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Instruments:
Produced by Alan Prosser
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Canmore came together and was first performed at the Canmore
Folk Festival in Canada. It’s a beautiful Place in National
Parkland. Makerfield is just a resonant word; it sums up something
about the CD. Cavendish Road is a happy retreat for road weary
musicians with Ms Jennings as proprietor. River of Steel came from a
bad experience in Vienna and Seymour Place is where my heart is. The
Move - just a collection of riffs really. Air of Distinction is about
a certain girl with a surety of touch. Rainy Day is meant for a friend
across the Northern Seas. East Tytherley is another beautiful refuge,
another kitchen I’ve sat and played in for long hours. William and
Claire - this was played at their wedding. Long life and luck to both.
N.E.R.1003 - you may hazard a guess at this number. It expresses a
certain friendship 'up north’. Tanyardside is the only
unoriginal tune and is taken from 'The Voice of the People’: a
collection of traditional songs and finally The day is ending; the sun
going down, a cold beer and a warm guitar - Heaven!
My thanks go to all who’ve helped me through the years, but most
especially to Jane and Harry who suffer me incessantly.
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Some notes by Ian Kearey 'Eclectic’ is an overused word these days, and, particularly in the light of World Music, is often a synonym for dabbling. True eclecticism is first about understanding and having knowledge and respect for the source, and only then making it your own. And this definition, I think, sums up what makes Alan Prosser’s guitar-playing a great deal more than interesting.
All this has to leave its mark. But, of course, all of this means doodlysquat if you can’t put it together. The sometimes deceptive simplicity of Alan’s composition and playing comes from a lifetime of practising and dedication. Those who have shared hotel rooms with him on tour will know this already, perhaps all too well; but for the rest of the world, the tunes and songs on this album show an acoustic player at the top of his game. I'll give it five, as they used to say in the West Midlands. | |||
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Those who encounter him as the indefatigable core of Oysterband, power
chords and solos to the fore in a sharp electric lineup, know only one
part of Alan’s playing. Long before all this, he was part of a
collective of young experimenters who one day would be playing
medieval music for banquets, next delving into the arcane kabbalistic
mysteries of the North Carolina Ramblers or the Mississippi Mud
Steppers, and the next trying to fathom how the great English players
- Davy Graham, John Martyn, Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy - managed to
do that on their guitars. From Coley Jones to Nic Jones in one giant
step.
