Navigator Records Press Release May 2009:

ARTIST : CHRIS WOOD
TITLE : Albion An Anthology
LABEL : Navigator Records
CAT.No. Navigator 29
Formats: Double CD / Digital Download
RELEASE DATE : 29/6/09

Website: PRE - ORDER THE ALBUM FROM www.navigator-store.com

Chris Wood has been described as 'a master craftsman of songs and stories' (Mojo).
He is an uncompromising writer whose music reveals his love for the un-official history of the English speaking people. Over the course of his career, Chris Wood has moved centre stage, despite himself , recently enjoying both critical and commercial success on a far wider scale since the release of his last studio album, Trespasser (2008).
BBC 2 Folk Awards Winner: Album of the Year 2009 (also nominated for best original song and best traditional song).

His performance on the night of the Awards was widely regarded as one of the evenings highlights and won him new fans in James Taylor and Rob Brydon who were also in attendance.

'beautifully sung, beautifully played and richly redolent of Englands green'
- The Telegraph

Albion is an impressive double cd anthology due for release on the acclaimed new folk and roots music label, Navigator Records (under license from R.U.F). 21 tracks taken from across ten of his previous 11 albums but also including previously unreleased material ('The Farmer'), as well as collaborations with a range of other artists, including The Imagined Village, Martin Carthy (OBE) and Karine Polwart.

'his delivery is fantastic. His timing is beautiful, his sense of pace is gorgeous'.
- Martin Carthy

BBC 2 Folk Awards Winner: Best Traditional Song 2008 (with Imagined Village)
Chris has had musical commissions from BBC Radio 3's Late Junction and Between The Ears also from The Sage Gateshead and has completed work for Arts Council England whilst also writing and lecturing, indeed his Listening To The River sound collage for Verity Sharps Late Junction program remains one of the stations most requested and talked about of her commissions.

Early in 2006, Wood was one of the first artists to be invited to join Paul Weller, Billy Bragg, Martin & Eliza Carthy and Benjamin Zephaniah in Simon Emerson's The Imagined Village project/album, appearing on Jools Hollands Later and touring the UK including headline performances at The Big Chill and Cambridge Folk Festivals (Chris is now the main male vocalist in the ongoing project, taking over from Billy Bragg for Volume Two, due next spring).

In March 2009, Chris was one of the artists chosen to collaborate and produce new material in celebration of the Darwin Song Project. Marking the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwins death, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking On the Origin of Species, Chris spent a week in a farmhouse tucked away in a tranquil corner of Shropshire with seven other songwriters. The participating artists will get together again at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in late August 2009 and material he recorded for the project has already aired on Radio 2.

After a series of festival and solo appearances throughout the summer, Chris Wood will complete work on a much anticipated new studio album (a national tour for which begins in November and includes a headline date at the Union Chapel, London).

This anthology is the perfect entry point to Chris' wider catalogue for all those captivated in recent years by his music. It includes highlights from his duo recordings in the 1980s with respected melodeon player, Andy Cutting, original material written in collaboration with storyteller Hugh Lupton and the subtle beauty of his work as part of the English Acoustic Collective (which he founded in the late 90s).

Chris weaves passionate intelligence through contemporary parables and distinctive interpretations of traditional material, touching on the commonplace and making it extraordinary.

Pre Order "Albion" from Navigator now

Track Listing

CD 1

The Shouter

I Feel A Smile Coming On

The Colour Of Amber

Albion

Down The Wagon Way

Summerfield Avenue

Lusignac

One In A Million

Hares On The Mountain

The Farmer

CD 2

Cold Hailey Rainy Night

The Land: When The Land Is White With Snow

Mad John

The Mari Llwyd

Valtz Efter Tor Lohne

The Taoist Tale

John Ball

Copernicus

The History Man

Pace Rgging / Ribatz

Walk This World With Music

Previous recordings include:
Chris Wood & Andy Cutting - RUF Records RUFCD01
Lisa (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD02
Live at Sidmouth (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD03
Lusignac (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD04
Wood, Wilson, Carthy - RUF Records RUFCD05
Crossing (with Jean-Fran篩s Vrod) - RUF Records RUFCD06
Half as happy as we (Two Duos Quartet) - RUF Records RUFCD07
Knock John (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD08
Ghosts (English Acoustic Collective) - RUF Records RUFCD09
The Lark Descending (solo) - RUF Records RUFCD10
The Imagined Village (various artists) (2007) - Real World
Trespasser (solo) - RUF Records RUFCD11