Tag: Sean Morrison

Guitarist Harry Thorpe and fiddler Sean Morrison are based in Birmingham, but the title of their third album together – Grass & Granite – refers to their childhood homes in Suffolk and Ayrshire, respectively. They describe making this album as being a gorgeous experience, and that comes through in the music. This is a lovely album, with a feeling of real warmth. Many of the tracks are personal, relating to family, friends, connections, and home. The album was produced in Bristol by Alex Garden (Tarren, The Drystones) who also plays harmonium.

Grass & Granite starts with four tracks consisting of two tunes. It opens with Harry’s memories of the Suffolk grasslands in ‘Big Skies And Water Meadows.’ This has a gentle English folk dance feel and made me think of summer days spent walking in the landscape. The tempo rises for the second tune on this track, ‘Castle Rock Road,’ composed by Damian O’Kane. ‘Merlin The Wolfhound’ opens the second track. It’s another gentle tune, this time with a distinctly Celtic feel, which is appropriate as it was written for an Irish Wolfhound with a fondness for Guinness. From the photo on the sleeve, he looks like an impressive creature. This is paired with lively jig by Hamish Napier, ‘Cheery Grove.’

A very different sounding track follows. ‘Wedding Marches’ consists of two traditional Danish tunes. These are beautiful tunes, but I couldn’t hear anything joyful in them. On their sleeve notes, Harry and Sean seem to agree and find a touch of melancholy in them. The track ends with a solo fiddle sequence that is hauntingly beautiful. It doesn’t make me think of a wedding though!

Having visited Harry’s Suffolk, ‘Causeway Joy’ takes us to Sean’s childhood visits to his grandfather’s birthplace on North Uist, with its landscape of islands, sea locks and causeways that join the islands. The solo fiddle opening is fast, discordant, and repetitive, reminding me of a bee buzzing busily amongst flowers. When the guitar joins in, a very Scottish traditional tune, ‘The Oyster Wives Rant’ develops. This is paired with another Scandinavian tune, this time from Sweden, ‘Ales Engelsak.’ It’s another good track, nicely played with some jazzy touches.

The first vocal track follows. ‘The Girl I Left Behind Me’ is a wistful love song in which the narrator looks back to a girl in Ireland who refused his offer of marriage. A nice English traditional song, well performed with Harry on vocals. The track then continues into a very good instrumental sequence consisting of two reels, ‘Hulls Reel’ and ‘McArthur Road.’

The quirkiest track on the album follows. Harry and Sean wrote ‘Claudette’s Last Dance’ about Harry’s car, now retired after carrying them around for many years. It’s fast, discordant, funky, jazzy, and great fun. Another newly composed tune follows. Harry wrote ‘Something New’ for three friends, including Sean, who are facing big decisions. A beautifully lilting tune.

Another strong track follows, a cover of The Pogues song ‘A Rainy Night In Soho.’ Both Sean’s vocals and the accompaniment feel underplayed, which works beautifully on a bittersweet love song. And perhaps no one has written bittersweet love songs like Shane McGowan, whose funeral took place during the weekend when this was recorded.

That was the first time Sean has sung on an album. It’s followed by another familiar song, this time sung by a guest vocalist – Michelle Holloway of Birmingham’s self-styled untraditional folk band, The Bonfire Radicals. Various slightly differing versions of ‘Sovay’ have been collected. In my neck of the woods, it was one of the songs collected from Dorset singer Marina Russell, who called it ‘Shilo.’ Lots of you will be familiar with the story, but it tells of a woman who disguises herself as a highwayman and threatens her fiancé with a gun, testing his devotion by demanding his engagement ring. He passes the test by refusing, but in the last line, she tells him that if he’d handed over the ring, she’d have shot him. The lyrics describe her as ‘Tender hearted just like a dove’, but I think she might be one of the more frightening characters in folk song. Michelle’s singing and the accompaniment has a sharp, almost staccato feel, emphasising the menace and drama. After that, it’s welcome to calm down with a beautiful Scottish slow air. ‘Put the Gown Upon the Bishop,’ is a traditional tune, thought to date from the 1720s.

Grass & Granite ends with ‘Coast To Coast,’ written to celebrate the engagement of two of their friends, who undertook a journey from east to west across the USA. The track is a sort of tone poem, following the journey across the continent, with some appropriately Americana touches. It starts with a gently melodic sequence, before quickening up as they travel through Death Valley and Middle America. The track comes to a joyful conclusion as they reach the West Coast, which is where the proposal took place. Harry and Sean are rightly proud of this impressive track. Like others here, it’s clearly very personal and is a fitting end to the album.

I found this to be a very likeable album. The material is pleasingly varied and nicely arranged, with fiddle and guitar combining beautifully. Add to that a song with Dorset connections, a Shane McGowan song, and a tune written for a dog, and this really did tick a lot of boxes for me!

The likeability of this album is enhanced by the cover design, with impressive artwork by Hannah Beresford. This includes a richly textured front cover painting of the standing stones at Pobull Fhinn, on the aforementioned North Uist. There are also very comprehensive sleave notes, which many of us who prefer CDs to downloads will appreciate, even though the text is a bit on the small side.

In short, Grass & Granite is a thoroughly enjoyable album. It’s well produced, with fine musicianship and a good selection of material. It’s one that I very much recommend.

Graham Brown

Artists’ website: Grass & Granite | Thorpe & Morrison (bandcamp.com)

‘Merlin The Wolfhound’ – live: