Description
This hybrid gig is being livestreamed in partnership with Downend Folk & Roots. You can go along to the gig in person at Christ Church Downend, near Bristol, or watch online from wherever you are. Tickets to go along in person are available from the Downend Folk & Roots website, or from Melanie’s Kitchen in Downend. Find out more here.
This gig will begin with support from Barney Kenny, before The Black Feathers take to the stage.
About The Black Feathers
If you were of the belief that The Black Feathers are named because of their love of dark humour and the smooth blending of harmony, you’d be wrong.
If you were told that the name is more concerned with recognition of their gentle souls, a predilection for dark clothing and the sonic tumult of the plethora of (mainly US) progressive-metal bands doing mega-business around the world in the 1990s and beyond, you might doubt those who said so, but they would be accurate.
You’d be wrong as to the name, BUT you would be utterly correct that the sonic architecture of their lyrics and musical composition takes its imperious scope from a love of blended vocal harmony and idiosyncratic guitar shapes.
Americana to some, folk to others, The Black Feathers have those qualities in expansive quantity. Sian Chandler’s soaring, dramatic, melodious but powerful voice is a perfect counterpoint to Ray Hughes’ piquant vocals and his sparkling and occasionally spicy guitar motifs. This is a duo who love what they play and play what they love with panache, humour, delight and rather a lot of commentary on the downside of being a human.
Seeing and hearing them will leave you with a smile on your face and a glowing heart of delight. You might not think that is possible when you’ve just spent some time hearing the themes of the songs they lay before an audience but it is testament to their sunny dispositions, infectious laughter and amused self-deprecation that you can only come away from a gig feeling a whole heap better about yourself and life.
“…stunning harmonies that were so good it reminded me of seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings”
No Depression
“The pure emotion and subtle timing of their song delivery is as evident as the enjoyment radiating from their onstage chemistry”
3 Chords and the Truth
About Barney Kenny
Having supported the likes of Baskery, True Strays. Martin Carthy, Geoff Lakeman, Mishra, Mad Dog McRea, Wille and the Bandits, Rusty Shackle, Kitty Macfarlane and Blair Dunlop and after working alongside Peggy Seeger, Dougie Maclean and Martin Simpson in the past, Barney Kenny is quickly carving out a name for himself as a solo artist across the folk circuits.
Armed with a 6 string and a Lapsteel slide guitar, Barney Kenny’s music doesn’t fall into the normal trappings of ‘folk’. Heavily influenced by world music, blues and rock, Barney blends storytelling and acoustic music with his foot-stomping somewhat delta style. He has racked up several thousand views on the Narrowboat Sessions platform and across social media.
Barney’s writing crosses many boundaries throughout a live set, from Anglo-Celtic tunes to southern-blues rock to retellings of traditional songs from the transatlantic scene. His slide playing is ever-exciting to watch, whilst his more driving style of guitar playing is the perfect accompaniment to his lyrical narratives. He is currently promoting his new album The Seaton Tapes, which was recorded live in session.
