Image Courtesy of Seth Lakeman

If you’re going to a festival this March odds are you’ll be at festival featuring English fiddle-player-turned-multi-instrumentalist Seth Lakeman. the celebrated folkie is returning to our shores after a successful appearance at last year’s Bluesfest and he’s taking no prisoners with a massive list of dates, including some solo shows, around the country.

Seth Lakeman took time out of his busy schedule recently to chat to our very own Gareth Hugh Evans about the upcoming tour, the logistics of being a multi-instrumentalist that has to fly internationally and the concept behind his upcoming record.

Gareth Hugh Evans: You’re coming out to Australia in March and by the look of your tour schedule you’re going to be playing just about every festival in the country at that time. Was that your intention?

Seth Lakeman: [laughes] We do seem to be doing every festival, yeah. Peter Noble, who looks after Bluesfest, is looking after us and he seems to have gotten us doing everything. As long as we’re busy when we’re out there it’s great. I know the boys and myself, there’s five guys and we’ll all be travelling around together, have the intention to spread the music as much as possible so as many festivals as possible is great. And they’re quite diverse aren’t they? From the Blue Mountains to Bluesfest to Port Fairy – there’s all sorts. WOMADelaide as well! It’s amazing.

GHE: Yeah for sure. There’s obviously a couple of folk festivals in there which you play a lot of in the UK.

SL: Yeah we do, loads.

GHE: And then you’ve got Bluesfest which has its origins in blues music but really encompasses everything on the blues and roots spectrum now. And then obviously WOMADelaide which is a massive world music festival. There’s a lot of diversity there.

SL: That is quite diverse, isn’t it? As festivals go it’s as far spread as you can get really. It’s kind of a similar area that we work in [the UK] because we do Glastonbury and stuff which I imagine is kind of a Bluesfest-esque thing and then we do world music stuff. We’re an unusual act because we cross over – it’s very rootsy and folky, inherently, but in terms of the shows we put on we’re quite rocky and younger than people would imagine, if you know what I mean. We’re looking forward to it! WOMADelaide is going to be something I think we’re all very much looking forward to. It’s obviously the most colourful kind of festival you can go to. We did WOMAD back in Reading, Wiltshire last year. It’s like going travelling in a field of music isn’t it?

GHE: I’ve been to a lot of festivals in Australia and WOMADelaide is one of my favourites, not just because of the music but also the setting is magnificent. It’s in the botanic gardens so you’re kind of walking in amongst these trees and discovering hidden stages and things. It’s not out in a field or a giant stadium or anything – you’re actually in a park and you can sit under a tree, sip a cider and listen to great music. It’s quite magical stuff.

SL: It sounds like quite a dreamlike setting – that’s amazing!

GHE: And of course you’re playing the Blue Mountains Music Festival and Port Fairy as well. Then at the end of the festival comes Bluesfest and The National Folk Festival as well. Plus all the solo dates!

SL: It’s a lot isn’t it?

GHE: And you’re squeezing it all into less than a month which is crazy.

SL: Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of travelling. Someone seems to have it all under control [laughs]. We’re doing a lot of driving ourselves but we’re quite happy to do all that – it’s going to be great, a proper road trip. We’re all going to enjoy it.

GHE: You were out in Australia last year as well weren’t you?

SL: We came for about two and a half weeks last April, yeah.

GHE: How did the audiences here respond to your music?

SL: It was a quick stint. We played at Bluesfest and people got very excited when we were playing. That’s when Peter Noble at Bluesfest said “right, you’ve got to come back next year. We’ll put you on more and try and do a bigger tour”. It was really exciting for us because he’s quite an important guy and he had a vision. We had a great time – the audience seemed to be really connecting to what we do. Myself and the double bass player are quite inspired by people like The Waifs and The John Butler trio and people like that. It’s got a real groove to it, what we do – it’s not what people would imagine to be English folk. It’s quite uplifting, what we do, so they tend to stick us at the end of a night at a folk festival or gig because people jump around and dance. People were doing that at Bluesfest. It was really cool.

GHE: The press releases I’ve read around your tour this time around refer to you as a multi-instrumentalist but I’ve always known you as a fiddle player, first and foremost. Do you describe yourself as a multi-instrumentalist?

SL: I play guitar, bouzouki and banjo. I play all those other bits and bobs now – it’s all about transferring what you’re doing and directing songs into a different perspective. But I definitely am foremost a violinist. The new record, Tales From The Barrel House, is where I really started to experiment with other instruments production wise and how they would fit together with a field recording. On the new record I kind of played everything really – I kept it cheap [laughs].

GHE: And you said there’s going to be five of you on tour?

SL: Yeah – the double bass player, my brother [Sean Lakeman] playing acoustic guitar and an irish guy called Cormac Byrne on bodhran plus a sound man.

GHE: It’s quite a large group. A lot of international artists find it quite hard to come over to Australia with a full band because of the expense and distance. I’m quite excited that you’re managing to bring all the guys over.

SL: I think it’s because we’ve got quite a few of these festivals. Festivals seem to be a more sustainable financial thing to do. It’s definitely more exciting having the band. There’s going to be some cool gigs, definitely. We’ll have a couple of Coopers and away we go.

GHE: It’ll be interesting trying to lug all those instruments in a car all the way around Australia, let alone actually bringing them all the way here as well.

SL: I know. We’ve already had an email trying to work out how we’re going to get some of them over. I can only take violin, bouzouki and tenor. Sean can only take one guitar. And then we’re going to have to hire a double bass when we get there. There’s a number of logistics that you don’t quite think about – it’s expensive to get there!

GHE: And after Australia you’re heading back to the UK?

SL: Yeah, I start recording another record in April so I’ve got to get back for that. And then in May we’ve got our own tour in the UK, we’re doing about 16 dates including some festivals. So yeah, all sorts going on really.

GHE: When you say you’ve got a new album to record is that one that’s already written? Are you itching to get into the studio?

SL: I’ve been writing it for a good six months so I’m ready to get in there. I’ve probably got about two thirds of it but as you probably know sometimes when you’re in the studio two or three of them just come out from no where. Well hopefully [laughs]! I’m itching to get in – they’re sat there waiting.

GHE: Are we going to be privy to any of those new songs on this tour?

SL: I hope so, yeah. We’ll get one or two of them up and running. I have to be honest, the lads haven’t heard any of them! There’s a whole selection of songs we’re going to be doing but hopefully at one or two of the gigs we can chuck in some of these new ones just to work them through, and give them some legs.

GHE: How similar is what you’re writing at the moment to Tales From The Barrel House?

SL: It’s hard to say really. It’s a record called Word of Mouth. The concept is I’ve been going around interviewing people, getting their experiences, getting their stories, and actually turning them into songs. It’s kind of a contemporary way of writing a folk song. It’s coming together really well. I’ve got some lovely interviews that will go on a special edition CD to go along with it. I’ve enjoyed doing it – it’s different. …The Barrel House is dark and focused – this is lighter and little more universal in its sounding. Hard to tell though – you never know until you’ve actually recorded it, that’s the thing.

GHE: It sounds like a really interesting concept. You said before that you’re not as traditional folk as people probably expect but when you’re talking about going and collecting stories to turn into songs I don’t think you can get much more folk than that.

SL: That’s really at the heart of it all isn’t it? Turning their stories into songs to be remembered for longer, as long as people want to listen to them. It really stands the test of time. I think that’s the point of folk music – the people’s tradition and the people’s stories.

GHE: I might leave you there – it’s been a really insightful conversation! See you when you get to Australia

SL: Wicked – we can’t wait to get down there.

The full list of dates for Seth Lakeman’s Australian tour are below:

Thursday 7th March – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, VIC
Friday 8th March – Port Fairy Folk Festival, Port Fairy, VIC
Saturday 9th March – Port Fairy Folk Festival, Port Fairy, VIC
Monday 11th March – WOMADelaide, Adelaide, SA
Tuesday 12th March – Ararat Hotel, Ararat, VIC
Thursday 14th March – Brunswick Music Festival, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday 16th March – Blue Mountains Music Festival, Katoomba, VIC
Saturday 17th March – Blue Mountains Music Festival, Katoomba, VIC
Wednesday 20th March – Notes, Sydney, NSW
Thursday 21st March – Lizottes, Kincumber, NSW
Friday 22nd March – Lizottes, Newcastle, NSW
Saturday 23rd March – Lizottes, Sydney, NSW
Sunday 24th March – Brass Monkey, Cronulla, NSW
Wednesday 27th March – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday 28th March – Bluesfest, Byron Bay, NSW
Friday 29th March – Bluesfest, Byron Bay, NSW
Sunday 31st March – National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT
Monday 1st April – National Folk Festival, Canberra, ACT