards this album release.