English instrumental powerhouse Leveret mark ten years of playing together with Forms, a new album showing off the trio’s music at its finest.
Playing exclusively instrumental music and unearthing countless tunes from dusty archives and tunebooks, Leveret have carved a unique path through the folk scene doing what they were told wouldn’t work. Relying on their incredible musicianship and unique interaction,they have brought a new way of making music to the fore,playing instrumental music without arrangements at a uniquely high level, expanding the English cannon and bringing a vibrancy and originality to tunes that were lying dormant.
Now Leveret are marking ten years of playing together with the release of Forms, a new album of traditional and original tunes. Forms was recorded on location in Belgium by the band’s regular live engineer, Neil Ferguson, in a favourite safe-house where the band have played several house concerts.
The material was quite new and the process of setting off through the channel tunnel in a couple of cars filled with equipment and instruments brought a freshness to the recording process and helped give the record even more exciting spontaneity than their previous four albums.
The material was quite new and the process of setting off through the channel tunnel in a couple of cars filled with equipment and instruments brought a freshness to the recording process and helped give the record even more exciting spontaneity than their previous four albums.
“You won’t find English folk music played better than this” Radio 2
Taking their name from a young hare called a Leveret, the name for this album is taken from hare’s nest, known as a ‘form’.There are tunes in several different forms on the record–new and old, well-known and newly unearthed,regular and crooked–and there were also the extensive and boring forms of post-brexit bureaucracy in the carnet that had to obtained and stamped multiple times on the journey.
During their decade together,Sam Sweeney, Andy Cutting and Rob Harbron have been at the heart of countless albums and projects with numerous heavyweight artists–Roger Daltrey, Bellowhead, The Full English, Blowzabella, Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden to name a few–and yet as a trio they continue to plough their own furrow,playing the music they are passionate about in their own unique way. Together, they have inspired a new generation of musicians and helped bring a renewed interest in English instrumental music.
Forms is Leveret at their best–spontaneous, inventive and truly listenable music from three superb instrumentalists who are truly leading the field.
Don’t take our word for it though, check them out for yourself:
Don’t take our word for it though, check them out for yourself:
Forms Tour Dates Part 1
15/03/2023 National Centre for Early Music, YORK
16/03/2023 Christ Church, BATH
17/03/2023 Ruskin Mill, NAILSWORTH
17/03/2023 Ruskin Mill, NAILSWORTH
18/03/2023 Courthouse, OTLEY
19/03/2023 St Mary’s Handbridge Centre, CHESTER
20/03/2023 Traverse, EDINBURGH
23/03/2023 Salisbury Arts Centre, SALISBURY
24/03/2023 Squire Performing Arts Centre, NOTTINGHAM
25/03/2023 Stamford Arts Centre, STAMFORD
26/03/2023 Live to Your Living Room ONLINE
22/04/2023 Kings Place, LONDON
Part 2 is planned for October 2023, dates and venues will be announced shortly.
23/03/2023 Salisbury Arts Centre, SALISBURY
24/03/2023 Squire Performing Arts Centre, NOTTINGHAM
25/03/2023 Stamford Arts Centre, STAMFORD
26/03/2023 Live to Your Living Room ONLINE
22/04/2023 Kings Place, LONDON
Part 2 is planned for October 2023, dates and venues will be announced shortly.
“What was remarkable was the delicacy and quality of their playing and the empathy between the three men, watching each other intently as they progressed from repeated melody lines to subtle,spontaneous variations. It was a magical set.” Robin Denselow, The Guardian ****
For further information please visit: https://www.leveretband.com/
