''Before the Ruin'' is a collaborative studio album by Scottish

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

musicians

Kris Drever Kris Drever (born 31 October 1978) is a Scottish contemporary folk musician and songwriter who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, ''Black Water''. Drever is the vocalist and guitarist of the folk trio Lau with ...

John McCusker John McCusker (born 15 May 1973) is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and p ...

and

Roddy Woomble Roddy Woomble (born 13 August 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and writer. He is the lead vocalist of indie rock band Idlewild, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums. Celebrated for his poetic lyrics and warm, baritone voice, In 2 ...

, released on 15 September 2008 through

Navigator Records Navigator Records is a small independent record label in the United Kingdom, specialising in folk and roots music. It is wholly owned by Proper Music Distribution and was launched in 2008. Musicians who have recorded on Navigator Records incl ...

. The album entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

at #156 and the Scottish Albums chart at #45. The album was originally scheduled for a May release, but was delayed due to McCusker touring with

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

. The album features appearances from Radiohead drummer

Phil Selway Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Selway released his debut ...

, and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. "Silver and Gold" was released as a single on 1 September 2008. Speaking of the album, McCusker notes that their "paths had all crossed in various ways over the past few years - working with

Kate Rusby Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, and is one of the be ...

, and on Kris and Roddy's solo albums - and our starting-point was basically just that we all really liked each other's stuff." Woomble notes that: "Kris and John each have such a different take on things like melody and lyrics, but we’re all working equally on the songs together, so the whole thing feels totally new. And it’s great getting to make another ‘first’ album at our age."

Artwork

The album cover is by Orcadian painter Charles Shearer, and is said to "describe the physical, and metaphorical pull of the ocean, which is also a main theme of the record."

Track listing

''All songs written by Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble'' #"Silver and Gold" – 4:37 #"Into the Blue" – 4:27 #"All Along the Way" – 4:41 #"Before the Ruin" – 4:08 #"Hope to See" – 5:05 #"Rest on the Rock" – 3:38 #"Out of Light" – 4:09 #"The Poorest Company" – 4:40 #"Moments Last Forever" – 4:35 #"Stuck in Time" – 5:00

Personnel

- electric and acoustic guitars, vocals *

- fiddle,

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

, tenor guitar, wurlitzer ("Stuck in Time"), producer *

- vocals *Andy Seward - bass (1, 3, 4 & 10), producer, engineer, mixing * Francis MacDonald - drums (1, 2, 3, 4, 9 & 10) * Ewen Vernal - bass (2, 5, 6, 7 & 9) *

Michael McGoldrick Michael McGoldrick (born 26 November 1971, in Manchester, England) is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar, cittern, and mandolin. Bands McGo ...

- whistle ("Silver and Gold", "Out of Light"), pipes ("Before the Ruin"), flute ("Hope to See") * Donald Shaw - harmonium and wurlitzer (2, 6, 7, 9 & 10) * Heidi Talbot - vocals (2, 3, 4, 6, 8 & 9) * Norman Blake - vocals (2, 5 & 8) *

- drums ("Rest on the Rock", "Out of Light") *

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall ...

- dobro (5, 10), electric guitar (2, 9) tenor ukulele (10) *

Andy Cutting Andy Cutting (born 18 March 1969) is an English folk musician and composer. He plays melodeon and is best known for writing and performing traditional English folk and his own original compositions which combine English and French traditions ...

- diatonic accordion ("Hope to See", "The Poorest Company") * Phil Cunningham - accordion ("Hope to See", "The Poorest Company") *Keith Angel - percussion (1, 2, 4, 6 & 7) *

Raymond McGinley Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared ...

- additional engineering *Iain Hutchison - additional engineering * Calum Malcolm - mastering *Charles Shearer - artwork *David Gillanders - photographs

References

External links

Drever McCusker Woomble Official Website

Small article about the album's release at Drowned in Sound
{{DEFAULTSORT:Before The Ruin 2008 albums John McCusker albums Roddy Woomble albums Kris Drever albums