We’re thrilled to be releasing Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay, the self-titled second album from two of the UK folk scene’s finest guitarists, which will be available from 26 May.
Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay are both prolific, praised and established artists in their own right. Hailing from South Yorkshire, Ghedi’s previous work has often been instrumental, exploring the natural world and his relationship to it, as seen on 2018’s A Hymn For Ancient Land but also developing into using his voice, songwriting and traditional material on his more recent album, In The Furrows Of Common Place. Toby Hay, hailing from the Cambrian mountains, professes likewise, that the landscape serves as eternal muse and the spiritual groundwork of his entrancing guitar playing which has dazzled critics and listeners alike throughout his career. All of this makes their collaboration with the world’s oldest independent label and custodians of UK folk music, Topic Records, a natural home for this exceptional record.
The album’s first single, ‘Bright Edge Deep’ as a perfect introduction to a record that is, somehow, greater than the sum of its singular talents.
On the track, Jim Ghedi explains that “‘Bright Edge Deep’ was taken from a Seamus Heaney poem ‘Digging’ and was the first track we wrote on this album, following a near two-year break from playing together due to the pandemic.” So fitting then, that the track is also the opener to such a lush, immediate and inarguably authentic album. With a spartan setup of just two guitars, Ghedi on the six-string and Toby on the twelve, the sessions that became the album were recorded live over 3 days at Giant Wafer Studios, Mid Wales. The result is an album that, totally unspoiled, captures so much space with such minimal source, speaks loudly with tenderness, and highlights the articulacy of their combined artistry. The album follows their revered 2018 release, The Hawksworth Grove Sessions, which brought their sounds together on record for the very first time.
Upcoming Tour Dates
No shows booked at the moment.