The South West Coast Path runs from Minehead in North Somerset, west to Lands End on the very tip of Cornwall before turning east again and ending near Weymouth on the South Dorset Coast. Part of that route takes it along the seafront of the idyllic seaside town of Sidmouth in Devon, in fact mere metres from where we all sat in the Ham Marquee at the 69^th Sidmouth Folk Festival for the performance of Saltines.

This path was walked by Raynor Winn, a best-selling author, who then wrote about her experiences in the book ‘The Salt Path’. A copy found it’s way to Deborah Knight, who also then wondered what folk tales could also be found along that route, being the wife of Peter Knight, lead protagonist of the Gigspanner Big Band, she had the perfect medium for these songs. The band also includes several other folk luminaries to include Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin of Edgelarks, John Spiers of Bellowhead and of course Gigspanner trio members Sacha Trochet and Roger Flack.

Being a collaboration between the author and the band, this does not feel like a normal gig, the music is interspersed with spoken word, some of it more poetry and some more descriptive but all captivating. In fact, the whole evening felt more like a theatre event than a concert in all honesty. But I really enjoyed that, it made it a memorable occasion as being something that bit different. They’ve been touring this for over a year now and the interaction between the two is seamless.

As it is a set show, the songs and spoken words are the same every time and most of the songs seems to range from the very atmospheric to the joyful. While the songs are traditional, the current arrangements are by the band and each member gets songs to suit that they take the lead vocals on, though when they all come together in harmony that’s when the true power and talent of the musicians in front of us really comes to the fore. One thing that is noticeable is just how much they seems to enjoy doing it to, with constant interaction and glances between each other. 

I admit I had not listened to the material beforehand, but in a way, I am glad I didn’t as you almost take the journey with Raynor Winn, as the story takes it geographically to the edge of the world while referencing Lands End before joyously ending up home. What a journey it was too, musically, emotionally and even verging on spiritually at times it drew me in from the start to the end it really was a musical experience I’ll remember for a long time and well deserved of the standing ovation it received at the end.

Artist Links

https://www.gigspanner.com/saltlines