Exciting extra-curricular project begs more, in a plucky opening salvo, with carefully selected friends.

Release Date: 27th September 2024

Label: Self-Released

Format: CD / Digital

Jon Doran we already know, by way of his celebrated duo, with partner, Janice Burns, whose bittersweet take on traditional song we much enjoy. And, just as she is taking moonlit steps away with RE:VULVA, the dynamic all female forcefield brought together by Amy Thatcher, neither has he been idle, using any down time to convene and curate this collective. A little different from his work with Burns, this time it is a band situation, with a rhythm section to boot, with the songs coming not so much from trad.arr., but from rather more disparate sources.

whence, and why, the Northern Assembly?

I guess the name comes from the fact that Doran first met up with the other two members, in what was initially a trio, during time shared there in Newcastle. Heather Ferrier is a bit of a whizz on accordion, performing across a number of platforms, including her own trio. Jordan Aikin is a classy proponent of bagpipes and whistles, and a mainstay of Pons Aelius, prog-folk alchemists, who may or not be currently on hiatus, as well as his own band, Quercus, which, conveniently, also includes Ferrier. With a few trio gigs under their belt, mainly involving festivals, it seemed well time to cement the relationship with some, well, whatever CDs are made of these days.

Recruiting Adam Stapleford, from Ferrier’s trio, and Bevan Morris, from Pons Aelius, each also Newcastle alumni, drums and bass, in that order, their involvement made the clutch complete. O, and Janice Burns drops by to add vocals to one track, too.

as good a bit of singing heard this year…

Opening with a brisk flourish of bag and box, Doran wastes no time in wellying into Robin Hood And The Pedlar, an old, old song. Initially with his distinctive voice accompanied only by a drone of accordion, lively drums bounce in for the second stanza, with Ferrier adding a distinctive riff, and Aikin some whistle, then pipes. Morris appears to be on stand-up bass for this one, the whole a forwardly propulsive roustabout. It’s good, as is the fairly well known tale of Bold Wolfe.

With a rolling military drumbeat, Ferrier and Aikin add appropriately doleful backing. The whistle now starts a swirly repeat pattern, ahead a reel breaking out around Doran’s strong tones. As he maintains the main melody, so the band go to town, building in an array of increasingly complex countermelodies, carrying across the mixed sense of victory and loss, concordant with the facts: Wolfe won the battle, against all odds, but lost his life.I would go as far to say as this is as good a bit of singing as I have heard this year.

calling on the blues

The Evening Sun comes in two parts, three, really, if you include the short instrumental coda, written by Aikin. Not that you’d guess, the main melody stems from an old W.C. Handy blues, with lyrics by Memphis Minnie. The intro is all delicate shimmer, Doran’s guitar and long drawn out whistle notes, into which pipes gradually blend. Once the song starts, more fingerpicked guitar and those whistle notes, Doran offers a warm and resonant tone that slightly minds of James Taylor. It is here that Burns adds a barely audible harmony for the agreeably maudlin chorus. Hypnotic and haunting, it demands, and gets, full attention. Gradually building, over an accordion backwash, Aikin adds some sparse whistle that makes sure you gather all your thoughts and emotions, before moving on.

Kitty Of Ballinamore first suggests more of the same, but Stapleford kicks it swiftly into a rhythmic presence. A much covered Irish ballad, the bass and drums give it new purpose, an altered last verse a slightly more uplifting perspective. The accordion and whistle again pair most efficiently. The final track, then, Heenan And Sayers, is one of those sporting songs that inhabit so well the folk tradition, and what claims to be or has become so. Think Skewball, or, even, Galway Farmer.

put up your dukes…

But, rather than horse racing, this is fisticuffs, the 1860 bareknuckle between John and Tom, of those names, the best, respectively, of America and the UK. Hundreds gathered to watch the fight, in a field out of Farnborough, the sport(?!) then still illegal. The jangle of bouzouki is the backing that ushers in Doran, before the clatter of drum, accordion and whistle fill in the gaps. Little mention, thus far, of Bevan’s bass, given how he generally tucks himself within the whole, unobtrusively. Her you can hear him breaking occasional rank, with subtly chosen scaffolding notes, where less is more. (Fewerer is morer??) An instrumental middle section allows Stapleford to add pugilistic thumps of percussion, and, all too swiftly its over (Damned if I can make out who actually won, but, y’know, it’s all in the joy of the fight, isn’t it………)

STOP PRESS: It was actually stopped, in the final round, by the Aldershot Police, the “bobbies” mentioned in the final verse.

This E.P. is a cracking introduction to the extra-curriculars of Jon Doran. I hope this bears more fruit and hope it brings forth some festivals for the coming year. Why, here’s a trio version of the closer, from 2021:

Jon Doran online: Website / Facebook / Bandcamp / Instagram

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