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DAVID GIBB & ELLY LUCAS - Old Chairs To Mend

DAVID GIBB & ELLY LUCAS - Old Chairs To Mend
Hairpin Records  HAIRPIN002

Young Folk Award finalists David Gibb and Elly Lucas follow up their acclaimed EP of a year or so ago with their full length debut Old Chairs To Mend. All songs are either original or reworked, and there are some brave and surprising choices - not least Leapfrog from Oh What A Lovely War - whilst The Blacksmith shows a lightness of vocals and guitar which gives it new life.

Of the original material I particularly enjoyed Three Magpies which must have had the recent financial situation in mind when written, whilst Goodbye To The Plough Horse, written by Linda Woodroffe, a local singer from Derbyshire, deserves to be picked up for a wider audience.

There are a couple of tracks that don’t work for me – Sam Hall is far too fast, and I don’t think Man On The Road gets anywhere close to Gary and Vera’s original version - however it is their willingness to go back to source which promises much. This CD does promise a lot, the next should, I hope, build on this and fulfil that promise.

It is good to hear a young duo sounding so English and seemingly proud of it and trying to promote their roots. Good luck to them, they deserve it.

Dave Beeby

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This album was reviewed in Issue 92 of The Living Tradition magazine.