Striding Out

London-based fiddle and melodeon duo Martin Clarke and Will Allen pulled on their Brown Boots and recorded their debut, First Steps, in 2020. Featuring dance tunes from the 17th and 18th centuries, it followed in the wake of Leveret's deep explorations of similar source materials. For their second release, Striding Out, they’ve updated their tune sources to the 18th and 19th centuries, opening with a set of hornpipes on ‘Gloucester’, and encompassing big Irish tunes like ‘Tom Tully's’ and ‘Temperance’ while also contributing some original pieces, including the eponymous ‘The Brown Boot’ and the tender airs of ‘Helen Fraser’, a two-tune set dedicated to Clarke's mother.

Cotswold Morris tune ‘Shooting’ has a repeating riff on fiddle that quickly becomes addictive listening, and to follow, ‘Little Fishie’ sounds like a variation on ‘Dance to Your Daddy’, and may raise a memory among 1970s viewers of period drama When the Boat Comes in. It's a sprightly arrangement, and to conclude the album, ‘Lemmy’ follows in its steps (named after a Gloucester Traveller musician, rather than the mighty Motörhead bassist), with foot percussion joining the fray of rhythmic melodeon and solo fiddle. It's a splendid trad tune set – these boots were made for dancing.