Na Mara - St Albans Folk Duo

Interview with Rob and Paul

Rob and Paul have been playing together for around two years and following the release of their CD “The Kingshill Valley” on the Rightback Records label, I passed through St Albans – here’s the interview I had with them

Q. When did you start playing?

Rob: “Well, I’ve been playing guitar since I was 14 and I trained as a classical musician, working my way through the classic guitar repertoire. One of my teachers was Maestro Jose Tomas, who I studied with in Spain. As far as the mandolin is concerned, I have come to it very recently, and started on the classical route, taking some lessons with Ali Stephens.

Paul: “Rob and I have been playing together on and off for about 10 years but it’s only in the last two years or so that we have started to work together, building up our repertoire and organising some gigs”

Q. The songs on the CD have a unique quality and sound to them. How do you go about putting a new song together?

Rob: “Generally, Paul will come up with a new song. He will sing it through few times having worked out the chords and then I will work on a suitable mandolin and/or guitar accompaniment, taking into consideration the key, mood of the song and the overall structure”.

Paul: “Given the range of music our backgrounds cover, we tend to select only that material that we both like and are content to play”.

Q. Where do you source your music from?

Paul: “When we first started playing together, we trawled through the back catalogue of music we already knew. For me, that was a mix of contemporary and traditional folk music, mainly from the British Isles. The contemporary musicians that I played a lot of were names like Richard Thompson and Shawn Colvin – very eclectic really. Traditional influences were really too many to mention and would range from bands like Dervish and The Bothy Band to Dick Gaughan and The Voice Squad.

More recently, we have been exploring the French Tradition. The music is a kissing cousin to our own, there are some fantastic artists playing and, like much of traditional folk music, the themes of love, loss and death are pretty universal.

Rob is researching the dance traditions of the British Isles and increasingly Spain and the Basque country.”

Q. What instruments do you play?

Rob: “I have a Fylde mandolin and De Meglio 1899 mandolin. The De Meglio was a great find, as there are a lots of instruments from this period that are quite frankly unplayable. This one has a lovely sweet tone. My guitar is an Algranati-Lipkin classic guitar, which I have had since 1988, and was made for me. It has a superb balance and wonderful projection. It’s a spruce top: I have always played spruce tops, they suit my playing more than cedars. The guitar I had before his one was a Marin Montero”.

Paul: “I play a Taylor 300 series, which suits me fine. I also have an Antoria 12-string, a ‘Baby Taylor’ travel guitar – which can certainly belt it out – an, for electric, I have a Parker Fly which is something I treasure greatly. I am also trying to find time to learn Irish Bouzouki – if only there were 28 hours in the day!”

Q. What projects are you working on?

Paul: “We are doing a lot of work on our French music project. We’ve played a number of the tracks we have been working on at some of our gigs and audiences really like them - the material is translated into English and very accessible.

One project I have been working on recently is taking the French tune La Palombe (The Woodpigeon) and putting some new words to it. In this case, and with inspiration somewhat from the song “Wife of a soldier”, the song tries to explore the inevitable and terrible anxieties that soldiers’ lovers and mothers must be feeling with their loved ones overseas currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, not being in that position, one can’t capture the depth of feeling – but we all need reminding of the multiple involvements that families have in such situations.

Rob is working on Spanish and Basque dance tunes – the initial results sound great and playing new forms of music will be a great experience for me.”

Q. Do you teach?

Rob: “I taught guitar for a number of years. Teaching is a tremendous challenge and you can learn so much about your own playing when imparting your knowledge to others”.

Paul: “I do teach – but not music”

Q. When can we look forward to hearing you live again?

Rob: “We are playing at a number of folk club venues over the next few months and into 2008 - Keep an eye on the Gigs section of our website!”


	Interview with Rob and Paul Rob and Paul have been playing together for around two years and following the release of their CD “The Kingshill Valley” on the Rightback Records label, I passed through St Albans – here’s the interview I had with them Q. When did you start playing? Rob: “Well, I’ve been playing guitar since I was 14 and I trained as a classical musician, working my way through the classic guitar repertoire. One of my teachers was Maestro Jose Tomas, who I studied with in Spain. As far as the mandolin is concerned, I have come to it very recently, and started on the classical route, taking some lessons with Ali Stephens. Paul: “Rob and I have been playing together on and off for about 10 years but it’s only in the last two years or so that we have started to work together, building up our repertoire and organising some gigs” Q. The songs on the CD have a unique quality and sound to them. How do you go about putting a new song together? Rob: “Generally, Paul will come up with a new song. He will sing it through few times having worked out the chords and then I will work on a suitable mandolin and/or guitar accompaniment, taking into consideration the key, mood of the song and the overall structure”. Paul: “Given the range of music our backgrounds cover, we tend to select only that material that we both like and are content to play”. Q. Where do you source your music from? Paul: “When we first started playing together, we trawled through the back catalogue of music we already knew. For me, that was a mix of contemporary and traditional folk music, mainly from the British Isles. The contemporary musicians that I played a lot of were names like Richard Thompson and Shawn Colvin – very eclectic really. Traditional influences were really too many to mention and would range from bands like Dervish and The Bothy Band to Dick Gaughan and The Voice Squad. More recently, we have been exploring the French Tradition. The music is a kissing cousin to our own, there are some fantastic artists playing and, like much of traditional folk music, the themes of love, loss and death are pretty universal. Rob is researching the dance traditions of the British Isles and increasingly Spain and the Basque country.” Q. What instruments do you play? Rob: “I have a Fylde mandolin and De Meglio 1899 mandolin. The De Meglio was a great find, as there are a lots of instruments from this period that are quite frankly unplayable. This one has a lovely sweet tone. My guitar is an Algranati-Lipkin classic guitar, which I have had since 1988, and was made for me. It has a superb balance and wonderful projection. It’s a spruce top: I have always played spruce tops, they suit my playing more than cedars. The guitar I had before his one was a Marin Montero”. Paul: “I play a Taylor 300 series, which suits me fine. I also have an Antoria 12-string, a ‘Baby Taylor’ travel guitar – which can certainly belt it out – an, for electric, I have a Parker Fly which is something I treasure greatly. I am also trying to find time to learn Irish Bouzouki – if only there were 28 hours in the day!” Q. What projects are you working on? Paul: “We are doing a lot of work on our French music project. We’ve played a number of the tracks we have been working on at some of our gigs and audiences really like them - the material is translated into English and very accessible. One project I have been working on recently is taking the French tune La Palombe (The Woodpigeon) and putting some new words to it. In this case, and with inspiration somewhat from the song “Wife of a soldier”, the song tries to explore the inevitable and terrible anxieties that soldiers’ lovers and mothers must be feeling with their loved ones overseas currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, not being in that position, one can’t capture the depth of feeling – but we all need reminding of the multiple involvements that families have in such situations. Rob is working on Spanish and Basque dance tunes – the initial results sound great and playing new forms of music will be a great experience for me.” Q. Do you teach? Rob: “I taught guitar for a number of years. Teaching is a tremendous challenge and you can learn so much about your own playing when imparting your knowledge to others”. Paul: “I do teach – but not music” Q. When can we look forward to hearing you live again? Rob: “We are playing at a number of folk club venues over the next few months and into 2008 - Keep an eye on the Gigs section of our website!”