Believe it or not us Skinnies are incredibly busy behind the scenes putting together our first album. Yesterday me, Dan and Tash were up in Northumbria to visit and record Kathryn Tickell, the wonderful Northumbrian Piper. After the long haul up the A1 on Sunday night we met up with Tash’s ma and pa again for a good hearty casserole and a good ole listen to musics of the North East that Tash’s Dad’s Mate had put together. Ahh it’s good to be back up North again.
Following a couple of pints and a good nights kip we were up early to set off to Kathryn’s house on the edge of the Northumberland National Park. The sun was rising over the spectacular scenery as we crossed o’er moorland with our adhoc mobile recording studio in the back of the Skinnymobile. Upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by Kathryn and her gigantic pet dog who pretty much bowled me over upon opening the door!
After putting up our ramshackle recording equipment in the equally quirky Mill House we got down to a cracking recording session. Wow them pipes dem have a life of their own, gurgling and wheezing, as Kathryn pushes out beautiful evocative tones into the stone walled upstairs room for the microphones to capture and your ears to appreciate soon. An exciting and productive day all in all as we pack up and set off on the 8 hour journey back to London town where we fight some computers for a bit as they transfer the precious data we’ve captured. Here’s a clip of some Northumbrian scenes with Kathryn playin a few tunes….
Look forward to sharing our album with you all later this year.
Max
xx