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“It’s nice that it seems like a lot!” laughs Phil. “We both get to play with our respective noisy rock bands. Cath’s in a group called Fret! and I’m in one called Bad Amputee. Then Cath’s also in (all- women maritime group) She Shanties and I’m in (long-running ceilidh band) Fiddler’s Elbow. I’m also still working with Sarah Hill, who sang on my last solo banjo album. We almost finished an album but then she moved away to Brighton. But that record will get finished and come out at some point. That’ll be mainly English songs from Sussex and the North East – whatever we like, really.”
“I’ve just been hired as musical director for a puppet theatre production!” Cath reveals. It’s by Horse & Bamboo Theatre, who are based in Lancashire and it’s about the ju-jitsu-using suf- fragettes who protected Emmeline Pankhurst and a bunch of those folks. That will be performed in the autumn, but the work starts now.”
They also have plenty to keep them busy with their continuing commitment to community music making, particularly the Sacred Harp singing that they credit with bringing them together.
“Both of us started singing because somebody told us to try this Sacred Harp stuff,” Cath elaborates. “I started singing show tunes at school, but got told off by this one drama teacher who said ‘you’re too loud and too tall and can you just settle down, back there.’ It was Tim Eriksen, Jeff Colby and Kelly House who really encouraged me to ‘just sing!’ – and that’s how I ended up meeting him!” “I was arranging UK tours for Cordelia’s Dad,” says Phil, “because I was a fan and a DIY booking agent, so that’s how I first got exposed to Sacred Harp singing and gradually drifted into it.”
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or all their various musical endeavours, much of Cath and Phil’s time is taken up with being parents to their young son. “I do know some performers who have a kid and then you never hear from them again,” muses Phil. “I can actually think of a few like that, so it’s good that we can still do something.” “Byron first went to Whitby Folk Week when he was nine days old,” Cath recalls, “so he’s used to being places where there’s music and people around. Some of the difficulty with making this record was energy levels – mostly on my part – being a bit poor. We couldn’t really do an all-day recording session, so we’d do a two-hour session one week, then three or four weeks later go in for another two hours. A friend of ours recorded us, but it had to be at times when we were free and both he and his recording facility were available. So we just made it slowly, bit by bit, ’til it was all done.”
Phil also has a full-time job in horticulture. “Yes, it’s a really folkie job,” he laughs. “I’m not one those personnel managers who sing songs about sowing and harvesting. I’m actually doing it!” “I’m the fake one from New Jersey,” Cath deadpans.
So, how the heck do the pair of them ever find the time to keep doing the music? I enquire.
“The music doesn’t stop just because you’re doing something else,” Cath considers. “If I’m learning song lyrics, I’ll be busy doing whatever it is, but also be in Storyland.” “I just keep a guitar in the kitchen and any spare minute, I’ll pick it up and twang away for a bit,” replies Phil. “I’ll tell you why we have the time – we don’t have a TV. That’s it! The best piece of advice I can give anyone on keeping on doing music is to keep a harmonica in the pocket of every jacket you own.”
cathandphiltyler.bandcamp.com F
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