Produced by Andy Bell, Sam Sweeney and Hannah James;
Engineered and mixed by Andy Bell at Leeders Farm Studios;
Recorded and mixed by Andy Bell at Cold As a Frog;
Mastered by Nick Cooke;
Artwork by Andy Tudor

Musicians

Sam Sweeney: fiddle, viola, octave violin, English bagpipes, nyckelharpa;
Hannah James: vocals, piano accordion, clogs

Tracks

1. Gaol Song (Roud 1077) (4.11)
2. Ploughboy’s Dream (Roud 1545) (5.05)
3. You Are the One (3.54)
4. Dick’s Maggot / Dog Leap Stairs hornpipes (3.44)
5. Died for Love (Roud 60; Laws P25; G/D 6:1170) (1.23)
6. Flaxley Green Dance / The Old Wife of Coverdale English Country Dance tunes (3.23)
7. Wee Weaver (Roud 3378) (3.08)
8. Catches and Glees / Comical Thought jigs (3.33)
9. Three Ravens (Roud 5; Child 26) (4.44)
10. Polska (3.53)
11. The Young and Single Sailor (Roud 264; Laws N42; G/D 5:1038, 6:1201) (4.20)

All tracks trad. arr. Hannah James and Sam Sweeney except
Track 3 Andy Letcher;
Track 4b Alistair Anderson;
Track 8 William Winter;
Track 10 Viktor Gabrielsson

Engineered and produced by Andy Bell;
Mastered by Andy Seward;
Artwork and photography by Elly Lucas

Musicians

Hannah James: vocals, piano accordion, clogs, foot percussion;
Sam Sweeney: fiddle, viola, nyckelharpa, Hardanger fiddle, English bagpipes

Tracks

1. Hole in the Wall 3/2 hornpipe (3.30)
2. Parson Upon Dorothy / Dolly (Roud 2611) (4.17)
3. William Taylor (Roud 158; Laws N11; G/D 1:169; Henry H213, H757) (3.15)
4. How Do You Do? / Gallons of Cognac (5.27)
5. On Yonder Hill There Sits a Hare (Roud 5173) (4.27)
6. The Battered Hake Polka / Jack’s Maggot (4.08)
7. There Was a Lady Lived in the West (Roud 64; Child 100; G/D 5:999; Henry H221) (4.29)
8. The Farmer’s Cursed Wife (Roud 160; Child 278; G/D 2:320) (4.00)
9. Wallaby / Harry’s Flowers (4.54)
10. The Bonny Miller / Strike a Bell (4.56)
11. The Golden Glove (Roud 141; Laws N20; G/D 1:166; Henry H524) (6.24)

All tracks trad. except
Track 1 Henry Purcell;
Track 3 words trad., music Hannah James;
Track 4b Sam Sweeney;
Track 6a Colin Cotter;
Track 9 Hannah James

100 years after the start of the First World War, acclaimed fiddle player Sam Sweeney and award-winning storyteller Hugh Lupton bring the story of a violin left unfinished as its creator left for the battlefields of Flanders and how, almost a century later, it came to be in the hands of one of the finest English fiddle players of his generation. For nine decades, the parts of the unfinished violin lay untouched in an envelope before being bought and finally completed by Oxford luthier Roger Claridge. The violin caught the eye of fiddle player Sam Sweeney and led him on a trail from the music halls of pre-war Leeds to the battlefields of Belgium. Inspired by this, Sam engaged writer and storyteller Hugh Lupton to produce a tale that both celebrated and honoured the memory of Richard Howard, the man who started to make the fiddle in 1915. Together with multi-instrumentalist/composer Rob Harbron and his Bellowhead bandmate Paul Sartin, Sam has produced a musical journey to accompany Lupton’s story, which takes the listener from a house in Leeds, through the Music Hall, to the Battle of Messines and back to Leeds; a potent, profoundly moving and finely-crafted tale. Richard Howard’s violin, Sam Sweeney’s fiddle, rises to tell its story.

Produced, recorded and mixed by Andy Bell;
Mastered by Dean Honer;
Photography by Elly Lucas;
Artwork by The 16k Design Works;
Cover layout by Tom Sweeney

Musicians

Hugh Lupton: writer and storyteller;
Sam Sweeney: fiddle, viola, cello, vocals, percussion;
Rob Harbron: English concertina, fiddle, vocals, harmonium;
Paul Sartin: oboe, cor anglais, vocals, fiddle

Tracks

1. Prologue (1.36)
2. Remembering (3.58)
3. Unriddling (0.47)
4. The Wellesley I (1.35)
5. 7 July 1916 (4.27)
6. The Palace of Varieties (6.51)
7. Conscription (2.53)
8. The Wellesley II (1.53)
9. 7 June 1917—Zero Day (4.17)
10. The Battle of Messines (8.22)
11. The Ballad of Richard Howard (6.33)
12. 24 July 1917—Leeds (2.40)
13. Epilogue (2.15)
14. Rose Howard (4.43)

All music composed and arranged by Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron except
Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty by Arthur J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott;
What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy? by Tom Clare;
Unknown Norwegian Halling and The Wellesley trad.

Produced by Andy Bell and Sam Sweeney;
Recorded and mixed by Andy Bell at Simpson Street Studios (Thropton), The Foundry (Sheffield) and Woodworm Studios (Barford St Michael);
Mastered by Dean Honer;
Photography by Elly Lucas;
Design by Stylorouge

Musicians

Sam Sweeney: violin, viola, cello, nyckelharpa;
Rob Harbron: English concertina, harmonium;
Becky Price: piano;
Ben Nicholls: double bass;
Jack Rutter: acoustic guitar;
Sam Fisher: flugelhorn, cornet;
Morven Bryce: violin;
Helen Bell: viola;
Lucy Revis: cello

Tracks

1. Highland Soldier (4.12)
2. A Lament (2.51)
3. St Patrick’s Day - Young May Moon (5.26)
4. Sad Am I (3.53)
5. The Shell That Shook the Billet (2.10)
6. The Girl I Left Behind Me (3.42)
7. Begone Dull Care (4.59)
8. The Battle of the Somme (5.16)
9. Interlude (0.48)
10. Valiant Soldier (2.14)
11. The Rising of the Lark (1.57)
12. The Wellesley (2.56)
13. Rose Howard (4.32)
14. The Old Brags (3.03)
15. The King of Prussia’s March (3.33)
16. Eventide (4.27)

Tracks 1-2, 7, 9-10 trad. arr. Sam Sweeney;
Track 3 Iain MacPherson arr. Sam Sweeney;
Track 4 John Mouat arr. Sam Sweeney;
Tracks 5, 13-14 trad. arr. Sam Sweeney, Jack Rutter;
Track 8 William Lawrie arr. Sam Sweeney;
Track 11 trad. arr. Sam Sweeney, Rob Harbron;
Track 12 Rob Harbron, Sam Sweeney;
Track 15 trad. / William Monk arr. Sam Sweeney;
Track 16 George Fleetwood arr. Sam Sweeney, Becky Price

Recorded and produced by Andy Bell;
Mastered by Dean Honer;
Photographs by Camilla Greenwell;
Graphic design by Robin Beatty

Folk Radio UK review by Glenn Kimpton

Musicians

Sam Sweeney: violin, viola;
Jack Rutter: acoustic guitar;
Ben Nicholls: double bass;
Louis Campbell: electric, acoustic and nylon strung guitar;
Dave Mackay: piano, keyboards

Tracks

Side 1

1. Unearth (0.40)
2. Steppy Downs Road (3.27)
3. Highway to Warrington (4.55)
4. Maid of the Mill (5.29)
5. Half of One (6.30)
6. Winter 350 (3.27)
7. Dark Arches (6.13)

Side 2

8. Repeat (0.38)
9. The Old Wagon Way (3.58)
10. Princess Royal (3.48)
11. The General (3.14)
12. Shepherds Hey (4.39)
13. Sun Beams (4.11)
14. Red (3.50)

Video

Sam Sweeney at the Hudson Records Listening Club on 6 May 2020:

Produced by Andy Bell;
Recorded by Andy Bell at St Martin’s Church, Stoney Middleton, 20-21 September 2021;
Mixed by Andy Bell at Hudson Studios, Sheffield;
Mastered by Sam Proctor;
Photography by Emma Ledwith;
Graphic design by Robin Beatty

Musicians

Sam Sweeney: violin, viola

Tracks

1. Untitled Waltz #1 / Tweedside (4.54)
2. Cuckoo’s Nest / Old Oxford (6.13)
3. Untitled Waltz #2 (2.23)
4. The Four Seasons (2.30)
5. The Old Captain (3.40)
6. Old Ways Best / Booth’s Hornpipe (5.16)

All tracks trad.

Produced by Andy Bell and Sam Sweeney;
Recorded and mixed by Andy Bell at Red Kite, Tesla, and Hudson Studios;
Mastered by Sam Proctor at Lismore Mastering;
Photography by Emma Ledwith;
Graphic design by Robin Beatty

Musicians

Sam Sweeney: violin, acoustic, electric, bass and tenor guitars, synthesisers;
Jack Rutter, acoustic guitar;
Ben Nicholls: double and electric bass;
Louis Campbell: electric and acoustic guitar;
Dave McKay: piano, Wurlitzer and synsthesisers

Tracks

1. Ruby (3.13)
2. Want to Fly Want to Flee (4.09)
3. Feet Together Jump (2.46)
4. Escape That (3.08)
5. Pink Steps (4.25)
6. Deep Water Shallow (End) (4.08)
7. Under Gigantic Clouds (4.48)
8. Westering (4.22)
9. Nightshifting / Atlantica (4.47)
10. Yoddin (3.03)
11. Don’t Worry, Trains (4.28)

All tracks written by Sam Sweeney

Produced by Andy Bell;
Recorded by Andy Bell at St Martin’s Church, Stoney Middleton, 11 May 2022;
Mixed by Andy Bell at Hudson Studios, Sheffield;
Mastered by Sam Proctor;
Photography by Emma Ledwith;
Design by Liam Campbell

Tradfolk review by Jon Wilks

Musicians

Sam Sweeney: fiddle;
Louis Campbell: electric guitar

Tracks

1. Shape #1 (D) (3.35)
2. Shape #2 (Gmin) (3.32)
3. Shape #3 (E) (3.31)
4. Psalm (4.13)
5. Shape #4 (G) (2.28)
6. Shape #5 (A) (3.39)

All tracks trad., Sam Sweeney