The Magpie Arc: Rock, Prog + Folk - music for the sonic soul. New Album 'Glamour In The Grey'
THE MAGPIE ARC – New album: ‘Glamour In The Grey’ Released 7th July
Available for interviews
“There can’t be many bands lately that have generated such a huge amount of interest before people even heard them play together as The Magpie Arc” (Kevin Bourke, R’n’R magazine)
Videos: https://themagpiearc.com/videos
“Folk/rock with Led Zeppelin vibes”. (Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2)
The Magpie Arc is a cross-Border band out of Sheffield and Scotland featuring the multi-award-winning talents and wide musical influences of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nancy Kerr, singer-songwriter and rhythm guitar player Findlay Napier (Chris Difford, Boo Hewerdine), drummer Tom A. Wright (Richard Hawley, Mark Radcliffe’s Une, Richard Thompson), bassist Alex Hunter and guitarist Martin Simpson (The Albion Band, June Tabor, and 20+ solo albums).
Formed from the idea of bringing together a group of established musicians who would mix their song-writing styles and musicianship in a full-on electric band to create exciting new music and update the classic 60’s and 70’s British rock/folk sound, the possibilities that The Magpie Arc offer is something special and unique. Having three strong writers the focus has naturally been on new material, however they’ve also tackled some great covers, too.
“What we want to achieve is that rich stew of folk, country, blues and rock n’roll” said bassist Alex Hunter in the R’n’R interview (he names David Sylvian, Ian Anderson and Stephen Wilson among the more individual voices that he admires) - although he’s happy to add that “we have also taken on this slightly riffier rock hue with mild hints of Prog on several tracks”. Nancy confirms that desire: “We’ve all got those key cornerstones of British music but there’s all sorts of different influences that go into what we love and that’s what makes it something of our own. Having three front people as the main lyrical voices and then the collective as the sonic thing”.
“Just the right amount of Black Sabbath for folk/rock”
(Harry and Hamish Fagan, Rockslam”
Unleashed from his much-lauded reputation as one of Guitarist Magazine’s top ten acoustic players in the world and admired by many, including Jackson Browne, Steve Miller and Robert Plant, Martin Simpson can finally give full on electric: “When I lived in the States”, he explained to RnR, “ I used to play electric slide with Howlin’ Wolf’s old piano player for a while and I’ve always wanted a reason to get better at playing electric guitar. You’re always looking for reasons to get better – that’s how it is if you’re serious.” With such a massive collection of electric guitars, it’d be churlish to not finally let him loose!
Twelve songs were recorded by The Magpie Arc in early 2020 just before “you know what” hit, which the band released as a series of four track EP's on their own label in late 2020/early 2021, and which are now followed by their first full length album, ‘Glamour In The Grey’.
Live, the buzz about seeing the band and the anticipation among those in the know all became clear as they hit UK festival stages during the summer of 2022 and at various venues around the UK to superb reviews: “...the possibilities Magpie Arc offer are very enticing indeed. You owe it to yourself to catch this band as soon as you can. Capability, flair and originality rarely come so well wrapped.” (Spiral Earth - Live review)
LINKS:
Instagram - @themagpiearc
Twitter - @TheMagpieArc
Purchase the album: UK/International - https://themagpiearc.com/shop/
