Pilgrims Way - Wayside Courtesies (2011)

New young trio stamping their feisty refreshing take on trad folk firmly on the roots scene. Pilgrims' Way, an arresting new young trio from the North West, are stamping their feisty, refreshing take on trad folk firmly on the roots scene Taking their name from the Rudyard Kipling poem "A Pilgrim's Way", a life creed set to music by the great Peter Bellamy, the innovative acoustic threesome hail from Stockport and are bound together not only by musical roots - but also red hair! The line-up comprises the quirkily distinctive, captivating vocals of a new face on the scene Leicestershire-born, Lincolnshire-raised Lucy Wright, who is also a fine Jews' harp player carrying on a long family tradition. Lucy has joined forces with fiddler Tom Kitching, a former BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards finalist. Probably best known as one half of a duo with singer-songwriter/guitarist Gren Bartley, Tom has been described by Living Tradition magazine as "one of the best young fiddlers in Britain" and also plays a mean mandolin. The third "pilgrim" is inventive box player Edwin Beasant -an incorrigible and talented multi-instrumentalist, who also plays guitar and bass and had a stint as drummer with Jabadaw. Focusing on "gimmick free folk" and drawing inspiration from some of the most influential bands of the 60s and 70s revival, the resulting sound is edgier than the folk on the village green but firmly rooted in the traditions of England and its cross-currents with Ireland and America. This is their debut album on the award-winning, prestigious Fellside label.