Velvet & Stone – Lay Her Down
Velvet & Stone - Lay Her Down
Exeter’s Velvet & Stone are
quietly going about the business of becoming the next big thing on the folk
circuit which, ten years ago, would have sounded like an insult to some but not
anymore. No, the strange legacy of the likes of Laura Marling, Seth Lakeman and
Mumford & Sons is that folk music has reached a younger audience and,
therefore, it has credibility once again with the likes of BBC Radio 2 putting
a considerable amount of weight behind the folk scene. The band’s new single, ‘Lay
Her Down’, opens with atmospheric acoustic guitar and a bowed double bass
laying a frosty bed for vocalist Lara Snowdon to delicately tread upon. Almost immediately
upon the introduction of drums and violin I’m reminded of much the missed Brother
& Bones because the of the intensity of the aural atmosphere created by
these musicians. There is also a hint of the aforementioned Marling, a slight taste
of Devon peers Harbottle & Jonas and, pleasingly, a real sense of a band
ploughing their own furrow. The intensity only grows and grows towards a climax
and you get the very real impression that Velvet & Stone have drawn from
the dramatic land and seascapes which surround them to make a tune full of
passion and heart. Much as Sound of the Sirens and Wildwood Kin emerged from
the Exeter scene to make a splash further afield, I fully expect Velvet & Stone
to be next in line.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/velvetstonemusic/
Live Dates:
12th April – Thomas Tripp, Christchurch
13th April – Royston Folk Club, Royston
18th April – Roots Sessions @ the Grain, Frome
28th April – St James’ Church Hall, Exeter
25th May – HowTheLightGetsIn Festival, Hereford
8th June – Wimborne Minster Folk Festival,
Wimborne Minster
10th August – Sunset Sessions @ YHA Treyarnon
Bay, Padstow
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