The last time we heard from Alan Catton was in 2019 so I had to remind myself about him. A brief summary: Alan is the singer/songwriter/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist with the Hull band Beggars Bridge celebrated as much for his guitar work as anything else. In fact, his previous albums, Faru and Tales From The North Sea Strand, are both collections of finely crafted instrumentals with Alan overdubbing other instruments on his guitar ground. That is very much the technique employed on Traditions & Tales a set of fifteen tracks written over the past decade – this time with words.
Work with me here but I was immediately reminded of the young Al Stewart. There are a couple of melodic patterns that sound familiar but it’s much more than that. Many of the young Stewart’s songs sound nostalgic even when they are contemporaneous with the stories being told – Alan’s have a genuine nostalgia and both are timeless. Again, several of the tracks are very specific to certain places, some sound autobiographical and some give you plenty to unpick. The “place” songs are mostly set on the North Sea Coast but some are London based.
The opening track, ‘Just A Smile’, is all hook as Alan looks back on his first gigs and a girl admired from afar. It sets you up for the album perfectly. ‘Black River’ is the first of the “place” songs – I suspect that he’s singing about the Thames, although it could be the Humber, I suppose. Other places are ‘The Road Down From Whitby To Scarborough’ and ‘The Whale Road’, obviously, and ‘Seeking El Dorado’ (less so). Alan’s autobiographical songs aren’t as explicit as Stewart’s and a track like ‘The Old Beer Off’ manages to combine place, time and memory as it evokes the 1970s. These few descriptions really tell you all you need to know.
On top of that Alan’s instrumental talents provide enough variety to keep the listener engrossed – ‘The Endless Green’, which closes the album is an absolute gem. Traditions & Tales is available on streaming platforms and can be purchased from Bandcamp. Check it out.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: https://alancatton.bandcamp.com/
‘Traditions & Tales’:
Thanks for stopping by. Please help us continue and support us by tipping/donating to folking.com via
You must be logged in to post a comment.