BATH: Chapel Arts Centre

Wednesday 30th October, 2024

7:30pm

Event information

A special one-off expanded band tour for the critically acclaimed folk duo. Following the success of their 2022 release “Ink Of The Rosy Morning” on Topic Records Hannah & Ben spent much of 2023 touring with the legendary Fairport Convention. Now, with their new album “In The Dark We Grow” and a live show line-up featuring the inimitable Jon Thorne (Lamb, James Yorkston) on Double Bass, Hannah & Ben hit the road for the first time with a band of their own. Already so well known for their moving live performances, this unique musical collaboration promises to be balm for weariest ears.

Since emerging in 2016, Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage have been defying all conventions of style, genre and compartmentalisation. This seemingly unlikely duo have recorded two studio albums, Before the Sun (2016) and Awake (2018), produced by award-winning producer David Travers-Smith in Toronto, both praised for the crafting and skill of their musical writing and arranging. They have toured the UK, North America and mainland Europe, enrapturing audiences at shows and on festival stages alongside Americana and folk luminaries such as Sarah Jarosz, Martin Simpson, Seth Lakeman and Oh Susanna. They also appeared at the West Java World Music Festival, Indonesia in 2019.

Hannah Sanders has an alluring mystique and a voice of disarming purity that massages your senses with gentle ease. Ask her nicely and she will discuss witchcraft, tarot cards and her adventures in a family band busking through Europe in an old school bus.

Ben Savage is a bubbling ferment of energy, all fluffy hair, unkempt charm and infectious enthusiasm who will seemingly play any instrument you care to put in front of him with grace and favour. Ask him nicely and he will debate any musical tradition you care to mention and will tell you all about the dobro and his adventures with the band The Willows.

On the face of it, you can’t imagine this duo summoning enough common ground for an afternoon chat over a cup of rhubarb juice, let alone make astonishing, original music together. Ask someone to describe their music or say who they sound like … and they will be bereft of words.

‘Americana’, some yelp. Yeah, maybe there’s a bit of that, but at other times they sound quintessentially English. Oh, then they must be British folkies, comes the cry. Sort of, but not really, because they do all this other stuff rooted in American music too. Shall we just call them traditional? Not at all. They may incorporate various traditions, but they play contemporary music and have their own unique writing style too.

After all, who puts English songs together with mountain dulcimer and dobro? Or incorporates ghost stories, blues, Northumbrian music, electric guitar, Woody Guthrie, murder ballads, Billy Bragg, human seals, old time songs, the Stockholm Archipelago, hangings, Appalachia, new moons, Joan Baez, cowboys, railway journeys, street singers and Cambridge into one mesmerising explanation of their musical philosophy? Not your average acoustic duo, that’s for sure.

Playful and instinctive, they constantly do the unexpected; yet they do it with such panache and natural chemistry it makes perfect sense. They are true originals, that’s all there is to it. Distinctive. Innovative. Ground-breaking. Unique.

Quotes

“Passion, precision and unbridled intimacy…An exquisite soundscape” - RnR

“Spellbinding… Hannah & Ben were born to play and sing together” - fRoots

“Flawless’ Folk Picks of the Month” - The Guardian

“Beautiful songs… haunting dreamlike folk music” - Songlines

“Awesome… a supremely divine album” - Americana UK

“This is folk music for everyone – a master-class in proficiency, an exercise in individuality and a declaration of love of the folk tradition from both sides of the Atlantic” - Spiral Earth

“Dreamy reveries, softly warm vocals, stirring guitar arrangements – Sanders & Savage wield an elusive sort of magic” - MOJO

“Beautiful- just magical, dreamy and gorgeous” - BBC Radio 3 InTune

“Sanders has a voice of such sparkling clarity that soars above and dips around Savage’s dobro and their harmonies are exquisite.” - No Depression

“Their performance is perfectly honed, faultlessly presented and demonstrates that they are clearly a match made in musical heaven. The songs are filled with messages of hope and promise, all delivered in a stripped down sound, which takes you on a journey into the minds of this duo… The dynamic between the duo is electric and their eclectic mix of music is refreshing, we were treated to new tracks from their album as well as their own favourites.” - The Atkinson

Links

hannahbenmusic.com

facebook.com/hannahbenmusic

twitter.com/hannahbenmusic

instagram.com/hannahbenmusic

youtube.com/channel/UCPa8Znbjkje6e0ehc01w4oA