Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening – Hollowbone (Resilient Records, 2019)
Kathryn Tickell is a multi-talented artist from Northumbria in northeastern England. She plays the highly melodic Northumbrian pipes (also known as small pipes) and fiddle, and she is a talented singer and composer as well.
Her 2019 album Hollowbone was inspired by the remote countryside along Hadrian’s Wall, the construction that marked the wild northwestern border of the Roman Empire. This area later became part of a kingdom known as Northumbria that encompassed northern England and southeastern Scotland.
Kathryn Tickell and her band The Darkening play a modern style of Northumbrian Celtic and Scottish folk music, combining acoustic instruments with rock style drums and subtle synthesizer at times. The band also incorporates South American charango.
There is a beautifully-constructed balance between evocative traditional and new, captivating songs along with charming instrumentals, highlighting the masterful skill of Kathryn Tickell’s bagpipes and her interplay with accordionist Amy Thatcher and fiddler Kate Young.
The lineup on the album includes Kathryn Tickell on Northumbrian pipes, fiddle and vocals; Amy Thatcher on accordion, synthesizer and vocals; Kate Young on vocals, fiddle and charango; Cormac Byrne on bodhran and percussion; Kieran Szifris on octave mandolin; and Joe Truswell on drums.
Buy Hollowbon in North America
Buy Hollowbone in Europe
More about Kathryn Tickell
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.