Thorpe & Morrison - Grass & Granite

Hailing respectively from Suffolk and Ayrshire, guitarist and singer Harry Thorpe and fiddler Sean Morrison met in Birmingham some years ago. Their musicianship has already led to two albums, but their third artistic endeavour Grass & Granite sees them reaching a new peak of creativity.

The album is highly personal and even the title reflects this: it merges the most distinctive elements of the nature of the counties these artists come from: the vast grassy meadows of Suffolk and the characteristic hard stone from the South West of Scotland. The work is mainly made up of lively instrumentals like the opener Big Skies and Water Meadows or Claudette’s Last Dance, but there are also some slower passages such as the Scandinavian influenced Wedding Marches and the airy Put the Gown Upon the Bishop.

The album also includes three songs: The Pogues’ evergreen Rainy Night in Soho, the single The Girl I Left Behind, a well-known folk song interwoven with some reels, and the incisive Sovay, delivered by guest star Michelle Holloway.

The most immediate aspect of Thorpe and Morrison’s music is technical dexterity, but there is more to their music than exquisite arrangements, well-calibrated ornaments and jolly melodies. The palpable sensation of the enjoyment they get whilst playing together pervades the whole release, not only in moderate and fast paced tracks such as the great finale Coast to Coast, but also in more delicate passages like Something New.

The core concepts of belonging and friendship are well reflected in every grain of this album; Grass & Granite is the best work from this young and talented duo. We hope to have more of this in the near future.