LONDON: The Harrison

Saturday 26th February, 2022

7:30pm

Event information

Doors open 7.30 pm, music from 8.00 pm. Nearest tube Kings Cross Station, six minutes walk. Attendees are requested to wear a mask while seated in the downstairs venue.

Bird in the Belly comprises Laura Ward and Adam Ronchetti of duo Hickory Signals together with Ben ‘Jinnwoo’ Webb and multi-instrumentalist Tom Pryor. Gravel-edged and gutteral, Ben Webb’s uncanny vocal fuses with the crystal clear voice of Ward – linchpins in this compelling line-up.
Laura Ward further defines the band sound with her exquisite flute playing, Adam Ronchetti plays acoustic guitar, bodhran, bass pedal and additional percussion and multi-instrumentalist Pryor plays violin, guitar, organ, piano, bass pedal, synth and banjo as well as contributing backing vocals.

In the late Spring of 2020, as the first pandemic lockdown brought the country to a halt, the band began work on their new ‘After the City’ album. Known for their songs of social relevance and meticulous research, the band alighted on a 19th century book – nature writer Richard Jefferies’ After London – described as ‘an early example of post-apocalyptic fiction.’ Also known as Wild England, it tells the story of the country reverting to nature following an unspecified catastrophe – and the last few surviving humans experiencing vast change in depopulated towns and cities. After The City builds on this concept, setting the album around cotton famine poetry, plague poetry and broadside ballads to construct a back story.

Cinematic, dramatic and beautifully crafted the 10-track album intrigues, beguiles and disturbs in equal measure. Cerebral and classy, After the City totally encapsulates the term ‘other worldly’.
As beguiling as it is disturbing, the end result is another startling, theatrical album from a discerning, uncompromising collective who continue to be a revelation.

“stunningly beautiful…on the basis of Bird in the Belly, English traditional music is alive and well and has a fine future” ★★★★ - RnR Magazine

“..rightly puts Bird in the Belly, and Brighton, back at the forefront of the English folk music scene” - FATEA

“Bird in the Belly are rather unique and utterly compelling” ★★★★★ - Northern Sky Magazine

“If there’s a more extraordinary voice on record than that of Ben Webb, aka Jinnwoo, it will probably belong to a blues singer three times his age “- Sunday Express

“Laura Ward’s lovely voice sweetens the wilfully jagged edges of fellow singer Ben Webb, as they direct dark songs to the heart” -The Guardian

“They can be cosmopolitan in one breath, ethereal in the next. The rapid evolution of Bird in the Belly into one of our finest folk acts is a joy to behold” - Folk Radio co.uk