Album review: The Southbound Attic Band – The Willows Suite

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ALBUM REVIEW


Artist: The Southbound Attic Band


Album: The Willows Suite





May is proving to be a busy month for The Southbound Attic Band, with a scheduled appearance on Folkscene for BBC Radio Merseyside, as well as being featured artists at this month’s Liverpool Acoustic Live and with a slot at the Crosby Music Festival.


The Willows Suite is no ordinary full length CD. It’s a concept album based on the classic children’s book ‘The Wind In The Willows’ by Kenneth Grahame. The band, featuring Barry Jones and Ronnie Clark, pay tribute to Grahame with an ambitious yet accessible set of songs. In between tracks there is narration that helps to tell the story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and Toad.


Appropriately the music is steeped in the English Folk tradition with the banjo offering suitable accompaniment. There’s the occasional lap steel guitar as featured on Weasel’s Blues but for the most part acoustic guitars, mandolin and bass dominate.


Let’s See The Sun, which opens and closes the album, has a beautiful melody, which wouldn’t be out of place on a Ralph McTell record, whilst Wild Wood is a dark narrative that gives the story its dramatic edge. Two of its tracks To Be A Father and Valparaiso Bound turn up here from their previous EP.


All the material on this set is written by Barry Jones and his narration is the glue that binds the whole concept together. So if you happen to be travelling on a canal boat, The Willows Suite by The Southbound Attic Band will provide the ideal soundtrack to a summer’s afternoon.

Find out more go to www.myspace.com/southboundatticband


© 2010 Stuart Todd – stuart[at]liverpoolacoustic.co.uk
Liverpool Acoustic – liverpoolacoustic.co.uk



The Willows Suite can be bought at the following places:-

The Southbound Attic Band is playing the following gigs locally in May.


Liverpool Acoustic Live – liverpoolacoustic.co.uk/live
Friday 28th May 2010 @ The View Two Gallery, Mathew Street
also featuring Rachael Dunn, David Gibb, and James M Carson
Doors 8pm, music 8.30pm to 11.15pm
Tickets £5 on the door or £4 in advance from wegottickets.com



Crosby Music Festival – www.crosbymusicfestival.com
Sunday 30th May 2010 @ Stamps Bar, Crosby
3.00pm – free entry

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