Winter Wilson announce new album and tour supporting Fairport Convention

Winter Wilson
Photograph by John S Wright

Winter Wilson are preparing to hit the road with the legendary Fairport Convention right now – but they could very easily be on the dole. This is the story of a couple who turned the nightmare of redundancy into a dream of playing music for a living…

“We gave ourselves a year to see how things would turn out,” says singer Kip Winter. “Five years later we’re still getting away with it! It’s not easy, but playing music professionally beats working for a living.”

Kip and partner Dave Wilson were popular part timers on the folk scene and released Winter Wilson albums at their own leisure. But, following the banking crash and global crisis of 2012, things changed for the couple and music became the priority. Since then, critical acclaim has followed their every move and they even made one of the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Top Ten Folk Albums’ of Summer 2014 with the redundancy-inspired Cutting Free.

Now, to coincide with the Fairport Convention tour, the pair release their eighth studio album, Far Off On The Horizon, another fine collection of self-penned songs on subjects as diverse as migration, old age, young love and Australian weather!

The music they make is as sharp in sound as it is observational in message and they always pay strict attention to harmony and tunes. Dave Wilson’s songs pull no punches and are as comfortable in a contemporary box, as they are at home on the floor of a folk club. Indeed, his songs have found their way into the repertoire of many a seasoned floor singer, as well as several other recording artistes.

Now the duo have been hand picked to support musical legends Fairport Convention on the band’s winter tour and are ready to delight new audiences around the country. After all, great songs born in a cottage industry fit very well with the emotional geography of the roads they’re now travelling. “We never did the gap year thing as students, and we knew we had enough money from our redundancy pay-outs to buy a van and get by for a little while, so I’m glad we said ‘sod the daily grind’ and got out there,” says Dave.

“Getting out there” has included releasing more albums, like 2016’s critically-acclaimed Ashes & Dust, and touring them around the world.

So what’s next for Winter Wilson? “Well, there’s twenty eight dates with Fairport Convention,” replied Dave, “then we kick off our own Far Off On The Horizon tour of the UK and Ireland. After that, who knows?”

Judging by the determination of these two moving musicians, we won’t have to wait long to see and hear more.

Artists’ website: www.winterwilson.com

Needless to say there are no videos from the new album yet…but here is ‘Who Will Remember Me?’ – recorded live in Australia earlier this year:


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