ON TOUR - SUMMER 2011
Described by The Guardian as 'Haunting, original and magnificent', Mercury-nominated Tyneside band The Unthanks have a peerless approach to folk music. Their paradoxical journey of staunch traditionalism and sonic adventure continues with a collaboration for BRASS 2011 with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band; the National Champions of Great Britain, regarded by many as the best and most consistent public subscription band in the world. This unique and fascinating alliance premieres with a performance at Durham Cathedral. With a focus on the folk songbook of the coal-mining industry, The Unthanks will sing material from their past and current repertoire, with arrangements re-imagined for the massed ranks of 'Briggus', as well as material especially written and arranged for this project.
TOUR DATES:
8 July - Durham, Durham Cathedral, showcasing work commissioned by Brass: Durham International Festival
www.galadurham.co.uk 0191 332 4041
16 July - London, The Barbican as part of The Blaze Festival
www.barbican.org.uk 0207 7638 8891
13 September - Manchester, The Lowry
www.thelowry.com 0843 208 6000
15 September - Leeds, Town Hall
www.bandonthewall.org/ticketline.co.uk 0845 2 500 500
17 September - Bristol, St George's
www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk 0845 40 24 001
24 September - Northampton, Dearngate
www.royalandderngate.co.uk 01604 624811
25 September - Derby, Assembly Rooms
www.derbylive.co.uk 01332 255800
The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band
Premiere and UK Tour
Commissioned by Brass: Durham International Festival
Mercury-nominated Tyneside band The Unthanks have a peerless approach to folk music. Their paradoxical journey of staunch traditionalism and sonic adventure continues with this brand new collaboration with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Premiering in the awesome surroundings of Durham Cathedral as part of the BRASS 2011 programme of new commissions, this spectacular alliance will draw on the rich songbook of the coal-mining industry, incorporating brand new pieces alongside new arrangements of traditional and original songs.
With their debut album of 2005 Cruel Sister The Unthanks grabbed the attention of those in the know, exploding into mainstream conciousness with their Mercury Nomination for The Bairns in 2007. Since then music journalists across the board - from puritanical traditionalists to trendspotting pop critics - have been falling over themselves to do justice to the beauty and originality of their music. Mining the rich seam of songs from the north east, The Unthank’s music carries forth the music of their heritage - the poignant tales of love and loss, violence and tenderness, drinking and dancing – in their own distinct style. Whilst proving themselves utterly unique, The Unthanks talent for ensnaring the beauty and the tragedy of mankind has drawn comparisons with Tom Waits and Sufjan Stevens, setting them and the band’s songwriter Adrian McNally amongst some of the greatest torch bearers of the songwriting genre.
Founded in 1881, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band celebrates its 130 year anniversary this year. Over its epic history, the band has established itself as a regular winner of National Champions of Great Britain, and is regarded as the best and most consistent public subscription bands (ie not under the thumb of either colliery or factory) in the world. In 1977 they stayed at No. 2 in the singles charts for nine weeks with The Floral Dance – take note X Factor!
Scaling up their forces and the palette of sounds available to them, The Unthanks have graduated from their closeknit quartet into an expanded ten piece line up and now find themselves amongst the massed ranks of over 30 fullblooded Yorkshire brass players. With a focus on the folk songbook of the coal-mining industry, The Unthanks will sing material from their past and current repertoire, with arrangements re-imagined for the massed ranks of 'Briggus', as well as material especially written and arranged for this project by Adrian McNally. Amongst the new arrangements is one based on the song by ‘The Pitman Poet’ Tommy Armstrong about the tragic Trimdon Grange Explosion, a mining disaster of 1882 where 69 were killed. “I have two steep curves to navigate simultaneously these next few weeks” says Adrian McNally “learning how to write and arrange for brass bands and becoming a father! I have no previous experience of either! I grew up in a small pit village about 2 miles from Grimethorpe in South Yorkshire, so brass band music was part of the fabric, and something I absorbed as a child, which is probably why I find it so emotive as an adult. I couldn’t think of an opportunity in music that I would be more excited and honored by than this. Perhaps it is something in the power and dynamics of brass that is so charged and electric - the brass collective of instruments is surely the loudest of any instrument family, and for me it is the restraint of this power when brass is played tenderly that brings out such beauty and honest emotion.. like a formidable giant with gentle hands! I’m also obsessed by the fragile, vibrato-less playing of Miles Davis, especially on Sketches of Spain; it takes some humanity and restraint to play the trumpet, erm, not as bold as brass!
"For a while now, I’ve been introducing the idea of brass in to The Unthanks, either by using solo trumpet or in pseudo-brass band style arrangements such as on Nobody Knew She Was There from Here’s The Tender Coming. But I’ll be reinventing pieces from all four of our albums as well as arranging and writing new material especially for this concert.”
Rachel Unthank:
From full throttle to warm and hushed, this epic line up provides the perfect sound world for the collaboration’s exploration of the coal mining songbook and a lush setting for the contrasting husky and pure vocals of Rachel and Becky Unthank.
www.the-unthanks.com