The Willows are hitting the road this autumn in support of their third highly anticipated studio album ‘Through The Wild’, which is scheduled to be released in November through Elk Records. The six-piece begin their ‘Through The Wild’ tour on the 2nd of September 2018 in Oxford and is scheduled to conclude on the 1st of December in Skegness. Tickets can be purchased here.
The folk-band have also recently released the music video, for their newly premiered single ‘False Lights’, which was released on the 21st of August 2018. Speaking about the song, the band, said: “False Light was written after many misty walks around Wicken Fen, near to Ely. We love the folklore around these old tales surrounding the area, where atmospheric ghost lights, know as false lights, would lure people off the path, within the marshy reeds.”
The Cambridge-based band, was formed in the spring of 2010, and consist of, Cliff Ward (guitar, banjo, vocals), sister, Prue Ward (violin, vocals), Ben Savage (guitar, Dobro, vocals) and Stephen MacLachlan (percussion, piano, vocals) being, fused together by the very distinctive voice of lead singer, Jade Ward. The band released the debut album, ‘Beneath Our Humble Soil’ in 213, and was produced by Stu Hanna. The album caught the attention of BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris who invited the band in for a live session midway through their UK tour. Maverick Magazine gave the record 4½ stars, and it was subsequently nominated for Best Debut in the Spiral Earth Awards.
Second album Amidst Fiery Skies sees the band further cement their sound with new member, Evan Carson (bodhran), guest double bassist Ben Nicholls (Seth Lakeman Band, The Full English) and co-producer Sean Lakeman. A Review of the bands second album in The Telegraph, said: “Right from the opening track, Red Sands, the second album from Cambridge folk-country band The Willows is a sure-footed success. Part of the reason the album as a whole works is that the songs feel so natural. Their own compositions are full of interesting narratives – The Visitor is the tale of an epic lifeboat rescue – and Rhiannon brings out the sorrow in sad songs such as Maid of Culmore.
“The band’s Americana influences are clear in a version of Utah Phillips’s cowboy song Goodnight Loving Trail and they earn their traditional folk spurs with a sweet version of Outward Bound, which is a song collected in Kent by Francis Collison that is part of the Full English Digital Folk Archive. It’s also known as The Faithful Sailor Boy.”
02/09/2018 – Holywell Music Rooms – Oxford
03/09 – The Junction – Cambridge
05/09 – Half Moon – Putney
06/09 – Marr’s Bar – Worcester
14/09 – Finchingfield Church – Braintree
15/09 – Anteros Arts Centre – Norwich
19/09 – The Brindley Theatre – Runcorn
05/10 – St Edith Folk Club – Sevenoaks
07/10 – Derby Folk Festival – Derby
07/11 – The Greystones – Sheffield
08/11 – Hager Farm Arts Centre – Southampton
01/12 – Great British Folk Festival – Skegness
