whalebone: Albums

Three Fires - 2010

Track Listing:    

4 Stars - 'Special' 'Engaging and hugely enjoyable listen... their tune selection, and execution of the same, is faultless, an ideal balance between light and shade' (David Burke, R2 Magazine, March/April 2011)

Vibrant mix... It's no mean feat for an all-instrumental album to hold even the most sympathetic ear for the best part of an hour, but Steve Downs, Charlotte Watson and fiddler Sarah Ibberson succeed with tunes and ideas to spare.' (Steve Bennett, Acoustic Magazine, April 2011)

'Three Fires exquisitely pays tribute to the ritual behaviour during the midsummer madness... (whalebone) swing their tunes beautifully and, when they get speed up, everything stays wonderfully real.' (Caroline John, Taplas Magazine,  Feb/March 2011)

'A roaring showcase of their not inconsiderable talents.' (Phil Widdows, FolkCast Podcast, Dec 2010)

'Brilliantly conceived and executed.... 'Three Fires' is the sort of album that will hopefully revive the interest in instrumental albums... transports the listener into a kaleidoscope of images and emotional landscapes.' (FATEA Magazine, Dec 2010) 

'It's a work that demands to be listened to and savoured for its immaculate musicianship and clean, clear harmonies, with imaginative riffs, solos and grace-notes adding extra polish... A great album from a truly gifted trio.' (Peter Wooldridge, Shropshire Review, Dec 2010)

'Evokes Midsummer and rural idyll... gives a great impression of the Shropshire countryside where the band are from.. A breath of summer's warmth both visually and musically... I urge you to buy it before it sells out, which it undoubtedly will.' (Dan James, BRFM Radio, Nov 2010)

'A wonderful rendition of the Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)' (James McKeefry, Celtic Fringe BBC Radio, Nov 2010)

Album Notes

Over the last few years we’ve spent a lot of time with John and Carolyne and the many wonderful folks that make up the Kaleidoscope Theatre Company. We’ve never visited them without being inspired by their approach both to performing and to life in general, and the shows we’ve played together in Kaleidoscope’s Barn Theatre in Kemberton have been a huge learning experience for us as well as great fun.

The Barn Theatre, with its beautiful pine floor and mellow age-worn brickwork, has always given us a wonderful sound as well as being a calming and peaceful space. We were thrilled when the opportunity arose to record there in the summer of 2010, and so, early on a sunny morning in mid June we set up our instruments and recording equipment and began to record the music that was to become ‘Three Fires’.

The days we spent there over the next month developed a dreamy rhythm of their own. After putting the world to rights with John for a few minutes each morning, we’d climb the ladder to the theatre’s lighting box, where a flick of the switch would fill the barn with soft honeyed light. And then we’d play. Tunes that we’ve played for years, tunes that were still being written as we recorded them, old favourites that we’d rearrange on the spot, we played for hours, with a focus and intensity that took us by surprise.

Some tunes were nailed in the first take, some took longer to capture, but slowly the list of finished songs grew. At the end of each day we’d emerge from the cool of the barn into the early evening sunlight, often with a Kaleidoscope rehearsal in full flow to add a surreal touch to the proceedings. Listening to the recordings now, they seem infused with all that was going on around us and the idyllic surroundings in which they were made.

Since our live album of 2009 ‘Rootsy…Folky…live and Funky…’ we have been exploring Cape Breton music and a few of these traditional tunes have found their way onto this album – Herman the Carpenter, Wild Cat and Bonnie Nellie Reel - affectionately known as Jolly Green Giant in Whalebone circles. The remaining traditional track is Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), in our opinion a truly beautiful and moving melody, as much today as at any time in its long history.

As a band we have always enjoyed the challenge of performing tunes that audiences wouldn’t normally expect from two acoustic guitars and a fiddle. The three cover versions on this album -The Boxer, Sweet Child O’Mine and Stairway to Heaven - all probably fall into this category and are amongst our favourites. Hopefully these versions demonstrate the beautiful melodies that the original songwriters wrote, with the instrumental versions proving a testament to how the songs stand up as pieces of music without the lyrics.

Another important element of this album is the inspiration of Shropshire, the county in England where we all live and where we have written and recorded these tracks. As well as being a very beautiful, wild county Shropshire is also rich in history and folklore, and some of this is reflected in tunes like Three Fires, Corndon Morning, Red Moon and Wenlock Hare.

Technical Notes:

Steve used a Taylor 314CE with two feeds to the mixing desk, one via a Rode mic and the other from the pickup through a Fishman Aura pedal . The mic'ed sound was used predominantly with a bit of the pickup mixed in to give a little width to the sound. Char used a Martin 000C-16RGTE mic'ed again with a Rode, and a feed from the pickup to fatten the sound. Sarah was mic'ed with an overhead Rode. All of this was fed into a Yamaha AW1600 Digital Workstation. As much as possible we tried to capture the sound of all three of us playing together, and we feel really pleased with the results.

Rootsy...Folky...Live and Funky... - 2009

Track Listing:    

The idea for a live album came about when we realised that there was a growing difference between our studio recordings and the way we sounded live. Playing in front of an audience has always given us a spark and spontaneity and an extra dimension that’s not always present when we rehearse or record in a studio. We wanted to capture this energy on a CD and thus was born the concept of recording a live album.

We chose Cinnamon in Bridgnorth as the venue, as we had always considered it as our ‘home’ gig, and so on a sweltering 1st of June 2008, we set up our equipment in front of an invited audience and pressed the record button... After a hot and steamy two hour show, we had the raw material in the can. The recording included three guitars, one fiddle and several tracks of general audience noise / heckling / good natured abuse.

That was the easy bit. The following months were spent deciding which tunes to use, editing the tracks and mixing. We had decided that we wanted to keep the music as it was recorded without doing any repairs in the studio, but it took us a while to decide on how to include applause and announcements from the stage. Eventually, we left out all of the talking, as it detracted from the music, but other than that, what you hear on the CD is what we played on the night.

Next came the artwork, which includes the ‘faery’ design to go with the opening track ‘King of the Faeries.’ The deep red of the album colour theme is a reference to Cinnamon where it was recorded. The title was chosen to represent how we feel the album sounds and also as a sly nod to The Who’s ‘Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.’

We then handed the recording and artwork over to Torch Music in Berkshire, who mastered the album giving it the final sheen and sizzle. The end result is a CD that sounds just like it did on the night and we are immensely proud of it.

Incidentally if you have the CD you might have realised that there isn’t a two hour show on it There are several unreleased tracks that may see the light of day sometime in the future. Watch this space...

Technical notes:

Steve used a Taylor 314CE plugged into a Fishman Aura pedal and then into an AER combo. We took a line out of the amp and also out of the pedal and chose whichever sounded best on each track. Char used a Yamaha APX9 and an APX5-12 (Twelve string) on two tracks, both plugged into an AER combo - both the AER's are Compact 60's. Sarah used a Headway Band pickup on her fiddle, plugged into a Zoom A2 Acoustic Pedal. All of this was fed into a Yamaha AW1600 Digital Workstation, which we use for all our recordings and there were also a couple of room mics mixed in to capture the live feel.

There to Here - 2009 (remastered) with bonus tracks

Track Listing: 

The first whalebone CD was recorded when we were playing as a guitar duo, although it features many of the tunes that we perform now as a trio. Influenced by the approach taken by Richard Thompson and encouraged by conversations with Pete Ware, a producer we had worked with previously, we decided to record the tracks as live performances in a single take without overdubs wherever possible, and so in November 2006 we set up our recording equipment for a week to record the album.

The setup was very simple, consisting of two microphones placed back to back with Steve and Char playing facing one another. Each tune was rehearsed and then several takes were recorded until the spirit of each piece had been captured. Some tunes were nailed after one or two takes, but others proved elusive. Sometimes external influences seemed to be shaping the performances – Dreamstate was recorded with a misty autumn sunset adding to the atmosphere in the studio. Devil’s Chair as a grey mist swirled outside the window.

Most of the tracks on the album were recorded during that week, Lost Days being one exception. It was written ready for the sessions, but time constraints meant it was recorded a week or so afterwards with Sarah attending the session but not playing. Mixing took place in December and the album was released in January 2007.

The title of the album was chosen to reflect whalebone’s musical development over the previous twelve months that Steve and Char had been playing and performing together. The music hints at wide influences with Blues, Celtic, Classic Rock and Eastern sounds featuring in the mix.

The album has since been remastered by Torch Music Productions, and now includes three bonus tracks, whalebone versions of three tunes - Blackbird, Sultans of Swing and Hotel California - that have become favourites at gigs.

Technical notes:

Steve used a Taylor 314CE guitar and a Gibson Les Paul (on Devil’s Chair) Char used a Yamaha APX9 guitar All instruments were recorded using Rode NT1 mics into a Yamaha AW1600 digital recorder.