Chasing Light

Self-described trad/psych/Baroque-folk guitarist-songwriter Henry Parker and folk-guitarist-songwriter David Ian Roberts have produced a lovely collection of original acoustic fingerpicking songs. Whether inspired by the English landscape, Shinto animist belief or Genesis’ Selling England by the Pound, Chasing Light’s 11 tracks, written largely over three weekend sessions in 2023, exude a warm, relaxing tone. Comparisons with Nick Drake, John Martyn and Bert Jansch & John Renbourn are well-earned. The shadowy intro to ‘Old Peculiar’ gives way to a lightly hued ramble, a pronounced balancing act blamed in the liner notes on Old Peculier, a locally brewed dark beer. Inspired by blues guitarist Davey Graham, ‘Windy Pike Blues’ features a deeply swinging instrumental conversation, accomplished by spending hours improvising the two solos and pairing them together in the studio. A mood of tranquil harmony permeates ‘The White Roe’, evidence of the song’s origin in the divine aspects of Japanese and Celtic art.