Sam Sweeney & Grace Smith - Morning of May

There is a long held misconception that traditional English instrumental music, stripped of the lush arrangements of modern folk-rock, can feel a touch austere and lumpy. Morning of May, the exquisite debut duo release from fiddlers Sam Sweeney and Grace Smith, does not only dismantle that myth, it dance-steps over its ruins.

The concept behind this release is disarmingly simple: two fiddles brought together in open conversation. While fiddle or, more broadly, stringed instruments pairings are a staple of Scandinavian, Baltic, and Appalachian traditions, they remain relatively rare in the English folk archive. Sweeney, a veteran of Bellowhead, one of three members of internationally acclaimed trio Leveret, and one of the finest instrumentalists of his generation, and Smith, whose work with her own trio marked her out as a formidable talent, set out to explore what happens when two master musicians share the driving seat.

Rather than competing for the spotlight, the pair perform a delicate sonic trade-off: one carries the melody with crisp, rhythmic precision and juxtaposed ornamentation, the other steps in a seconding role, threading inventive harmonies, refined syncopations, and subtle accompanying melodies underneath. The best example of this approach is the grand set of hornpipes Trip to Bury / Four Maids, arguably the best track on the entire release.

The material relies heavily on traditional archival sources, yet nothing here feels locked behind museum glass. There is a joyous, buoyant energy to the opening track Dawning of the Day, where their tones interlock so seamlessly it becomes tricky to tell where Sweeney’s warm touch ends and Smith’s soaring clarity begins. In other tracks like the nostalgic Dissembling Love, the timbre and the resonance of both instruments breath, creating a sound that feels, at the same time, ancient and immensely immediate.

In less capable hands, a bunch of tracks of unadorned fiddle duets might lean toward the academic; but these two artists play with such energy, warmth, and thoughtfulness that the record does not feel like an exercise, but like a brilliant evening session in a coaching inn. Overall, Morning of May is a triumphant, beautifully crafted celebration of living heritage that deserves more attention and media coverage.