Homespun guest stars play to tell - Limerick Independent News

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Homespun guest stars play to tell

Written by Staff Reporter

Thursday, 28 February 2008

‘Short Stories From East Yorkshire’, is the first post-Beautiful South album to be released from their songwriter/guitarist, Dave Rotheray.

Releasing under the moniker Homespun, the album is a collection of acoustic, guitar-based country/folk tracks (termed ‘fire-side’ songs by Dave) and features guest vocals from Sam Brown, Eleanor McEvoy and Mary Coughlan. Sam Brown is best known for her 1988 hit ‘Stop!’, recently covered by Jamelia and used in the film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

While Eleanor McEvoy and Mary Coughlan, of course, are two of Ireland’s most renowned performers.

Having begun as a collective whereby artists were welcomed to share song-writing ideas along with performances, Homespun initially functioned as an outlet for Dave’s writing during an in-between album lull in the latter days of The Beautiful South. The Beautiful South called it a day in February 2007, having sold in the region of ten million albums in their 19-year lifespan.

‘Short Stories From East Yorkshire’ reflects Dave’s long-time obsession with country music. He cites his favourite artists as Chip Taylor, Iris Dement, and Roseanne Cash. This album is a translation of this grass roots tradition to a northern England setting.

For these recordings Rotheray teamed up with some top-class musicians such as Melvin Duffy (Robbie Williams) on pedal steel guitar; Gary Hammond (Nina Simone band) on percussion; Tony Robinson (Super Furry Animals) on keyboards; Clare Mactaggart (Portishead) on violin; and Alan Jones on bass.

On the result of this fine recording the ex-Beautiful South man should have a very interesting solo career ahead of him.

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