I’ve a little confession to make…this bit isn’t about clay!
Beneath the Beacon Song Project
In 2018 I was lucky enough to be involved in writing songs for a project called ‘Beneath the Beacon. This involved automata puppets, poetry and songs telling the stories of local historical characters. I’d been a member of local band, The Misdemeanours, for a while by this time, dabbling with writing and performing. This project allowed me to write and play alongside a bunch of lovely local musicians and together we created the Beneath the Beacon Song Project. We had a professional recording made of our second live performance at Wreay Church. The Church itself was designed by Sarah Losh, one of the Beneath the Beacon characters. It’s beautiful and well worth a visit.
Errant Thieves
Out of this song project, by happy accident, another band was born, this was Errant Thieves.
Thieves by name, thieves by nature, stealing band members and borrowing songs creating our own original compositions and arrangements. Our music is very much about the vocal harmonies and woody acoustic instruments creating a rootsy warm sound. Some poignant songs alongside more upbeat numbers with a hint of Americana, blues and a smattering of jazz, they’re all in there.
The Clifford Movement
The Clifford Movement was another spin off from the Beneath the Beacon. Myself, Dawn and my sister June created this band to strive to create innovative ways to tell the tales of folk from the past who lived, loved, worked and played in Cumbria.
Through the use of song, story, puppets and dialect prose, we dip a toe into the past, shedding light on lives past, but very much from our own personal angle.