June Tabor & Oysterband’s ‘Freedom And Rain’ (1990) was hailed one of the finest collaborative folk albums of the past 4 decades. Bringing together the immense, individual talents of the sublime English folk singer Tabor and the raucous roots rebels Oysterband, it produced something quite not only new but enduring. When they reunited to perform at fRoots Magazine’s 30th birthday party at The Roundhouse in 2010, they felt the chemistry spark again. And so, twenty-one years on, in 2011, they reconvened to record the magnificent ‘Ragged Kingdom,’ a belated, though brilliant follow-up that mixes the traditional with the contemporary in startling fashion.
The trad. ‘Bonny Bunch Of Roses’ rubs shoulders with PJ Harvey’s ‘That Was My Veil’; a lush, acoustic version of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ nestles beside the Scottish trad. song ‘(When I Was No But) Sweet Sixteen’.
Stylistically, the participants grew even more in stature in the intervening years between albums – June becoming an eclectic song interpreter, drawing inspiration from many sources and Oysterband systematically re-exploring their own acoustic folk roots. Together, they brought all of this added artistic weight to the project, yet with a deftness of touch.
‘Ragged Kingdom’ was recorded first at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth and then at Metway Studios, Brighton, with Oysters’ regular producer Al Scott, Feb to April 2011.
“What unites the material on Ragged Kingdom” Telfer says “is finding the story in the song and the exact drama in the story: pop songs are often story songs too and we tried to find things where the story wasn’t banal, which had some shading in them.’ ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is a great lyric and so is ‘The Dark End Of The Street’.”
This release, released as part of Topic’s 85th anniversary celebrations, also coincides with the announcement of ‘A Long Long Goodbye’ tour, which officially marks Oysterband’s retirement from live performance. June Tabor joins the band for eight special UK dates this October (the tour officially wraps up in Germany next March).
Last Tour Together – October 2024
| Date | City | Venue | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/10/24 | Birmingham | Birmingham Town Hall | United Kingdom |
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| 04/10/24 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon | United Kingdom |
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| 05/10/24 | Bexhill | De La Warr Pavilion | United Kingdom |
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| 12/10/24 | Manchester | Manchester RNCM | United Kingdom |
| Sold Out | |||
| 13/10/24 | Sunderland | The Fire Station | United Kingdom |
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| 15/10/24 | Leicester | De Montfort Hall | United Kingdom |
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| 19/10/24 | London | Barbican | United Kingdom |
| Sold Out | |||
| 20/10/24 | Canterbury | Canterbury Festival | United Kingdom |
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