SALTLINES with Gigspanner Big Band and Raynor Winn
Christ Church, Julian Rd
Thu 27 Jul 2023 7:30pm
SALTLINES is an inspiring ‘Prose and Music’ collaboration between bestselling author Raynor Winn (“The Salt Path”) and folk-roots supergroup The Gigspanner Big Band, which features some of the biggest names on the folk scene. Formed by legendary Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight, the line-up features acclaimed multi-instrumental duo Edgelarks (Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin – BBC Folk Awards ‘Best Duo’) Bellowhead co-founder and melodeon player extraordinaire, John Spiers, Roger Flack on guitar and Sacha Trochet on percussion
Together they celebrate the beauty, stories and traditions of the South West Coast Path in a seamless performance of old songs with their origins in the South-West, and brand new compositions which have been written by Raynor Winn especially for this production.
Winn and her husband Moth, who was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration, became homeless after a business deal with a friend went wrong and decided to walk the South West Coast Path. “The Salt Path” is Raynor Winn’s and her husband Moth’s story. A global bestselling memoir chronicling their tale of loss, hope and rediscovery against the dramatic backdrop of the South West Coast Path. But such a well-trodden trail inevitably holds many more stories of loss, love and the natural world. Stories that can be found in the form of traditional songs, collected, archived and waiting to be revealed afresh. That thought, that idea, was the seed that has grown into SALTLINES.
The vibrant, thought-provoking compositions by Raynor have been especially written for this show, and the songs and tunes have been curated from collections by Cecil Sharp and Sabine Baring-Gould, and the archive held at Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. However, there is nothing remotely dusty about the interpretations of these old songs. In the words of one reviewer “What a fabulous team they make, together producing a startlingly new music form with few, if any, antecedents. The flights of musical fancy are startling in their natural invention”
This is an unmissable experience for anyone who appreciates beautiful words, inspiring music and above all, cherishes the social and natural history of Britain’s coastline, and the common threads that bind its fragile communities and wildlife.
Tickets from Bath Box Office: https://bathboxoffice.org.uk/whats-on/saltlines/about
