STEWART GARRY – Sojourner (Minor Artists)

sojournerIs it a film? Is it an album? Both, of course, and Sojourner is also a unique presentation of an artist and his music.

There are eight tracks, performed on a rather stylish Avalon Arc cutaway, linked by Stewart’s narration much of which was filmed at the Laphroaig distillery on Islay, and I can think of few better places. The set begins with ‘After The Rain’, recorded in a Cornish church. For me, there is a bit too much ring on the guitar but that is Stewart’s style. It’s very dynamic with lots of hammering-on and harmonics and very tricky fingering. I’m not sure if the natural acoustics of the church are at fault or whether it was a later attempt to recreate them but the rest of the album is rather more mellow.

Stewart, and his long-suffering (and cruelly uncredited) sound man, haul their gear to many inaccessible places including Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire where the buffeting wind must have been a nightmare; a lighthouse in Whitley Bay and what appear to be tunnels underneath Edinburgh for the one vocal track, ‘Life Is Loud’ with Stewart’s poet brother, Doug. Then it’s on to the bond store at Laphroaig and a loch-side in Argyll for the final ‘Lessons Learned’.

Coventry, where Stewart now lives, is represented by The Tin and ‘Patience Is A Virtue’, a collaboration with violinist Joanna Karselis, and probably the warmest location of the whole project. There has to be bad joke about Stewart suffering for his art in there somewhere.

Having first watched the film, its images and Stewart’s introductions coloured listening to the album which is no bad thing. Sojourner is available in download formats from Minor Artists.

Dai Jeffries

‘Patience Is A Virtue’ with Joanna Karselis:


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