Over the course of 12 years and five studio albums Dorset duo Ninebarrow (Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere) have earned themselves a quality reputation for their engaging and empathetic songwriting, their imaginative reworkings of traditional songs, their deft musicianship and, most of all, their exquisite vocal harmonies.
Now those harmonies have been fused with more than 40 other voices from Hampshire’s Hart Voices (based in Fleet) and Surrey’s Chantry Singers (from Guildford) to create new album The Hour of the Blackbird which sees 13 of Ninebarrow’s finest back catalogue songs renewed and enhanced by the soaring vocals of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses under the energetic musical directorship of Roy Rashbrook, himself a member of the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Two years on from their critically acclaimed album The Colour of Night (‘one of the most beautiful folk albums you will hear – outstanding‘ – Daily Express) it will be released this autumn (Friday, October 3) showcasing numbers first heard in that release and earlier albums Where the Blackthorn Burns (2014),Releasing the Leaves (2015),The Waters & The Wild (2019) and A Pocket Full of Acorns (2020).
The seed of the duo/choirs partnership was sown back in 2016 and had its finest hour during the COVID lockdown when they joined forces to record the Ninebarrow track ‘The Hour of the Blackbird’ – a tour de force which touched a chord during those dark days. The uplifting charity single about spring renewal resonated with listeners with BBC Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe describing it as ‘just breath taking’. Sales of the track – and donations – raised some £8,000 for the mental health charity MIND.
More than 50 singers from the twin choirs recorded their part on mobile phones and computers which Whitley then spent some 60 hours editing into the composite song with finishing touches by Mark Tucker, who also produces this album.
Says Jay: “The response to that blew us away and we thought if one song can sound this good recorded through phones and laptops imagine what a studio album collaboration could sound like.”
Now the magical The Hour of the Blackbird has become the title track of the new album – 13 tracks as you have never heard them before, the sumptuous and sympathetic choral treatments taking them to a rich new level.
It is yet another new tangent for the act whose combined love of music and walking has led to them hosting popular musical walking holidays and publishing three books of Dorset walks. Add to that their regular tours and live concert streams and the creation of the 1000-tree Ninebarrow woodland in Dorset (as seen on BBC tv’s Countryfile) and you have some idea of the drive of this duo.
The Hour of the Blackbird is released on the Winding Track label on Friday, October 3 (CD and DL format), available from the Ninebarrow website (see below) and most digital music services.
A special album launch gig with Ninebarrow and the choir will take place on Saturday, November 1 at St James’s Church, Poole. (See other tour dates below.)
NINEBARROW TOUR DATES AS FOLLOWS
4 October 2025 – The Salt Works Sessions, Northwich, Cheshire
5 October 2025 – The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
11 October 2025, The Flavel Arts Centre, Dartmouth, Devon
17 October 2025 – The Brewhouse, Burton upon Trent
18 October 2025 – North Ferriby Village Hall, North Ferriby, East Yorkshire
24 October 2025 – St Edith Folk, St Dunstan’s Church, Cranbrook
*1 November 2025 – St James’ Church, Poole, Dorset
‘The Hour of the Blackbird’ Album Launch Choir Concert*
7 November 2025 – Stowe Presents, Stowe, Bucks
8 November 2025 – Arnside WI & Village Hall, Arnside, Carnforth
14 November 2025 – Folk Inspiration, Guildford
21 November 2025 – Harwell Village Hall, Harwell, Oxfordshire
22 November 2025 – The David Hall, South Petherton, Somerset
29 November 2025 – St Endellion Church, St Endellion, Cornwall
For further information please visit :
www.ninebarrow.co.uk
www.hartvoices.org.uk
www.chantrysingers-guildford.org.uk
