Hackney Folk Club Present Brighde Chaimbeul + Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell
Scottish smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul (pronounched Breetch-er Hime-bowl) is a leading purveyor of experimental Celtic music. Her piping has earned her a BBC Young Folk Award and a BBC Horizon Award, and seen her perform for heads of state at the Cop26 climate conference. She’s brought her instrument to a global stage, and has worked with a range of other artists - currently she can be heard on Caroline Polachek's new single "Blood and Butter". With her second album 'Carry Them With Us’, Chaimbeul has taken it beyond folk music, discovering a place where tradition and minimalism meet, offering her the freedom to experiment in sound and create something completely her own. 'Carry Them With Us' is an exhilarating weave of rich textural drones, trance atmospheres and instrumental folk traditions. She was joined on this album by acclaimed Canadian sound explorer and saxophonist Colin Stetson (Arcade Fire, Bon Iver), who also co-produced the album.
A native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye, Brìghde's style is rooted in her language and culture, but draws inspiration from a variety of global piping traditions, such as from Eastern Europe, Cape Breton and Ireland. Her debut album ‘The Reeling’ (2019) had an extraordinary response. Produced by Lau’s Aidan O’Rourke, it was named as Folk Album Of The Month by The Guardian, given five star reviews in both fRoots and Songlines, lavished with praise by BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and listed as one of The Quietus’s Albums Of The Year. 'The Reeling' was voted one of the 20 Scottish Albums of the Year by the Say Awards (out of 293 submissions) and secured a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award win for Brìghde.
“Simultaneously ancient and modern, profound and direct” – Folk Album of the Month – The Guardian
“A unique, exciting and forward-looking album that sets the bar for 2019 very high indeed” – The Quietus
“Exciting, unusual and gorgeous” – Songlines
“Pure, vital energy… exceptional playing” – Folk Radio
“Mesmerising” - Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
"It is a quirk of musical fate that some of the most traditional forms can produce the most experimental sounds. Brìghde Chaimbeul is an instrumentalist from Skye who is steeped in the musical and oral traditions of the islands and highlands of Scotland but whose music is as invigorating and new as anything currently being produced in either folk or contemporary avant-garde circles … A common misconception about drone-based music is that it doesn’t go anywhere or do anything. Chaimbeul’s tunes ride roughshod over this notion, unfolding, expanding, and sometimes exploding.” Folk Radio UK April 2023
“... an exciting, sometimes bewitching set of tunes. The album’s title is a quotation from Gaelic bard Iain Sheonaidh, of South Uist, who carried the old tales with him. Brìdghe Chaimbeul, deeply immersed in her culture, is doing the same. At the same time she is making the tales new, by transforming them into some of the most satisfying and complete music to be found anywhere in these islands. The Quietus, April 2023
“… an album to immerse oneself in order to reap the greatest rewards. From the opening moments of first track Pililiù (The Call Of The Redshank), the warm, gauzy sounds of the smallpipes floods the ears, starting a short musical journey that brings with it both mystery and beauty ... the album shows how Chaimbeul takes the traditions of folk music and gently reshapes and redirects them … evocative and beautiful … helps shine light on a lesser seen musical world.” **** musicOMH, April 2023
Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell
Owen Spafford (The Weaving) and Louis Campbell (Sam Sweeney) met as teenagers, as part of the first cohort of the National Youth Folk Ensemble. Since forming their duo in 2018, they have been nominated for the BBC Young Folk Award and received play on BBC Radio 2,3 and RTE1. A shared musical ‘true north’ and lasting friendship enable the duo to make two instruments seemingly sound as one; creating subtle and emotive textures that re-calibrate the fiddle and guitar duo idiom.
Their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘You, Golden’ (04/11/22) was self-produced and recorded live in just two and a half days with engineer Joe Garcia (Idles, Blowzabella) with a make shift setup in a barn in Bampton, Oxfordshire. It features a mixture of traditional and self-penned material, though the line is intentionally blurred to unite the two - leaving listeners questioning which is which.
Owen has performed for the leaders of the commonwealth states, toured with Giffords Circus and has received a scholarship to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Owen is also an All-Britain Fiddle Champion in the Fleadh Cheoil na Breataine and BBC Young Composer Competition nominee. Equally at home in a traditional session as he is in a free improvisation workshop, Spafford's understanding of the oral tradition and love for vernacular music from around the world enables an inventive and thoughtful fiddle style.
Louis has been lucky enough to perform with Martin Carthy and John Doyle and joined Sam Sweeney’s band at 19. At the Royal Northern College of Music, he studied under Martin Simpson, Stuart McCallum, Craig Ogden and Kris Drever and has been cited as ‘a talent to watch’ by the Sunday Times. Most commonly seen behind a large effects pedalboard, the duo provides space for Campbell to connect with his first love, the acoustic guitar. He has also released three solo EPs of alternative music.
The duo allows Owen and Louis to distill their love of traditional and experimental music into powerful, intricate and intimate music. Their debut album 'You, Golden' manages to orbit many different sound-worlds while staying within acoustic English folk music; seamlessly blending traditional tunes with their own material.
Improvisation, humour and musicality make each live performance unique.
“Rising stars of the folk scene” - Katie Derham, BBC Radio 3
“Beautiful, swirling, modern English folk music” - Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
“Gorgeous Music” - Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, RTE 1
“They display a mastery and vision that, for a debut, is truly remarkable.” - Folk Radio UK
“Virtuosic, vibrant and very, very progressive. A magnificent take on the trad. tune idiom. Don't let their youth suggest these aren't two very wise old hearted musicians at the start of a very long and glorious career” - Sam Lee
“Brave, brilliant, deeply musical and creative. Listen to this....” - Martin Simpson