Roving Crows are a four-piece Irish Folk Rock band, based in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Since forming in 2009, they have released three albums and received a number of awards. __TOC__

History

Formation and self-titled demo

Singer-Songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

Paul O'Neill and

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

player Caitlin Barrett first performed as a duo in 2007, under the name Elysian. In 2009 they decided to expand the line up and change the name to The Roving Crows (the word 'The' was later dropped from the name). The band went through several line-up changes early in its life. A self-titled demo album was recorded and released in 2010 with John David at Berryhill Studios with the addition of Mark Miletich on

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and Phil Hall on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Greg Wilson-Copp joined Roving Crows in 2010 on

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, bringing

Ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

and

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

influences to the sound. By this point the rhythm section had changed to Joe Ball on bass guitar and Josh Balen on drums, and in 2011 this line-up self-recorded and released an EP previewing the new musical style since the debut album. Tim Tolhurst was recruited on drums after Josh Balen stepped down in 2011, bringing his

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

influenced

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

to the group. In the same year they won two Irish Music Awards; ‘Top Celtic Rock Band’ and ‘Top Fiddle Player’, accredited to them by the Irish Music Association.

''Bacchanalia (2011)''

In late 2011 Roving Crows went into

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

to record their debut album with producer Nick Brine (who also worked with acts such as

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

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and The Darkness). ''Bacchanalia'' was released on 17 March 2012 with a release party at

Gloucester Guildhall Gloucester Guildhall is a former municipal building in Eastgate Street, Gloucester, which is now used as a arts and theatre venue. It is a Grade II listed building. History The original town hall, known as "the Tolsey" meaning "town hall", was ...

and an ensuing tour of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

including performances at

Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix of ...

Trowbridge Village Pump Festival The Village Pump Festival is a folk music festival that takes place near Trowbridge, England. It has its roots years ago in a barn at the Lamb Inn, Trowbridge, and later moved a few miles outside the town to Stowford Manor Farm at Farleigh Hun ...

, Lakefest, Ireby Folk Festival,

Wychwood Festival Wychwood Festival is an annual music festival held at Cheltenham racecourse in Gloucestershire, UK. As well as music, the family-friendly three-day festival includes workshops, comedy, the Children's Literature Festival, and a Silent disco, Head ...

and

Cheltenham Jazz Festival Cheltenham Jazz Festival is one of the UK's leading jazz festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals' annual festival season, also including the Science, Music and Literature Festivals in Cheltenham Spa. Introduction and history The Chelt ...

. In 2012 they won ‘Best Folk Act’ at the Exposure Music Awards as well as being noticed by both national and regional

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s, including airplay on

Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet, broadcaster and multi-instrumentalist. Harding has also been a photographer, traveller, filmmaker and playwright. Early life and education Harding's ...

's Folk Show and

The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, an ...

''Deliberate Distractions (2013)''

After spending much of 2012 without a bass player, Loz Shaw joined Roving Crows in October 2012 whilst the band were half way through the writing process for their second album. A self-recorded EP simply entitled ''EP 2013'' was released in February 2013 with four new tracks including a live recording of Roving Crows' arrangement of " Music for a Found Harmonium". Roving Crows returned to Rockfield Studios in March 2013 to record ''Deliberate Distractions'', again with producer Nick Brine. The album was released on 4 November 2013, attracting 4- and 5- star reviews from publications such as ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'', ''R2'' Magazine and ''Maverick'' Magazine. The band was awarded 'Band of the Year 2013' in the 2014 Fatea Music Awards, as well as 'Best Live Band' in the 2014 Spiral Earth awards

''Live Distractions (2014)''

As a follow-up to ''Deliberate Distractions'', a 15-track live album was recorded at the Watson Hall,

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Riv ...

on 21 December 2013. It was released in a limited press at the St. Paddy's Day Extravaganza on 15 March 2014 at the

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

Guildhall, and digitally through

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

on the same date. Roving Crows at Lakefest 2013

''Up Heaval (2015)''

''Up Heaval'' is the five track EP released on Saturday 14 March 2015 to coincide with their final concert with Greg Wilson-Copp and Tim Tolhurst. Tolhurst provided session drums on several tracks on the EP, although the use of electronic percussion and synthesizers was prevalent for the first time. The band continued as a trio for several months until recruiting Tim Downes-Hall to play a variety of percussion outside of the constrictions of a traditional

Drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...

''Bury Me Naked (2017)''

After two years of constant touring including breakthrough tours in France, there was increasing demand for new music. Recording of the group's third album began in late 2016. This was the first recording to feature Tim Downes-Hall on percussion as well as being the first self-recorded album from the group, with Loz Shaw bass and vocals also handling the recording and production. Many different locations were used for the recording of the large number of layered sounds that feature on the album. ''Bury Me Naked'' was released on 8 April 2017 with a launch party at Gloucester Guildhall.

''Lockdown (2020)''

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

of 2020, the band, like all musicians worldwide had all their gigs and tours cancelled. They decided in this time to be productive and remotely record a 5-track EP. Each member recorded their own parts and sent them to Jim Smith who then produced and mixed the EP. ''Lockdown'' consisted of 2 new tracks and 3 revamped tracks featuring the foundation line-up of Paul O'Neill and Caitlin Barrett and new additions Jim Smith on bass guitar and Laurence Aldridge on drums. ''Lockdown'' was released on 17 July 2020 on CD and online streaming platforms.

''Awaken (2022)''

''Awaken'' was created from both sides of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

– recorded by Simon O’Reilly in

Doolin Doolin () is a coastal village in County Clare, Ireland, on the Atlantic coast. It is southwest of the spa town of Lisdoonvarna and 4 miles from the Cliffs of Moher. It is a noted centre of traditional Irish music, which is played nightly in i ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

and mixed by their own Jim Smith in

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is ...

. The writing and arrangements were completed by Caitlin and Paul on the west coast of

, in order to further encapsulate the essence of the wild

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

represented in the new tracks, it continues the themes and raw feel of Roving Crows’ last album, ''Bury Me Naked'', focusing on the band’s personal outlook on life. All songs are self-penned with the exception of two sets of traditional tunes, ''Phoenix'' and ''Rise''. ''Awaken'' is set to be released on 4 March 2022 with a launch party at Malvern Cube shortly followed by a tour across the UK.

Sound

Due to differing musical backgrounds between band members, the band's musical influences have varied widely throughout the band's history and have included traditional

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

Klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

, Tribal House,

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

and traditional

Folk Music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Current members

*Paul O'Neill (Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar) *Caitlin Barret (Fiddle, Vocals) *Jim Smith (Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals) *Laurence Aldridge (Drums, Vocals)

Previous members

*Loz Shaw (Fretless Bass, Vocals) *Tim Downes-Hall (Percussion) *Greg Wilson-Copp (Trumpet, Vocals) *Tim Tolhurst (Drums, Vocals) *Joe Ball (Bass) *Josh Balen (drums) *Mark Miletich (double bass) *Phil Hall (drums)

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control English folk musical groups British folk rock groups Celtic music groups