We have been nominated in the 'Best Debut' category at the Spiral Awards 2010, hosted by SpiralEarth.co.uk - you can show your support by voting here: http://www.spiralearth.co.uk/spirals2010/debut.asp 

We're very excited that we've been nominated for the Horizon Award, as part of the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards!! Other nominees are Hannah James & San Sweeney, Sam Carter and Nancy Wallace. The awards take place on Feb 1st, and you can see the full list of nominations here: http://www.bbc.co.uk//radio2/events/folk-awards-2010/nominees 

We have a headline gig at the Black Swan Folk Club in York this Thursday (16 July) and it would be lovely to see some of you there, more details about the gig and venue here: www.blackswanfolkclub.org

We are speeding through the festival season this year, with Wath, Holmfirth, Wombwell and Moonbeams under our belt already, and plenty more to go:

Come down and say hello!

1st April - Spalding Folk Club, Lincs
5th April - Hitchin Folk Club, Herts (supporting Spiers & Boden)
6th April - Woodlark Folk Club, Lambley, nr Nottingham
10th April - Kelvedon Institute, Essex (supporting Dan Raza)
14th April - St Neots Folk Club, nr Peterborough
15th April - White Horse Folk Club, HIghworth, nr Swindon
16th April - StortFolk, Bishops Stortford, Essex
17th April - Cambridge Folk Club, Cambs (supporting Mawkin:Causley)
19th April - Folk at the Manor, Wallasey, Wirral

Reviews of Shadows & Half Light

FishRecords.co.uk

While Katriona and Jamie both have other musical projects (notably Tiny Tin Lady and Kerfuffle respectively), they've performed as a duo for the past 2 years or so, and this debut album really shows them to be one of the UK's finest young contemporary folk acts.
The album is based around the talents of two fantastic musicians; Jamie is an innovative guitarist who not only plays in a distinctive percussive style but amazingly also adds bass and drum parts too. While it would be easy for his obvious skills to take over and be the focus of the duo, Katriona's fiddle playing moves from delicate to fiery and her vocals are equally striking, and they provide a perfect balance to the overall sound.
The musical virtuosity of Jamie makes the live show unforgettable, and while it's easy to pick these elements up on the disc, they've wisely added a range of other instrumentation to the album including percussion, cello, banjo and piano (which is provided by Jamie's sister Kathryn), and this instrumental variety gives the album depth and gives each track a distinct sound.
What makes this album really stand out is in the quality of the writing for such young artists, of the twelve tracks, nine of them were written by Katriona or Jamie and there are some real highlights, 'Travelling in Time' and 'Susannah' are the two obvious highlights and they're both beautifully written and performed songs; 'So Long' is the song that demonstrates the versatility of the duo as musicians, and 'Hunter Man' would fit seamlessly onto any Equation disc.
They are both dazzling musicians, and the whole album is a mixture of their own excellent songs and a couple of contemporary arrangements of traditional songs, and this mix gives the album a good pace and variety – in fact there's very little not to like across the entire album, and 'Shadows and Half Light' represents one of the finest contemporary folk albums in recent memory. Unreservedly recommended.



BrightYoungFolk.com


One of the things that has surprised me since joining the Bright Young Folk team is the willingness of people to offer up CDs for us to review. So it was that I found myself holding the much-anticipated new G'n'R album. That's Gilmore 'n' Roberts as opposed to the other bunch.
Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts have been playing together on the folk circuit since 2006, and as well as their own performances, you may know them from their other projects: Jamie is a member of Kerfuffle - having replaced Chris Thornton-Smith as guitarist in 2007 - and Katriona has been playing fiddle with Tiny Tin Lady since 2006. While they have released a couple of EPs previously, this is their first full length album together.
With the exception of 'All Among The Barley', the album is a collection of original songs, largely written by either Gilmore or Roberts individually, though they take joint credits on a couple of instrumental tracks. The lead vocals are similarly shared out which each taking the lead on their own songs. Of the two, Jamie has the stronger voice but I have to say that the singing is beautifully judged throughout.
The album opens on a strong note, with 'Hunter Man' boasting an upbeat melody, catchy chorus, and a decent folklore-style lyric on a 'if you go down to the woods today….' theme. Things slowdown with next track 'So Long', which is suitably melodically downbeat for a song lamenting the protagonist's apathy and inaction.
I'd read about the duo's liking for complex arrangements & odd time signatures, and on the whole they work really well. One of the first times it really strikes you is on the stop/start nature of 'Stopped Clock', a great little song which begins with an upbeat rhythm that lasts 12 seconds before suddenly careering to a halt, and moving into something much slower. From there on, it's frequently changing pace, speeding up and slowing down as the strings & trombone move in and out. I loved it. Similarly, 'White Lie' is a fun, lively track with an acerbic lyric. Then we get the more gentle beauty of 'Susannah', and a gorgeous version of the traditional harvest song 'All Among The Barley'. 'Pleased to Meet You' is a deeply touching song about the experience of someone you care for having their memories wiped out, and one which sounds like it may very well have been born out of painful personal events. It is a sad, haunting song, and quite possibly the best on the album as a result.
The album wraps up with a couple of slower numbers, 'I Don't Want To Say Goodbye', and 'Travelling In Time'.
Alongside the songs, the CD is dotted with instrumentals – 'Middle of May', 'Running With Scissors', 'Skip And Jump'. They're all inoffensive enough, and I can imagine them working well live as a bit of a jam between songs. But at the same time, the first two don't really leap off the CD and grab me. 'Skip and Jump' has a bit more to it, and really does catch fire in the second half of the tune, but even so, it still feels a bit like filler compared to the rest of the album.
Overall though, this is an impressive debut, beautiful both lyrically and musically. And all without a bucket-wearing guitarist in sight.



FolkAndRoots.co.uk

I first saw Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts live, happening upon them in the Sandygate Hotel last May, as part of the 2008 Wath Festival, when they got up to play a short set, which in turn, and quite unexpectedly, resulted in my jaw dropping onto my lap. Questions were going around my head during their short set, like for instance, what's Kathryn Roberts doing here in the audience? Ah, I thought, Jamie must be her brother. Well done Sherlock. Now answer this; how does one so young learn to play the guitar like that? Jamie plays in an unorthodox manner, by resting his instrument upon his lap, whereupon he embarks on a festival of slapping, thumping and plucking away like a madman, whilst Katriona, an exceptionally tasteful fiddle player, adds the melody with a graceful stoicism. I must point out that when Katriona got up for this festival appearance, she could've been, for all intents and purposes, a fifteen-year old protégé for all I knew; the backlight flooding the Sandygate bar created just a silhouette of this tiny tin lady, but the standard of her playing betrayed her age by a good margin.
Having first encountered the duo at Wath, I caught them soon after in a Sheffield pub, where I bought up all their recorded output, basically a couple of EPs, which served to put me on until the release of this, their first full blown studio album and I must say it was worth the wait. Comprised completely of self-penned songs and tunes, with the exception of the one traditional song "Among The Barley", 'Shadows and Half Light' is not only a suitable taster for what this duo get up to on stage, but also serves as a pretty tasty debut album.
Cutting their teeth in well known young (and current) bands, both Katriona and Jamie are used to performing and touring as well as popping in and out of the studio. In Tiny Tin Lady and Kerfuffle respectively, together with the shared experience of attending Leeds College of Music, where the couple met, Katriona and Jamie have managed to develop their individual styles of playing which now comes together and dovetails neatly in an album that accurately describes what they are all about.
There's a nice balance between Jamie's introspective questioning songs and Katriona's ability to tell a story. Katriona's "Hunter Man", the opening song, evokes the same spirit as Jonathan Kelly's "Ballad of Cursed Anna", with strange goings on in the woods, told with the aid of probably the best instrument for conveying fear and suspense, the violin. For those of us who assumed the duos' musical prowess was limited to an expressively played guitar and some ethereal fiddle solos, then it may come as a surprise that there is also some additional mandolin, cajon, percussion and very effective trombone work, courtesy of Jamie Roberts, which adds an almost mariachi feel to "Stopped Clock" as well as popping up in other choice places on the album.
Katriona's update on the Stephen Foster classic "Suzanna" provides the album with one of the most memorable chorus songs that I can imagine being heard in folk clubs up and down the country before too long. For the sensitive ballads we have Jamie to depend on. "Pleased to Meet You" and "I Don't Want To Say Goodbye" convey depth of feeling and sensitivity in equal measure, and finally, let's not overlook Katriona's delightfully ambient "Travelling In Time", which concludes the album.
Although the songs provide a major contribution to 'Shadows and Half Light', the instrumental pieces are not to be overlooked for a single moment. The inventiveness and dexterity of the duo's playing ability is highlighted throughout the album but nowhere better than in "Middle of May" incorporating the jazzy "Big Nige", with it's instantly memorable, if hardly dancer friendly, time signature.
Finally a word about packaging. To this reviewer, who has been known to put CD packaging in Room 101 ahead of bananas and traffic calming schemes, the music industry has finally settled on an excellent design for CD album sleeves that finally match up to the late lamented (but not quite extinct) gatefold LP sleeves and the beautiful music on 'Shadows and Half Light' has thankfully been given some suitably deserving packaging. Sounds good on the ipod, looks good on the shelf.

Roll up roll up - our new album 'Shadows & Half Light' is now finished and about to go off to the printers, to be ready for it's release on November 1st, however we're hoping you'll be able to buy it from here and our shiny new website (nearly online!) before then, so keep checking back.
Have a look at our gig list too - we are playing a series of gigs starting this Friday, you'll be able to pre-order the album at gigs and possibly even pick up the last few copies of our live EP before it becomes extinct.
In the meantime, check out 3 songs from the new album on our profile & let us know what you think!
katriona & Jamie x

Behold our new live videos, filmed at Holmfirth Festival of Folk courtesy of the great Hamish Currie!

Barnsley Folk Club hosted the night and we played a set with a guest bodhran player, our pal Dom Howell.
Click below to follow the link to You Tube

So Long
All Among the Barley
Middle of May
Pleased to Meet You
I Don't Want to Say Goodbye