Return to Kielderside available for pre-order

We’re thrilled to herald the release of a new album by Kathryn. ‘Return to Kielderside’ is available for pre-order from Kathryn’s Bandcamp Shop! It’s available as a digital download and a limited edition CD. The release date is 1st November and the physical CD pre-orders will be sent out the week before. Each one is numbered and signed.

Kathryn describes her first album, released forty years ago:

“In 1984, while I was still at school, I released my first album ‘On Kielder Side’. It was a collection of mostly traditional Northumbrian tunes. We had borrowed a TEAC two track tape recorder from the local radio station for the weekend and all the recording was done in two days between 10am — 4pm in my parents’ kitchen. No mixing, no editing, just straight to tape! That was forty years ago; my music, and the way I record it, has changed a lot since then. But the idea of playing Northumbrian tunes with a group of friends is still at the heart of everything I do.

“On this forty-year anniversary I revisit some tracks from the original album alongside traditional tunes from the area and several new compositions. The new tunes are all inspired by, or in some way linked to, tunes from ‘On Kielder Side’.”

‘Sycamore Gap’ released September 20th

Kathryn recalls: “It all started nearly a year ago when I woke up to an avalanche of messages. The news of the Sycamore Gap tree being cut down had spread like wildfire, and everyone was in shock. People started asking me if I was going to write a tune for the tree, and I realised that this was something I could do to honour its memory.”

Initially, Kathryn contemplated writing a more uplifting piece, reflecting the regenerative nature of sycamore seedlings that often sprout everywhere. However, as she delved deeper into the creative process, it became clear that a lament was the most fitting tribute. “The lament was the piece that wanted to be written.”

Available on streaming platforms and from Kathryn’s Bandcamp shop.

Image: still taken from a film by Cain Scrimgeour for Kathryn & The Side’s ‘Dark Skies Waltz’.

High Way to Hermitage

Here is a new video which is a breath of fresh spring air from Northumberland. The video is for the track ‘High Way to Hermitage’ from The Darkening’s album Cloud Horizons, and features extracts from an award-winning short film by Borders filmmaker Ken Moffatt.

The tune and the film commemorate Mary Queen of Scots’ dramatic ride over ‘The Queen’s Mire’ from Jedburgh to Hermitage Castle to visit her injured lover, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, in 1566. Apparently on the way back to Jedburgh Mary’s horse got stuck in the mire and threw her off into the heather.

Watch High Way to Hermitage on Youtube

Wild Coverdale Flower Festival

Kathryn, together with Amy Thatcher (accordion, clog dancing), are delighted to perform at this unique event in verdant Coverdale, North Yorkshire, in celebration of sustainable flowers and music for the charity ‘Friends of Coverham Church’. Kathryn and Amy will be playing in the beautiful setting of Holy Trinity Church, Coverham. Tickets are limited, so please purchase soon from the Wild Coverdale Flower Festival ticket site.

BBC ALBA — The Darkening full set on iPlayer

Earlier this year The Darkening played a special set for BBC ALBA at Celtic Connections Festival. The full set is now available on BBC iPlayer (restricted to UK viewers with a TV licence…).

BBC ALBA

At this year’s Celtic Connections festival Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening played a special set for BBC ALBA’s ‘Seirm’ music programme. They feature in the first episode of a new series, due to air on March 2nd at 21.00 GMT. The programme will be available to view after broadcast.

Americana-UK’s Folk Round Up

The Darkening’s album ‘Cloud Horizons’ is included in Americana-UK’s Folk Round Up this month. Previous reviewers, including BBC Radio 2 and 6Music’s Mark Radcliffe, have compared some of the album to Led Zeppelin. Now from Americana-UK: “Infused with a pagan spirit it recalls, in places, the ‘British Tribal Music’ phase of Hawkwind.”