Genius Loci 1 : white peak The Ciderhouse Rebellion
“The natural and almost instinctive interplay… makes for an evocative journey around the White Peak and confirms this close-knit duo’s reputation as the masters of impressionistic folk music.” - Bright Young Folk
The atmospheric audio from The Ciderhouse Rebellion’s video series Genius Loci 1: White Peak. There was an idea, long ago, in classical Roman religion, that every part of the world had its own little god, its own spirit. Folk-improv duo The Ciderhouse Rebellion, featuring Adam Summerhayes on fiddle and Murray Grainger on accordion, drew on this spirit of place in their six-part video series, ‘Genius Loci’. Season One - White Peak - was filmed over two walks on the White Peak in the Derbyshire countryside, combining stunning drone and still-camera footage which aired on YouTube and Facebook in June/July 2021.
Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger are not only superb musicians who have been described as “astonishing, all-out virtuosity” (New York Times) and “free-flowing, ambitious and fiercely creative” (The Strad), they are also great friends, whose warm and natural demeanour and humour with each other is as essential to their personal relationship as it is to their musical one. Together, as The Ciderhouse Rebellion, the duo specialise in creating music in the moment, with no conscious thought between conception and playing, an unusually improvisatory focus that is uniquely magical. Adam and Murray would set off on foot until they happened upon a spot where the spirit of place pulled upon their musical antennae. Once they had set up to record, they allowed the landscape to inspire them, and the first note of an entirely new piece of music was played.
This willingness to open themselves up to the inspiration of moment, place and time is what sets the music of The Ciderhouse Rebellion apart, with Adam and Murray acting as a conduit for the musical conversation that flows between them and the landscape.
The scene for each of the six tracks is set by Jessie Summerhayes, wordsmith (and, for this project, pathfinder and beauty gazer) with six short poems, concurring images of the landscape from which the music flows. *** 1 Setting i (0:46)2 First Corner (8:30)3 Setting ii (0:37)4 Troll Wood (5:23) 5 Setting iii (0:50)6 River (4:55)7 Setting iv (0:33)8 Rose (4:52) 9 Setting v (0:38)10 Ruin (5:38)11 Setting vi (0:36)12 Rocks (8:39)Settings - written and spoken by Jessie SummerhayesMusic - Created in the moment by Adam Summerhayes - violin & Murray Grainger - accordion Produced, mixed and mastered by Murray GraingerRecorded live in the hills of the White Peak by Murray Grainger & Adam Summerhayes Catalogue: UTE001
