Spiers and Boden: Cheese and Grain, Frome

We are pleased to report after years of absence, one of English folk’s best instrumental duos are back together and working on new music. John Spiers and Jon Boden exploded onto the scene in 2001,winning a string of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including: Best newcomer in 2003; Best Duo Award in 2004 and 2006.

Following years of successful touring the pair capitalized on this success and formed the unmistakable band Bellowhead, which was fronted by the twosome in parallel to their double act. As Bellowhead rose to fame, they took the decision for Spiers and Boden to take a break in 2014, to the dismay of many fans.

Fast forward to 2021 and we attended their 7th gig in their new tour, at the increasingly renound venue, The Cheese and Grain, located in the market town of Frome. The venue originally known as New Market Hall, built in 1875 was used unsurprisingly for the sales of cheese and grain, but is now famous for the music it showcases.

As both Spiers and Boden reminded the audience throughout their performance, they have a new album out, entitled ‘Fallow Ground’.The album is a nod to both the choice to put Spiers & Boden to one side, as well as acknowledging the enormous impact that the pandemic has had on live music.

Spiers seemed to have a different squeezebox for almost every song, joking that it was one of those things to collect as you got older.

One of the first few songs of the set was throwback to a version of Old Maui which they have played many times over the years, a song about a whaler. Boden joked: "You don't have to sympathise with the lifestyle choices of those on the songs. We also sing a lot of murder ballads."

From the new album they played songs including Hind Horn - about a ring given to show love which changes colour, The Fog - a song about not wanting to go out and stay inside during the winter. Spiers joked: "I wrote this one before Covid” to the amusement of the audience.

The title song of the album is a night visiting song, also known as "As I Stood under My Love's Window". Boden describes it as: "It is an unusual traditional love song in that it's neither boasting of "conquest" nor is it lamenting betrayal or abandonment. Essentially a good time was had by all, after which she had a nice lie-in, and he went for a nice walk."

The songs selected for ‘Fallow Ground’ are overwhelmingly traditional, a mix of both lively and thoughtful tunes, some brought back to life from dusty archives and others are new creations.

The emphasis is on fun and light relief, Boden is quoted as saying:"...there are zero songs about death on this album, which is probably a first and may get us expelled from the English Folk Dance & Song Society."

The performance was accomplished and entertaining