Solo by Sam Sweeney

The two untitled waltzes come from the manuscript of Thomas Wrigley (1755). The Cuckoo’s Nest and The Four Seasons come from Samuel Dickinson’s manuscript (1768). I re-learned Tweedside from Rob Harbron and Miranda Rutter, having originally learned and played it with Andy Letcher on the English Acoustic Collective Summer School in 2006. Andy learned it from Geoghegan’s Compleat Tutor for the Pastoral or New Bagpipes (c. 1745-46). The Old Captain and Old Ways Best come from John Johnson’s 200 Favourite Country Dances Volume 1 (1740). Booth’s Hornpipe is from John Playford’s The Dancing Master, Volume 3, but I found it John Offord’s amazing book, John Of The Green – The Cheshire Way.

St Martin’s used to be my practice room. I spent three very happy years living in Stoney Middleton and being able to pop across the road with my fiddle to play and swim in the glorious acoustic of the village’s octagonal church was such a special thing. Coming back to record there was a real treat and I really miss it. The tunes on this EP are, for the most part, the result of digging into old collections sent to me during the multiple lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. Not many positives came from being locked down, but unearthing these old melodies and moving into them provided me with such joy in an otherwise dark and musically lonely time.

Nominated four times, and winner in 2015, of Musician of The Year BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Sam is a veteran of the mighty Bellowhead, former and inaugural artistic director of the National Folk Youth Ensemble, founder member of the acclaimed instrumental trio Leveret.

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