View basket “The Collection” has been added to your basket. Keys Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles SKU: DC784 Barcode: 0781484078418 22.00 £22.00 Genre: Folk Label: Drag City Released Date: 9th April 2021 Buying Format: 1LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles’ debut is well titled: keys are what they play and keys unlock things too. Their trad bonafides are balanced with inquisitive playing that adds surprise as a formal songwriting and arranging tool. Spirited 21st Century folk music made of equal parts bluegrass, classical, country, gospel and improv. ‘Keys’ is, on first blush, a collection of guitar and banjo duets – but from the opening moment, it is clear that Bill and Nathan’s agreed-upon duo is a living organism, growing as it goes. Behind the stately figures of ‘Idumea’, a 19th Century southern hymnal played out on their stringed instruments, a low organ drone hums persistently, signalling that this music, while coming from traditional places, is asking more of itself, seeking sparks of inspiration to light the path forward. Bill and Nathan met a few years back, if time has any meaning. It didn’t seem to at the time – after the first night they hung out, it seemed as if they’d known each other for a while already. A year later, in 2018, they were booked as a duo at Cropped Out. Preparing for the show involved a correspondence exchanging lots of provisional ideas, thoughts and music back and forth from Chicago to Durham NC, then dashing through the ideas again on the festival grounds an hour before the show. From this seemingly hectic preparation, their playing that night was remarkably serene, a spiritual treatise clothed in the casual and natural manner of the proverbial porch, or in this case, riverside-jam, as the stage literally straddled the edge of the Ohio River. It was a stellar, simpatico first moment that asked for more moments like it. After several more sets the following year, they felt ready to roll tape (as the saying goes) and chose to do so in Chicago, with Nick Broste at The Shape Shoppe. Again, an easy rapport prevailed, allowing them to work through their collected ideas quickly and freely, with the moments of spontaneous decision that can come only with comfort and trust in each other’s presence. Throughout ‘Keys’, Bill and Nathan propel their power-folk engine with intent and feeling, joy and solemnity, as images of wariness, wonder, anger, deliberation, forgiveness, trust and devotion rise up from the music and roll it forward into the unknown, a place we can sense both players are happy to go. Eight of the ten songs featured are originals, with the other two coming from different centuries to this one. The diversity of song is matched by the instrumentation: in addition to Bill’s guitar and Nathan’s banjo, they add voice, piano, percussion, pump organ, requinto and electric organ to the richness and rusticity, the traditionalism and open space of the compositions. Artist Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles Genre Folk Label Drag City Buying Options 1LP Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings Idumea Honey Time Late For Your Funeral Again Dry Rations II Joy Ride I See God Dry Rations I Dowsing Truth The I in Silence Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Folk View Product Quick View Christopher Paul Stelling Itinerant Arias Folk | Epitaph | 1LP Released 5th May 2017 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Christopher Paul Stelling Itinerant Arias £18.00 Genre: Folk Label: Epitaph SKU: 0045778750016 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 5th May 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Gregory Alan Isakov Appaloosa Bones Folk | Dualtone | 1LP Released 18th August 2023 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Gregory Alan Isakov Appaloosa Bones £19.00 Genre: Folk Label: Dualtone SKU: DUA25541 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 18th August 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Gentle Good, The Galargan Folk | Bubblewrap Records | 1LP Released 8th September 2023 £22.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Gentle Good, The Galargan £22.00 Genre: Folk Label: Bubblewrap Records SKU: BWR071 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 8th September 2023 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View James Elkington Wintres Woma Folk | Paradise Of Bachelors | 1LP Released 30th June 2017 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders James Elkington Wintres Woma £21.00 Genre: Folk Label: Paradise Of Bachelors SKU: POB034LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 30th June 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Sea Wolf Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe) Folk | Dangerbird Records | 1LP Released 28th January 2022 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Sea Wolf Through A Dark Wood (Deluxe) £20.00 Genre: Folk Label: Dangerbird Records SKU: DGB2371 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 28th January 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Marry Waterson & Emily Barker A Window To Other Ways Folk | One Little Independent | 1LP Released 27th March 2019 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Marry Waterson & Emily Barker A Window To Other Ways £17.00 Genre: Folk Label: One Little Independent SKU: TPLP1482 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 27th March 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nearly New View Product Quick View Mastersons, The Transient Lullaby Americana / Country | Red House Records | 1LP Released 21st September 2023 £12.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Mastersons, The Transient Lullaby £12.00 Genre: Americana / Country Label: Red House Records SKU: nn272264 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 21st September 2023 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Emma Tricca Relic Folk | Finders Keepers | 1LP Released 17th July 2014 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Emma Tricca Relic £18.00 Genre: Folk Label: Finders Keepers SKU: 017EGGSLP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 17th July 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Bert Jansch Living In The Shadows Folk | Earth Records | 4LP, Box Set Released 27th January 2017 £51.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Bert Jansch Living In The Shadows £51.00 Genre: Folk Label: Earth Records SKU: EARTHLP014 Formats: 4LP, Box Set Released Date: 27th January 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nearly New View Product Quick View Jan Erik Lundqvist Leonard Cohen Auf Schwedisch Folk | Meyer Records | 1LP Released 15th April 2022 £15.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Jan Erik Lundqvist Leonard Cohen Auf Schwedisch £15.00 Genre: Folk Label: Meyer Records SKU: nn240604 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 15th April 2022 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket See more in Folk Start again
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