it's Steeleye Span

[calimac]

The official announcement has finally hit the band's mailing list: Steeleye Span - or what's left of them - are taking a North American tour in July. Here's the dates. I already have my ticket. Now I should acquire and listen to the two albums they've issued since the last time I bought anything by them. I need to update myself: what I'll be hearing is half the band that I knew plus another three people I've never heard of before.

But I'm looking forward to this, and so - I hope, if I can find them - are my earplugs. I last heard Steeleye live in 1997 or so, in the days of their sizzling Silver Age, at a nearly deserted outdoor arena at the Monterey fairgrounds. Long time.

Comments

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

On the declining number of original members: well, there are no original members of the New York Philharmonic left.

I think I've seen Pete Zorn as part of Richard Thompson's live band a couple of times.

The real surprise for me is the absence of Peter Knight, as he was the person who saved the band from dissolution at the end of the Gay Woods era, if I remember correctly.

This tour doesn't come close to me -- the Illinois and Toronto venues would be about 5 hours away. I'll look forward to your report. I haven't heard the last 8 years or so of Steeleye albums, though I have been keeping up somewhat with Maddy Prior's solo releases.

For 2015 electric folk, find the Bandcamp page for False Lights and give the songs a free preview spin. Try "Stewball" and "Polly On The Shore". Beyond that, I put together an iPod electric folk playlist of a track here and a track there, but nobody else besides False Lights has put together an entire album, that I know of. Nancy Kerr had two such tracks on her recent album "Sweet Visitor".

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Original members? Puh, I don't care about original members. Do I miss Terry Woods? No.

As far as I'm concerned, the best lineup(s) of Steeleye were from what I call the Silver Age, the ones of Tonight's the Night and Time. Now only Maddy and Liam are left from that, though Rick Kemp is back from earlier great days: good for him, if he feels up to it.

The new folks may be good, but I have to get used to them. That's what I ordered the recent albums for. I'd been less than enthralled with Cogs and Bloody Men, and the prospect of a collaboration with Terry Pratchett did not excite me, so I hadn't been keeping up.