Originally commissioned by Brampton Live festival, the ‘All Along the Wall’ project saw 5 singer/songwriters and 2 poets gather together and tasked with writing a cycle of songs and poems connected with Hadrian’s Wall and the people and personalities connected to it through the ages.
The musicians were Boo Hewerdine, Jez Lowe, Julie Matthews, Rory McLeod and Ruth Notman, the poets Kate Fox and Elvis McGonagall.
The brief has resulted in a broad range of songs broken up by some spoken word pieces, and as you’d expect given the personalities of those on the project the tracks cover social commentary, historic ballads, love songs, and it’s all held together by a recurring sense of humour that comes through in many of the poems and lyrics.
The album opens up with a short title track written by Jez Lowe this segues into ‘Wallsend’ a poem by Kate Fox that marks the start of the geographical journey from East to West that the 22 track album takes.
The album notes are broken down into each song, with the writers explaining what the inspirations and influences were for each song – it’s a great way of presenting the pieces as it offers more than just listing the lyrics.
Highlights include ‘Rock of Gelt’, Julie Matthews’ song inspired by Roman graffiti; Jez Lowe’s ‘Haltwhistle Women’ that tells the story of a young couple who eloped across the border; and all of Kate Fox’s spoken word pieces are full of real people & situations presented with superb attention to detail.
It’s obvious the 7 participants (and Kate Bramley who added fiddle accompaniment) had a great time putting all this together, there’s a real sense of fun and collaboration running through the album that manifests itself in the warmth and life brought to the characters and stories that make up the ‘All Along the Wall’ project.
Track listing
1 All Along The Wall / Wallsend
2 Church Of The Stolen Stones
3 The Roman Wall Wasn't Built In A Day
4 Dear Friend
5 Other Side Of The Wall
6 The Age Of Wind & Stone / Bridge Over Time
7 Mostly Dreich
8 Haltwhistle Women
9 End Of The World
10 Opposite Sides Of The Wall
11 Rock Of Gelt / Walls
12 Blessing
13 Lizzie Batey
14 A War / Shepherd Who Lost His Sheep
15 Hadrian
16 The Wrong Side Of The Wall
17 Cursing Stone
18 Curse
19 Romanticus
20 Galloway Girl
21 North Of The Border
22 Bowness Bells
23 Walk On The Wild Side / Shore To Shore
