When Tommy o’ Loan arrived in Stanley from Northern Ireland after the first world war he did two things. The first was to drop his o’ and his Irish accent in the Irish Sea (to avoid prejudice and discrimination from the local population) and the second was, over time, to create a style of North Durham singing (practiced in the bars and clubs of Stanley and Consett) which he passed onto his grandson before his death.
Today the Ree-Vahs! write fresh folk songs about love, life and loss from the Durham borders, sung in an authentic Durham/South Northumberland accent by Tommy’s eldest grandson Andy Loan.
The other Ree-Vahs! are Swampy, JT, Eddie Guitar and Charlie the Fiddler although the ranks of the band are always swelling and contracting depending on what everyone’s up to. Two or twenty people have been known to turn up to a gathering to play the tunes!
In late 2013 Andy Loan decided to capture granddad Tommy’s style of singing on an album for the first time and created Geordieland which are ten original tracks recorded by JT at Mirage Studios, Marske-by-the-Sea. Each tells a story from the Border towns, lyrically and musically.
The first single from the album is “No One Naas Us Anymore” which is a tale of Loan (as Andy is known) returning from a long time away from his childhood haunts and not recognising what he meets there. It features bright guitars, squeeze box, folk harmonies, strong vocals and a killer solo from Charlie the Fiddler.
An album 80 years in the making? Surely a record for a record? Hope you enjoy it.
Artists’ website: www.theree-vahs.co.uk
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