The Willows are a folk band from Cambridge, UK. Formed by Jade Rhiannon, Ben Savage and Cliff Ward, the band shot to prominence when their debut album Beneath Our Humble Soil was championed by legendary BBC DJs Mike Harding and Bob Harris, who subsequently invited them in for a BBC Radio 2 live session. Considerable national acclaim followed including a Spiral Earth Award nomination for Best Debut.
Their follow up ‘Amidst Fiery Skies’ (produced by Sean Lakeman) received a 5-Star review in the Telegraph and a spot in their albums of the year. With numerous festival appearances from Cambridge to Glastonbury they grew a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting live acts and were nominated for Best Band in the 2014 FATEA awards.
Their new line-up is bursting with vocal and instrumental talent from across the UK roots scene. Fronted by the distinctively tender vocals of Jade Rhiannon the band adds Katriona Gilmore (Gilmore & Roberts, The Albion Band) on fiddle to their line-up along with Ben Savage (Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage) on guitar/dobro, Evan Carson (Sam Kelly, Seth Lakeman) on drums/bodhran and Cliff Ward (WardnParker) on banjo/guitar.
With their 3rd album Through The Wild winning critical acclaim from all directions, an exhilarating live show and a new line-up featuring some of the foremost musicians on the UK roots scene, The Willows have never been in a better place. Taking influence from the both sides of the Atlantic the band continue to defy pigeonholing, with their unique songwriting taking precedent above all else.
All but one of Through The Wild’s ten songs are entirely new compositions, and despite their wide-ranging musical influences, they are all linked by an affinity for landscape, an eye for historical detail and a deep understanding of human emotion.
The album’s only traditional song is True Lovers’ Ferry, an account of a London ferryman and his love, taken from the singing of Peter Bellamy. Perhaps in part because of the recent revival of his folk opera The Transports, interest in Bellamy’s music seems to be on the increase, and not without good reason. He was one of the finest and most unfairly overlooked of British folk singers and interpreters of song, and True Lovers’ Ferry is an absolute gem. It is that rare thing: a folk song with a happy ending and its message of the gentle power of song is told with beautiful simplicity.
