PHILLIP HENRY & HANNAH MARTIN – MYND

Mynd

Phillip and Hannah released their new album, MYND on September 2nd 2013

When it comes to a distinctive sound, exceptional duo Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin are in a league of their own.

“Mynd” (Old English): memory/remembrance/act of commemoration/thought/mind/intellect.

One of the most inventive and captivating rising acts on the acoustic roots scene unveiled their evocative second studio album last month.

From the West Country hotspot of musical talent, the harmonious Devon duo will follow up their acclaimed 2012 debut Singing the Bones with the moving and mystical Mynd  – an exquisite 12-track album infused with Phil’s trademark instrumental virtuosity, Hannah’s clear vocals and the pair’s highly original thought-provoking songs often trawled from some of the less obvious moments in history.

Mynd inhabits an English landscape of Neolithic barrows and haunted East Anglian fens, while other narrative songs transport you to the heat of Syria, Egypt and the American south and across to the Swedish chill and Arctic ice.

Winners of Best Folk Act in the 2012 South West Music Awards and Best Duo in the 2013 Spiral Awards, this class act played the biggest venue of their career last year, when they supported Show of Hands at the Royal Albert Hall while this summer they play Glastonbury, Cambridge and Broadstairs festivals.

Widely regarded as one of the best slide guitarists in the UK, Lancashire-born multi instrumentalist Phillip Henry has been described as “one of the most extraordinary musicians around” by Show of Hands frontman Steve Knightley. Knightley who first encountered the duo busking on the seafront during Devon’s Sidmouth Folk Week, describes their sound as “textured, hypnotic and utterly captivating”.

Certainly it’s a sound like no other – mesmerising, atmospheric and other-worldly it is drawn from a wellspring of English folk music, Indian classical melodies, gospel and American blues, interwoven into something truly unique and underpinned by the pair’s subtle chemistry.

Henry, who studied in Calcutta with India’s premier slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya, is also a virtuoso on the harmonica and injects beatbox harmonica into some numbers whilst Brixham-born singer-songwriter Hannah, is a skilled fiddler, viola and banjo player with a real lightness of touch, a haunting voice and a knack for tapping traditional music veins to create contemporary songs.

“This duo is fast becoming hot property on the folk scene and it’s easy to hear why – the musical settings really grab one’s attention and set them apart – fRoots

“Authentic, haunting roots music from a first class duo” – Seth Lakeman

“Phillip Henry is one of the most extraordinary musicians around” – Steve Knightley

Artist’s website: www.philliphenryandhannahmartin.co.uk