We Happy Few

Accomplished instrumentalists Ford Collier (guitars, whistles, percussion and vocals) and Alex Garden (fiddle, percussion and vocals) have been playing together since they were 15 years old and in that time have managed to elicit an impressive reaction from the folk establishment. But the Drystones' technical prowess and stylistic awareness speak for themselves. This, their second album, contains an eclectic mix of music from the Anglo-Celtic isles and further afield, from Irish jigs to old English 3/2 hornpipes. Bringing the album into the present day are covers of tunes such as the ever-popular Penguin Cafe Orchestra standard ‘Music for a Found Harmonium’ and songs such as Martin Carthy's ‘My Son John’, a plain-speaking comment on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The diverse use of percussion including bodhrán, tabla and kanjira (frame drum) also helps to bridge distances both geographically and chronologically and is an important ingredient in an album that is on a par with the best of the current emerging generation in folk music. The future seems safe in their hands.