Live from the 2025 UK tour…some images and words from Alan Dearling
In a live concert, Kathryn and her musical friends offered up an exhilarating, and at times, magical musical mix. Last night, the audience at Todmorden’s awesome Unitarian Church were treated to a feast of traditional folk music from the North-East, and a diverse and more experimental helping of folk-rock. All served up with gusto by Kathryn Tickell and her four-piece backing band, The Darkening. Quite early on in the set, Kathryn suggested that the audience should “tap your feet, dance, sing along, clap.” But this was an older, maybe more staid audience than The Darkening are perhaps used to. Or, maybe it was sitting in the church pews. The crowd were very respectful and appreciative. However, they were there to watch and listen, to enjoy the rich mix of older songs from fishing grounds, coal pits, songs of the land, and plenty of Scottish/English Border ballads.
The music did get darker and more rhythmic in many of the ensemble pieces. Shades of shamanic rites, plenty of unusual mixes of instrumentation and singing from all three ladies on the frontline. If anything, they reminded me of the two earlier versions of Fairport Convention: one rockier, and later, the folk-oriented one.
Wikipedia informs us that:
“Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL (Deputy Lieutenant in Northumberland) (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, to parents who originated from Northumberland and who moved back there from Staffordshire with the family when Kathryn was seven.
In 2018 Tickell established a new band, Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening, with whom she released the album Hollowbone in 2019. This project signals a different approach, with new material. There is a semi-imaginary incursion into the prehistory of Northumbrian music in the track “Nemesis” based on Roman-era texts and a melody by Emperor Hadrian’s court musician Mesomedes. There is a foray into a world of ancestral shamanism in “O-u-t Spells Out”. The album was greeted with critical acclaim, with four-star reviews in The Observer and the Financial Times, as were the band’s various national tours in its first two years of existence.”
Kathryn likes to chat to her audience. She told us of tales from the Borders, of old legends, mythological tales from the land and sea. It was actually quite educational! And, indeed, that is part of Kathryn’s own personal life these days, working in local communities and with young people. And she described her own upbringing – of people and places – of shepherds and of natural and unnatural disasters and sinister goings on. The instruments played by Kathryn and The Darkening frequently created a musical ‘darkening’, unworldly, and a little pagan, as was evinced in one high point of the first set, I think it is called ‘Highway to Hermitage’ (Castle). This castle, over the border into Scotland, she explained, was the location where, “…bad things often happened there”.
Here is an evocative 2024 video recording of the tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HntoxQyuFDU
Kathryn let the musical tension develop towards the climax of the song and sounds of ‘Tune for Mina’. Here’s a live recording of the song with an earlier line-up of The Darkening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7vtwXY68Vo
At this point, I have an admission. I had to travel onwards to another musical assignment. One with a rather younger cohort of players and watchers. After the end of Kathryn and The Darkening’s first set, I went on to see the final sessions of Mercury Award nominated, Jon Coley’s Scribbling Town Folk Club, on one of their regular visitations from Manchester to Todmorden. I only caught the final sessions of the evening hosted by the larger-than-life, Jon Coley, but it was absolutely wonderful to witness new, young, often nervous talents performing. Fabulous stuff! Well done to Jon and the musicians… As he said, anyone who wants to get up and sing and play in Scribbling Town is welcome. Jon founded Scribbling Town in 2022 with the intention that it would be about active participation, friendship and mutual support. Here’s what it says on ‘Rider for the Band’ on Substack.com:
“Guitars, banjos, harmonicas, and a piano sat below the stage, accompanying stories woven into song, inviting the audience to connect deeply with the performers’ narratives.
Between performances, the room buzzes with friendly conversation and shared appreciation for the music. Regular attendees greet each other like old friends, while newcomers are quickly embraced into the fold.
The communal spirit is palpable, with spontaneous sing-alongs during choruses and supportive applause following each set. One performer, Toenails, played a song about his love for Scribbling Town, showing the deep connections made here.
Scribbling Town is more than just a folk club; it’s a nurturing space where creativity thrives, and connections are forged through a shared love of music.”
You can find out more about Scribbling Town on Facebook and Instagram.