About Time

It is indeed about time Northumbrian Piper Andy May, guitarist Ian Stephenson and fiddler Sophy Ball did the decent thing and legitimised their union as a proper group after years criss-crossing each other's paths while touring and recording with the likes of KAN, Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies, Kathryn Tickell and Baltic Crossing. With all the energy of an enjoyable Newcastle session and an empathy that can only be achieved after years of playing music together as pals, About Time is full of fun as well as virtuosity – complete with tunes dedicated to the delights of a fresh cup of Yorkshire tea, a mug of brown ale and even an ode to Newcastle's notorious Bigg Market. Although you have to wonder about the karmic wisdom of naming a tune after a fiddle player who is, apparently, ‘renowned for his dodgy work on Tyneside fiddles’.

Mixing hidden gems from the archives of music from north-east England, particularly the old Northumbrian pipes repertoire, with their own sassy tunes, About Time is an extremely successful start to what will, hopefully, be a long-lived trio.