Ahead of his gig at Manchester’s Band on the Wall tomorrow night, folk singer Blair Dunlop took time out from rehearsals to chat to MM about his second album, folk music roots and the World Cup.
Following the success of his début album Blight and Blossom in 2012, Blair Dunlop has returned two years on with his edgier album House of Jacks.
Blair’s 2012 album Blight & Blossom established the 22-year-old as an artist with an exciting career ahead of him and received praise from across the music industry.
BBC Radio 2’s Simon Mayo called the album ‘an outstanding début’, and Q magazine described Blair as ‘a vital bridge between Brit folk’s first and latest flowerings’.
The following January Blair’s debut album also led to him receiving the Horizon Award at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
After teaming up once again with producer Mark Hutchinson, House of Jacks proves to be another collection of beautifully-crafted songs that are influenced, but not confined, by his folk roots.
Whereas Blight & Blossom was deliberately light in its production, House of Jacks progresses Blair’s trademark guitar sound by adding a wider range of instruments to create a more contemporary sound.
Blair told MM: “It was a very intentional thing. I knew that I needed to push myself outside of my comfort zone.
“I’ve been listening to a lot more rocky stuff with a fuller sounding range and thankfully Mark had a similar kind of vision.
“At the moment I’m enjoying playing electric. Again, that’s not so comfortable for me because I grew up on acoustic – it’s a progression.
“I’m not sure where it will go in the future but I’m really happy with the current sound and it’s really fun to tour.”
Faced with the pressure of a second album, Blair welcomed the challenge with open arms. He said: “I didn’t feel under too much pressure really, I just took it as it came.
“It was nice to be recognised by the BBC, but you just have to crack on and I was more driven by my own motive than expectations.”
Blair added that he considers himself lucky to not have many outside pressures at the moment. He said: “I think that’s really conducive to writing the best you can.”
After the success of its predecessor Blair began writing House of Jacks soon after the release of his début album and headed out to the countryside to feed his lyrical talent.
Blair told MM: “I did the vast majority of the work last summer at a cottage in the Peaks. It was really nice, it was really good weather and I wrote most of the stuff in a few days.”
However, the singer-songwriter remains keen to avoid routine in his song-writing process.
He said: “I think if you’ve got a dead set formula that’s probably a bit worrying. You end up getting into a routine and I think it’s good to keep it fresh.”
Blair proved that he can find inspiration in all manner of things when he explained the story behind the Morricone-esque new track The Ballad of Enzo Laviano –a fictional tale of a young Italian footballer on the eve of his proposed move to Naples from his Sardinian hometown.
Blair explained: “After a night out with one of my mates we made a guy on FIFA and gave him a really cool Italian name. So I just wrote a song about it!
“You can find inspiration in anything. It can be from you, from friends or from things that you read.”
The son of Ashley Hutchings, of Fairport Convention, Albion Band and Steeleye Span fame, Blair grew up with folk music from an early age and revealed to MM that he also often chats to his dad about his latest ideas.
He said: “We talk a lot about my music but he doesn’t have any actual input.”
Having already played a handful of gigs as part of his House of Jacks tour Blair said his new material has had a great response.
He said: “I’m mainly playing new stuff, but also a couple of tracks from the first album and a few covers.
“The new material has gone down really well and I’ve been playing a few things for the first time.”
Looking forward to the rest of his 11-date tour, Blair said that he was excited to play all of the venues, but that Sheffield holds a special place because that’s most like his home gig.
The 22-year-old added: “I also really like Band on the Wall as a venue. I played there with The Albion Band a year or two ago so it should be nice.”
Ahead of the summer, the Tottenham Hotspur and ACF Fiorentina supporter is also looking forward to enjoying the World Cup.
Blair said: “I can’t see England getting to the semi-finals, but I hope both Italy and England can finish at the top of their group.”
For tickets to tomorrow night’s gig at Band on the Wall visit www.bandonthewall.org or call the box office on 0844 8884420.
Image courtesy of Whispering Bob TV, with thanks
