Alan Dearling chats with Molly after a great gig at the 3 Wise Monkeys in Todmorden
This was an intimate, friendly and crammed gig. Here’s how I first heard about her music and performances. My colleagues at the Narrowboat Sessions told me:
“We just knew that we were on to something special with these Narrowboat Sessions the moment that this young lady started to sing. The charming Molly Tilston is of course the daughter of the superb Steve Tilston and the late great and sorely missed Maggie Boyle, and the evidence that genetics really do come into it is in this beautifully simple song she wrote called ‘Dragonfly’.”
‘Dragonfly’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8JzMHXOcpc
During the evening, Molly performed alongside what she calls “…the wonderful musicians, my beautiful friends, Vernon Bigsby, Lotte Har, Rick Burrows, Chris Manley and Brian Toberman.” They also performed some of their own songs and a mix of swing and Gypsy jazz.
Indeed, the stage area was filled with musicians and talent… and it was a lively, bustling, Saturday night audience. Molly bared her soul – lots of personal songs about home, homelessness, challenges and new ways of living. Vernon and Lotte kept the evening swinging with Hot Club vibes, and Chris and others performed some of their own songs and accompanied Molly… and jammed on into the night…
Alan: Thanks for taking time to have a chat, Molly. The gig with you and your friends at the 3 Wise Monkeys was really busy and successful. Congrats. I know a little bit about your musical family, partly from Mark Holdsworth, who co-ordinates the Narrowboat Sessions, which raises money for cancer research and which are partly dedicated to the memory of your mother, musician and singer, Maggie Boyle. Tell me a bit about your musical family and growing up. It sounds quite complicated!
Molly: Complicated, beautiful, organised chaos! My happiest childhood memories are the times on the road with my parents and older brother. I utterly adored watching my parents on stage and I was and still am endlessly proud of their music and abilities to connect with people. For me, it was easy and exciting on the road, but integrating with children with more conventional lives was very difficult, and I struggled with education settings. There were often times when my parents left for long periods of time to tour, and I know they found this very difficult. It was not in any way a ‘normal’ childhood, I was drenched in music and surrounded by colourful and talented people and today I realise how lucky I was. I often think of the times spent in the back of an old banger, next to my brother, listening to Dad’s music, driving up a motorway to another venue. These were happy times.
Alan: I have put together quite a few links to your songs and a range of performances and will add them into an article together with this ‘conversation’. When did you start recording music, and are there many recordings with your family members including your sister, Martha, and brother, Joe?
Molly: I always sang, I knew every word to every song my parents performed probably by the age of 5, yet I still claimed that I would never be a folk singer. I started to drop out of school around the age of 13, I was definitely being pulled towards music. By the age of 16 I had a bunch of songs, and I started to perform, and I recorded in my bedroom. Unfortunately, there is not much out there of us together, Joe has recorded a song of mine, I am on some of Martha’s albums, and we have recorded bits together, but for our own enjoyment and not to be released.
Alan: You must have been pretty shell-shocked with your mum’s cancer diagnosis. I think you wrote ‘I am a Woman Now’ to prove to her that you were resilient.
Molly: We were all utterly devastated, my brother and I were utterly heartbroken for a very long time, such is life. Mum was the glue that held us together, the life and soul of our existence, and we had a huge fight on our hands trying to keep her with us. Mum worried about me a lot. I’d had my struggles and at the time of her passing, I had a young daughter. It brought her comfort when I reassured her that I was going to be OK, it made sense to tell her in a song.
Alan: At the time of her passing in 2014, you were playing with, and I think recording an album with Lee Southall from The Coral. Has that album been finished and released? Any other releases apart from songs recorded for the Narrowboat Sessions?
Molly: Lee and I had the opportunity to record our debut album at Peter Gabriel’s Realworld Studios. We spent 2 weeks recording on reel-to-reel, we worked with some top musicians. The album is incredible, and my best work to date, we were prolific with our writing and musically worked very well together. Unfortunately, I was going through some very tricky circumstances in my personal life, I think losing mum triggered a breakdown. Myself and Lee separated and the album was never released. I still to this day push for its release.
Alan: At the recent gig you shared a lot of your own challenges and issues with the audience. You put a lot of emphasis on ‘home’, ‘homelessness’, ‘where you will sleep’ and ‘put your head tonight’. And you said that you were finding ‘new ways of living’. How’s that all going?
Molly: Music is therapy to me, I like to be brutally honest with in my songs, I have to write about my traumatic experiences to heal. It is much harder to write happy songs, you know!? I like to talk about my struggles, my struggles with alcoholism, relationships and beyond, as I find most people have had similar experiences and it’s a good way to connect with my audience. My children and I became homeless last year, through a ‘No fault Eviction’, we ended up in temporary accommodation, this was a life-changing experience and one I am grateful to be at the other side of.
Alan: At times you remind me a bit of Melanie, who I saw first at the Isle of Wight Festival. There is a shared feeling about facing darkness and finding redemption. She was also keen to shed the label of ‘folkie’ – which you make something of an issue.
Molly: I just never wanted to be pigeon-holed into the folk scene. I am inspired by so much more than just folk music, although I am very proud of my folk heritage.
Alan: I came away from the gig with a positive vibe, about your performance, and your new songs. You also seem very energised by your daughter…are your plans working out?
Molly: That makes me very happy! I am very happy with how things are going at the minute – I have a wonderful band, and we are looking forward to more gigs and recording the new material over the next few months.
Alan: Are you planning any more gigs or recordings with your family members?
Molly: We are rather spontaneous, we never really plan to gig together, it just happens if we are in the vicinity of each other.
Alan: So, what else can you tell me about ‘what comes next’ in your musical life? More gigs with friends?
Molly: I am ready to record my debut solo album, more than ready, and I am planning to go in the studio this month.
Alan: Thanks again for the chance to chat.
Molly: Thank you so much, hope to see you again!
More links to some of Molly Tilston’s performances and songs available on-line:
‘Time to Mend’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhqTn3an5sM
“Sometimes you have to change…be someone new.”
‘I’m a Woman Now’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXwy1LoUIag
‘Coming Home’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxAhcUM5ao
‘Shining Star’ recorded during lockdown 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BZPzGsEUts
‘The Painted Lady’ (2013) with Maggie Boyle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOAb-vbF8K4
‘Up and Under’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3I2XjMj3r8
Molly Tilston & Lee Southall (The Coral) A Benefit Night for Maggie Boyle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTCoiCE0LN8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1J_PBhonOU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VANT3aD4eHs
This video shows Maggie and the Tilston Family at the Maggie Boyle Benefit Concert held at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge on 11 January 2014: https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/records/maggieboyle.html
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