Tim Laycock - Sea Strands

’Sea Strands’ from Tim Laycock is an album with a very traditional and authentic sound, drawing on influences from Tim’s home in Dorset and tales of the sea. A musician with over 20 years of folk experience, Tim’s multi instrumental talents are deployed well on duet concertina, melodeon, harmonica and percussion as well as lead vocals. He is joined on ’Sea Strands’ by Gabriel Laycock (guitar), Colin Thompson (viola and fiddle) and Robin Jeffrey (vocals, guitars, laouto and mandolin.

The opening track ’The Bold Granadee’ is given a melodic treatment quite different from other recent and more exotic interpretations. Established standards such as John Barleycorn are given a fresh interpretation, while the album also features several local songs collected by the Hammond brothers including ’Husbandman and Servingman’ . A number of the tracks feature poetry set to Tim’s original music (such at ’The Bwoat’) or sung versions of local stories. Particular highlights are ’The Old Smith’ with its tale of dealing with (and indeed outwitting) the devil and the original instrumental ’Blackbeard’s Diamond’.

This is a truly rooted album, bursting with local character and giving a real insight into the folk traditions of Dorset.