Folklore Featuring ... Jess Morgan + Guests

Event information

JESS MORGAN

Jess Morgan is a singer-songwriter based in Norwich, England. Drawing on British and American folk influences, she writes songs that are living and breathing; that tell stories and scream out to be played live. With dynamic guitar-playing abilities and a distinctive, unusual voice, Jess’s well-crafted songs and wonderful live performances have gained her impressive support all over the UK and Europe.

Recorded with musical friends and collaborators in Bergen, Norway, Jess self-released her debut album, ‘All Swell’, to notable acclaim in 2010. Working completely independently, she gained the attention of BBC Radio 2’s Steve Lamacq, Rock ‘n’ Reel Magazine and Acoustic Magazine amongst a myriad of grassroots supporters in the form of smaller press outlets, independent promoters, and other musicians and songwriters (including Megson and Nicky Chinn).

Extensive touring across the world has seen Jess gain an international fanbase. Regular shows in Norway, Germany and Holland, as well as a three-week tour of the US last winter, have seen Jess become something of a musical troubadour over the past year. Here in the UK, Jess has self-booked tours taking her up and down the country, including supports with folk-pop upcomers Paper Aeroplanes, sister duo First Aid Kit (Wichita Recordings) and trad folk legends Megson amongst others.

Jess’s music has a wide appeal which sees her growing fanbase encompassing all ages and a range of different genres. Fans of traditional folk and roots are charmed by her just as much as fans of folk-pop and folk-rock. Her diverse appeal has seen her mix folk clubs, music venues, house gigs and festivals of all kinds, maintaining a constantly busy live schedule.

Spring 2012 will see Jess release her second album with the help of a Pledge Music campaign, and yet more touring in the UK, Europe and beyond. With the music industry beginning to pay attention, it’s going to be a big year for this accomplished musical talent.

"Every so often you come across a little gem like this!" Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 2

“In flagrant defiance of such circumstances, the results of this meeting glow with customary warmth of Morgan’s delivery – clear, open guitar and ethereally bluesy vocals, mic’d close and intimate as they lull and soar.” R2 / Rock ‘n’ Reel Magazine

"Catchy and melodic with a roots edge. Jess Morgan goes it alone and against the grain." Acoustic Magazine

ANDY OLIVERI

Growing up reading the lyrics and liner notes of dusty old records have left Andy Oliveri nothing but a storyteller. Echoing the spirit of Neil Young and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, he writes simple folk songs with his heart on his sleeve and words from a bared soul. Evident in the stripped back arrangements of tracks such as ‘My Fathers Son’ and ‘What I’m Told’, the fragility in his voice and guitar allow the songs to breathe, with no overblown arrangements to mask the sentiment.

Debut EP 'Sing Mercy' was released through istartedthefire Records in April 2012, and was followed by a Summer of festivals, a full UK tour and support slots for acts such as The Low Anthem, Dry The River and Benjamin Francis Leftwich. With a new single due in November, Oliveri looks set to be a great force within UK folk in 2012.

MINKO

Minko is a singer songwriter and multi instrumentalist living in Cornwall. She crafts beautiful idiosyncratic songs that arrive at your ears with a freshness that belies their often turbulent origins. Using a variety of acoustic instruments, Minko writes haunting melodies and weaving bass lines that wind themselves around peeling glockenspiels, ukuleles, flutes, and subtle rumba rhythms. Laced over the top is a unique and arresting voice which moves from the murmur of a whisper to the urgency of an animal call. The songs are sometimes dark with overtones of folk-baroque and chamber music, sometimes playful and feline, in the tradition of Serge Gainsbourg and Stan Getz, and sometimes evoke a psychedelic dream world atmosphere.
She records her songs in her bedroom with a few bits of equipment and a concrete dog.


"Minko's music draws its inspiration from a diversity of musical idioms - 1960s psychedelic folk, French pop chansons, music concrete, jazz, minimalism and European folk music - but it is unique in the way it always finds the gaps between the genres, constantly steering off the grid" Nick Duffy of The Lilac Time