Singer-songwriter, guitarist and Acoustic Review presenter Ben Morgan-Brown has been keeping himself busy during the recent lockdown, working on not one, but two albums.
Whilst mixing and mastering for his debut album of songs ‘Chalk & Clay’ (due later this year) has continued remotely, Ben has also recorded an album of solo instrumental guitar pieces, titled ‘Moment’, which he will be releasing via Bandcamp on Friday the 5th of February.
Inspired by folk-revival heroes such as Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and taking cues from contemporary players like Toby Hay, Nathan Salsburg and William Tyler, Moment was recorded in Ben’s living room, with the majority of the tracks recorded in a single afternoon:
“I wanted to create something quickly,” he says, “work on my album Chalk & Clay has been an ongoing process involving lots of time, money, and decisions – I wanted to counter that by producing something with a looser and more spontaneous feel and process”
The resulting ten tracks take in a variety of moods: the joyful Old Hemp (named for the first Border Collie); the chiming legato phrasing of Sketches; dark blues The Banks of the Old River Platte (named for the river that guided immigrants west in 19th century America); and even an improvised interpretation of the traditional melody Scarborough Fair.
Ben, who often incorporates his own compositions into his videos for Acoustic Review, is releasing the album on the 5th of February, which also happens to be a Bandcamp Friday, a day on which the platform takes no commission on sales, helping support artists through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moment is available from https://benmorganbrown.bandcamp.com from the 5th of February with a wider digital and streaming release coming in March.
See Ben perform the track ‘Mists’ below:
For more information on Ben Morgan-Brown visit his website at www.benmorganbrown.co.uk and find him on socials at @benmorganbrown.
