Gloucestershire-based award-winning Americana duo The Black Feathers are flying into Tayside and Fife for the start of a 14-date UK tour.
Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler will be bringing their folk and acoustic sensibilities with them to Dundee and Kirkcaldy having just announced the release of a new single Holy Water – the first to be taken from their eagerly awaited second album, due for release next spring.
The duo pride themselves on writing songs that sound both ancient and
modern – weaving in traditional influences so thoroughly that they become the very fabric of fresh creations.
Holy Water is probably the duo’s most personal and revealing song to date. It was written following a deeply powerful performance in the chapel of a rehab facility for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts in Nashville Tennessee during their recent US tour – the extraordinary experience being made all the more poignant as it fell on the same day as Ray celebrated six years of sobriety.
Ray said: “The music industry has a long and difficult history with addiction. What starts out as an exciting and liberating experience – creative, even – can all too easily become an obsession, leading to a downward spiral of self-destructive behaviour and isolation.”
And whilst some, like Ray, are lucky enough to realise that they’re falling, others simply don’t see the ground coming and then struggle to come to terms with what has happened.
“Many turn to God or religion at such times, but not everyone has that choice,” Ray added.
“Holy Water tries to highlight the fact that you don’t need to be religious to be ‘saved’”.
Holy Water follows an incredible year for the band.
Their debut album Soaked To The Bone met with critical acclaim, breaking into the top 10 iTunes country chart and the Official UK Americana Chart.
Lead single Down By The River received an exclusive first play on BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris show; and the band headed on tour throughout the UK and US winning over audiences from The Bedford in Balham to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.
*The Black Feathers plays Clarks on Lindsay Street, Dundee, on September 6 and Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club on September 7
www.theblackfeathers.com
