Ed Sheeran and Joy Crookes took the stage at Jools Holland’s annual New Year’s Hootenanny on December 31st to perform a cover of The Dubliners 1972 classic “Raglan Road”. You can check out a video of the performance at the link below.
The duo were accompanied by both horn and woodwind sections, alongside Holland on the piano. Their arrangement builds slowly, with Sheeran gently strumming away alongside a tenderly played piano line by Holland, singing the familiar opening lines: “On Raglan Road on an autumn day I saw her first and knew, that her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue”. Gradually, the sound of the backing band creeps in, introducing a longing Gaelic melody as Crookes begins to sing: “On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge, of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion’s pledge”.
Around the two-minute mark, the song begins to take flight, with the rest of the backing band joining in. Crookes and Sheeran hum along, giving the spotlight to the jubilant melody played by the band, before rounding out the song with the final verse.
In other news regarding Ed Sheeran, the singer-songwriter had a very busy 2021, releasing his fifth studio album = on the 29th of October, with the album having now spent two weeks total at the number one spot within the UK album charts. You can read more about this here. Moreover, Sheeran collaborated with legendary British singer-songwriter Elton John on a Christmas tune entitled “Merry Christmas”.
Joy Crookes has also had a big year, releasing her first album Skin on the 15th of October following some successful singles, such as “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” which served as the lead single from the record, title track “Skin”, “When You Were Mine” and “Trouble”.
The singer-songwriter’s debut was praised highly, with NME saying in a four-star review of the album: “ ‘Skin’ rises from the most intimate pockets of Crookes’s life: the emotional turmoil around growing up, heartbreak, forgiveness, and relationships that don’t offer the sanctuary they promise. But here, she allows herself to revel in her own possibility of healing, singing directly about her past and who she wants to become, letting her formidable voice guide the way: cool, curious, full of momentum.”
Skin is available via all streaming services, and physical copies of the album can be purchased here.
