Swiftly, a set of songs and tunes emerged and the new album FEATHER was created. Stories of wonder from the natural world; tales of rejoicing and long lost returns; and simple thanksgiving for their own surroundings and place in the landscape. Informed by world rhythms, British folk roots, and the duo’s penchant for making as much noise as possible with only two people, the album is an upbeat celebration, an incitement to hope.
Edgelarks began their musical journey together living in a small caravan in the hills near Exmouth, Devon. Phil had returned, Chaturangui in tow, from studying slide guitar in India with the master musician Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya. Hannah had grown up playing fiddle at traditional folk sessions. The pair met when they were both recruited to alt-roots outfit The Roots Union, travelling from festival to festival, tent to tent, wandering the highways, byways, and old forgotten pathways of these islands. When the band folded, Phil and Hannah formed a duo. They followed in the footsteps of the ancient troubadour tradition, picking up tunes, songs and stories along the way. Spotted busking on the seafront at Sidmouth Folk Festival by champion of independent music Steve Knightley, they soon found themselves touring nationally, supporting the likes of Show of Hands and Seth Lakeman, and eventually winning the prestigious Best Duo award at the 2014 BBC Folk Awards.
Extensive international touring followed, from Japan to South Africa, Canada to Australia. Collaborations saw them team up with Peter Knight (ex Steeleye Span) to form the Gigspanner Big Band; and join Show of Hands as part of their Wake the Union band for a very special show at the Royal Albert Hall on Easter Sunday 2017. As part of the all star lineup for folk-disco project The Band Of Love, they performed to a crowd of 50,000 and broadcast around the world alongside Kylie Minogue and the Manic Street Preachers, for BBC Radio 2’s Hyde Park Festival in a Day.
From recording their first album, Singing the Bones, at home in their living room in the dead of night, they have gone on to produce four more records, each time refining the process and honing their production skills – Mynd, Live in Calstock, and Watershed (which garnered them a second nomination for Best Duo at the BBC Folk Awards in 2016.). With the fourth album, Edgelarks, came another Folk Award nomination, and the decision to adopt the band name (they previously performed under their own names). Feather will mark another step in their journey. An exploration of the musical possibilities of just two people, they plan to translate their formidable live show into album format. A set of songs that will celebrate joy, push musical boundaries, and call out for hope.
The new album ‘Feather’ will launch with an accompanying tour in May/June 2019.