A Leicestershire acoustic folk harmony trio comprising Amanda Berry, Julie Holland and Liz Wall, the name comes from three coins detectorists found in the field behind where Berry and Holland live, struck in 1797 by Matthew Boulton, they became known as cartwheel pennies on account of their size (36mm), weight (an ounce) and the thick border designed to reduce wear; however, deemed impractical they were never struck again. As such, Holland on lead, the jaunty strummed opening title track imagines setting off with the coins in their pocket, leaving a life of poverty to find their fortune (“I’ll sing my way to freedom with three pennies to my name/Be bold be strong and close the door on worthlessness and shame”).
Written by Holland about her grandmother, the lilting, woodwind-coloured ‘Miner’s Wife’ redresses the gender balance of songs about the industry, focusing not on those working underground but the women back home worrying if they’d return from their shift (“I wave him off to work each day, but in my heart I know/That danger looms deep down below the ground/I go about my daily work with children at my feet/And I hope that he returns back safe and sound”).
The first of four from Wall, again with Berry on flute, Holland on double bass and Adam Ellie on electric guitar and drums, the sprightly rhythmic ‘Top Of Her Tree’ is a reflection whether, unlike birds unable to see what lies ahead, we’d choose the same path if we knew where it would lead or, basically about taking chances or staying with what we know. Her second comes with the slower circlingly fingerpicked ‘The World Stood Still’, again with double bass and Berry on low whistle, telling the story of a teacher living in a Canadian Prairie town who gets news that her husband’s horse has been found dead and he missing. You’ll have to listen to learn his fate.
Holland’s piano, violin and whistle flute instrumental ‘Boden Brook’ returns to the track where the coins were found and, parts now heavily polluted, conjures how it would have been back in the day and is followed by Barry’s sole contribution, the dreamily flowing ‘Mayflower’ which, while it mentions of the ship on which the pilgrims sailed to America in 1620, named for the flower of the Hawthorn bush, is actually titled for Flower of May, a caravan park on the North Yorkshire coast between Scarborough and Filey where her parents kept their caravan for over 20 years.
Another trio composition, the steady strummed ‘Blood On The Highway’, Holland adding cajon to the mix, tells of a highway woman who, when the rest of the gang were captured and hung, embarked on a solo career, finding other ways to rob travellers using her female assets (“You say you want me, you’ll change your mind come the morning/But I don’t care now, you’ve gone too far to heed my warning/You won’t go boasting, it’s not a game of kiss and tell/You won’t regret a night spent in my bed/Your poorer than before, but you’re not dead”).
‘Smile’ is Holland’s third number, a simple ripping piano, guitar and flute track about how a simple smile that lighten your life when all seems dark and difficult (“it is black where I go to when I’m alone/Without a light to guide me home/White as the snow as my winters they melt into spring/You make it real, you make me sing”).
The final two tracks are both from Wall, the first, drums and double bass back in action, the slow strummed, piano tinkling ‘Evelyn’ written for her daughter (“You came at just the right time/I was lost and I was struggling to find/A way forward with so much unknown/But you came in and you made our house a home”) and her endless energy and optimism (“You always give it all you’ve got, a heart so full of love I pray it never stops”), but also reminding that her mother will always be there for her, Finally, the rhythmically upbeat ‘Under Darker Skies’ with its flute, piano, cajon and guitar, leans into more traditional folk narratives who, turning now an unwanted marriage proposal (“You told me I’d regret saying no/I just didn’t know how far you’d go”) was accused of stealing jewellery and ran away to find a quiet life amongst those who did not know her or her vindictive suitor.
While Lady Maisery, The Magpies and Michell, Pfeiffer & Kulesh have firmly established themselves, UK female folk trios remain few and far between, The Cartwheel Pennies are a fine addition to that currency.
Mike Davies
Artists’ website: www.thecartwheelpennies.bandcamp.com/album/1797
‘The Miner’s Wife’ – live:
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