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In June of 2009 I opened up the Willkommen showcase at Union Chapel (by ..Arctic Circle..). I did this with some friends and choristers, and some people wrote things about it. Some people even said whether they liked it or not, but the Independent is above such partisanship.

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“Singer-songwriter Rowan Coupland (who plays woodwind in Shoreline and Sons), processing around the chapel followed by the "Willkommen Choir", cajoling the early audience arrivals to join in.”

-The Independent, ****

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“First up, Rowan Coupland enhanced the general state of wonder by eschewing his microphone and exploring the aisles of the chapel, followed by his choir of kindly friends. His attempts to instigate a sing-along were rather optimistic for an audience who'd barely sat down, but the points when his voice filled the beauteous arches of this building (which was made for choir-singing after all) were very special indeed.”

-For Folk’s Sake....

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“Rowan Coupland, acoustic guitar in hand, leading a choir of people rather bizarrely in a procession from the floor at the side of the stage and onto the stage itself, like something from a Nativity play.”

-Earz Mag....

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“Rowan Coupland was first. He was accompanied by a choir and they utilised the gorgeous acoustics of Union Chapel perfectly, wandering up and down the aisles singing and playing with their voices reverberating around the epic church. Beautiful! At times he reminded me of Final Fantasy, especially during his more dramatic moments whilst singing over the top of the choir ( and at one point he flung himself onto the ground). I loved his set and he did a brilliant job of opening up the show.”

-AnikaInLondon....

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Manchild cherub ROWAN COUPLAND opens the show, serenading the arriving punters as soon as the doors are unbolted. Wandering amongst the pews with harp, guitar and a motley crew of a chorus in tow, Coupland's attempts at audience participation don't quite work out as planned - it's a brave attempt, but ultimately foolhardy to ask a stranger, fresh from the tube to sing along - where's the foreplay?

Luckily Coupland succeeds in charming, with a syrupy minstrel-ish tone that fills the awesome space around him. He will pop up again throughout the night, moonlighting in a variety of bands. It's a leitmotif that characterises the very essence of the Wilkommen family.....

-WhisperinAndHollerin....

Hiya,

i'm moving into a busy autumn schedule, at which you may find me doing a number of shows, one of which is probably the right one for you.
brief outlines:

SEP 12: supporting vetiver and tiny vipers at audio, brighton
- £10, doors 7pm and very early start. really very excited about this show, it will be a loud and stately one and i am very looking forward to playing with early musical heroes, vetiver. they're a pretty wonderful folk country band, played with joanna newsom, devendra banhart, vashti bunyan...

SEP 13: supporting whalebone polly and rozi plain at sanctuary cella, hove
-a willkommen night, i think £6 and an all-girl line up bar me. i might sing some yoko ono songs maybe. quieter more english folky night than audio.

SEP 19: psychadelic double bubble at the lectern on lewes rd. you can buy tickets for this and a 2nd show the week after. my show will be in support of the sensational drum eyes. this'll be loud and exciting and i hear the lectern is very hot.

-more later

hello,
over the last many years i have produced limited runs of cd-r albums and eps and collated song bunches, and these end up hanging around in small quantities after the event. i'm looking to the future and newer new releases, but i also have some old cds hanging around, so if any of you would like to take these off my hands i can offer them to you for very reasonable amounts.

The cds are:

ROSES AND DAFFODILS
1.Roses and daffodils
2. Your best place (studio recording, sung solo)
3. i got born on sunday morning (in the shade) (up to heaven)
4.marjorie penn
5. summer
6. postage stamps
7. memories of the summer of 2003
8. opening
9. no window
10. breathing life back
11. le reveil
12. i was born in the sun (in the snow, in the sleet, and the rain)

-this is a compilation of all my recent best songs, and holds together really well as an album.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW (EP)
1. drying off
2. postage stamps
3. colour the atmosphere
4. memories of the summer of 2003
5. breathing life back
6. opening
7. no window (acoustic)
8. what happens now

-this is recorded as 'fine crystal' and contains a few old but good songs from that period. it looks quite lovely, for the record. this is a free add-on if you want to buy roses and daffodils.

if you're interested, i will send you both cds for £6. just send me a message here, or email rowancoupland@gmail.com and we can arrange payment.

Hello everyone,
I am performing a set at the union chapel in london on friday June 12th, for arctic circle. I and fellow members of the willkommen collective will be performing (sons of noel and adrian, shoreline, laish quartet, miserable rich, kopek, the leisure society, kristin mclement andddd sweet billy pilgrim. who aren't willkommen but i hear they are good).

i am fair starting off the night, but the union chapel has such incredible acoustics and my songs have gotten so vocally weighted that i have decided to assemble a choir for this one off show. i would love to have a veritable hoard of people with me who know the songs and can help me and the venue and the soundwaves to produce something memorable. if you are interested all that will be required is one practice in brighton in the week preceding the 12th, then for you to get to union chapel in london by, say... 6pm on the friday. i can't pay transport but if you have practised with me for the show then you'll get free entrance to the whole evening, which will be rather fantastic (and £12 or so i think)

i also plan to distribute crib sheets to the audience. so there'll be an organised section of singers being the choir, then a disorganised audience who can join in where they feel comfortable. i think it could be special. are you in?

TIME OUT cites me as being famed for making 'thoroughly beguiling neo folk', WILL BRUCE of FORESTSTRONGHOLD.WORDPRESS.COM erroneously calls me 'a Bath-based folkie noisemaker' (I am now firmly based in Brighton) but then goes on to credit me with having 'an incredible voice from the same milieu that spawned the fantastic Nancy Elizabeth. If you're looking for an artist to start watching early before he completely takes over, Rowan is a good candidate.' JON HILLCOCK of XFM NEW NOISE, before or after playing songs such as memories of the summer of 2003 and breathing life back, would say many nice things, the only bit of which I can remember being: "excellent: check him [me] out if you get the chance". A man called CHARLEY DUNLAP kind of goes off on one, but before this says that I am an 'interesting fellow'. Then also: 'These were Art Songs and this was an Art Song evening. If it hadn't been in a pub it would have been a salon. If it were in Vienna it would have been lieder. His songs were studied affairs, largely tempoless, but interesting none the less in a Sufjan Stevens sort of way.' The only thing I can take out of this is that I sound like Sufjan Stevens, which is not an unfair comparison (for me and also hopefully for him). Lastly, GIGSREVIEWSNEWS.COM said some negative things about an album I didn't really finish, from a time before I had started playing shows, but I don't like to quote this, not even selectively to make me sound good.

 

In terms of cold hard facts, I have performed shows in support of wonderful singers and bands including DIANE CLUCK, PETER AND THE WOLF, CASTANETS, and SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN. My solo and band performances have taken me to the UNION CHAPEL, END OF THE ROAD FESTIVAL, AND WHITECHAPEL GALLERY, as well as many venues around Brighton, and indeed other venues exterior to these places.  I play around eight different instruments. I am 20.  PHIL ELVERUM once gave me a little paper booklet, but there is probably no significance to this.

to end smoothly, fine crystal was the name i gave myself from 2005-2007. I made music before and will continue to make music after. There is no guarantee that any name will not be temporary, except possibly my own for legal documents &c. Under the name fine crystal i produced a double cd of recordings entitled 'you can sleep now' (2005), a finished album entitled 'radio' (2005), 'the longest day EP' (2006) and 'to breathe in a storm', an album (2006/7).

songs from thereabouts are now found here and cds are still, in theory, available.

Recordings under the name 'Rowan Coupland' are currently 'Postage Stamps', a five song EP (2007), and 'Thorns, brambles, White Water and Black Oak', a six song EP (2008)