York based original contemporary folk duo Pen and Stu are putting the finishing touches to their new album, ‘Ravenswood’, which has been confirmed for release in January 2024.
Pen and Stu got together in September 2014 and are well known on the Yorkshire music scene and beyond for their signature blend of big whistles, tenor guitars and accompanying original lyrics. They released their first album, “So Far…Songs of Love, Loss and Pirates” in 2017, following it up a year later with a five-track live studio EP, “New Horizon.”
Boosted by nationwide radio plays and live on-air session performances, the duo were soon in demand at numerous festivals and venues including Filey Folk Festival, Alston Live Festival, City of York Folk Weekend York, Whitby Pirate Festival, Gary Stewart's Folk Club at The Mill, Tramlines Fringe Festival, Great North Folk Festival, Greenside Festival, Derby Folk Festival Weekender Fringe and Hutton Rudby Folkfest.
By 2019, they were playing more than 50 gigs a year, which they managed to fit in around their full-time day jobs.
But the arrival of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 brought about a change. And, after working at their demanding day jobs, throughout lockdown, Pen as a keyworker, it was time for a rethink.
Pen, who writes all the duo’s songs, and started songwriting ten years ago, began songwriting full-time in January 2022 and they both decided to commit to becoming full-time musicians when normality finally returned.
Their new album, recorded at 6dB studios in York and produced by Dave Boothroyd, is the product of that commitment.
‘Ravenswood’ includes ten tracks which deftly couple Pen’s rich, soulful, strong, lead vocals with tenor guitar, haunting low whistles and Stu’s rhythm guitar and melodious bass lines.
Pen and Stu at the Otley Folk Festival 2023
Pen revealed that one particular song, previewed at selected gigs over the summer months, has gone down especially well with live audiences.
Pen said: “We are proud of the album as a whole, but ‘Pretty Bird’, one of a number of up-tempo tracks on the album, has received a really positive response, so we decided to release it as a single and it’s getting radio airplay and is available on all streaming platforms.
“‘Pretty bird’ inspired by ‘The Mabinogion’ book of Welsh folk tales, includes two kings, a magic cauldron, a fierce battle, with soldiers coming back to life and ends with a broken heart.
“It was great to record and is fun to play live. I look forward to many more people hearing it.”
Stu said: “We post a weekly ‘Tuesday Teaser’ on our YouTube and Facebook pages. This is usually a snippet of a song that we’ll be playing at a forthcoming gig, or a whistle tune, composed by Pen.
“As we build up to the album launch, we will be playing extracts of the new songs which will offer a flavour of what we have been up to.”
They both agree that 2024 promises to be an incredibly exciting time, as they look forward to more festivals and gigs to promote their new album ‘Ravenswood.’