root salad Gavin Davenport
Soon, everybody in Sheffield will be a folk musician. Chris Nickson talks to a particularly busy one.
A
s every person worth his or her salt knows, Sheffield is the centre of the English folk universe these days. Along with the luminaries who’ve moved to the city in droves, there’s also a burgeoning groundswell of home-grown talent. Among them is Gavin Davenport, a long-time stalwart of the scene, member of Crucible, Hekety and GloryStrokes and who now has a shiny new solo disc, Brief Lives, out. All this in addition to a day job; this is someone who likes to keep busy.
“Crucible is on hiatus and I get itchy feet,” he explains. “The process of record- ing and touring makes me grow – when you’ve made a record you’re ready for the next things. I’d been writing and planned to do an album of my own stuff, but I’d been singing at the Sheffield Ballad Club and it developed instead into an album of narrative songs.”
For the most part the traditional material is fairly obscure, and tackling things this way was a deliberate choice, says Davenport: “When you make some- thing, there’s no point in doing the same things as everyone else. It’s a crowded scene at the moment, which is a good thing. I wanted this to be different.”
Brief Lives focuses very much on
Davenport’s singing rather than his prowess on the guitar or cittern (although both are there, along with his Anglo concertina). Cer- tainly the last couple of years has seen his vocal work come on by leaps and bounds, and the disc even includes the song Silent Alarm, a contemporary-sound- ing original that stands out by being sung unaccompanied.
“I toyed with the idea of doing a completely unaccom- panied album but decided not to; I wanted it to be a vocal, story-led album. I’ve never really played and sung, even in bands, and the physical process of playing affects how you sing. Singing, just singing, is immediate and accessible, anyone can do it. Singing changes you, especially bal- lads that have length. You use your voice in a different way. I try to identify with a character in a song or get inside the character. I want a motivation and back story, and I have a filmic approach to the songs. The self- penned stuff is like that.”
Although there are no long ballads on the disc, it still marks a sea change for someone who really began as an instru- mentalist and “didn’t start singing serious- ly until I was 17. It was only at uni that I became comfortable with my voice – and singing was a good way to get into folk clubs for free.”
Since those callow days he’s grown and widened his scope. What’s particularly evi- dent on his solo release is the way he’s happy to change songs around a bit. Rather than adhere strictly to tradition, his are definitely reinterpretations, as with On Board A Ninety-Eight, which ends up being set to a Morris tune (Bobbing Around, for
those interested), or a take on House Car- penter that’s refreshed by being sung over the tune Mike Waterson gave to Tam Lin. But that, of course, is the folk process. Things develop and change, as well they should, and now Davenport is ready to take his part in that with full confidence.
“I like to mess around with stuff, but I like to mess around with stuff when I know what I’m doing.”
And that’s something he obviously does, approaching everything here with great confidence and more than a little charm. Curiously, though, given Sheffield’s current position and his place in the local folk pantheon, he chose not to record there, opting instead for Newcastle.
“I needed to be somewhere that was-
n’t Sheffield,” he says. “I wanted to feel like it was going out and going to work.”
The result is an accomplished piece of work that often surprises. Davenport’s voice is front and centre throughout, and the sparse arrangements (including two Crucible members) that frame it lend focus to the songs themselves. But for those who know him as an interpreter of traditional material, the inclusion of a pair of originals comes as a surprise. However, they fit well within the broader context and the folk mould.
“I never wanted to be a songwriter,” he admits, somewhat sheepishly. “I drift- ed into it.” He’s also considering playing and recording songs by other local writers who deserve wider airings. His ultimate aim with Brief Lives, however, was “to make a record I was happy with. Of all the things I’ve done, I’m satisfied with it, I can bear to listen to it. I didn’t want to pander to anything commercial.”
It also stands as a
warning shot for a major life change. In January, Davenport will give up his day job as a teacher to become a full-time musi- cian, “because that’s what keeps me happy. It’s liberat- ing and I have other skills to make me money.” He’s already set for a busy 2011 as Crucible will be back at work, Hekety is becoming busier again, and he already has a solo Canadian tour booked. Maybe this folk musician thing can really work out after all.
www.gavindavenport.com F 19 f
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