“I’ve always been going to folk clubs. But they were always quite traditional and, although I love them, they were unwilling to be changed in certain regards… So I started my own.”
When Chris Brain has an idea, he doesn’t hang about.
On realising that his passion for folk music was only partly satiated by the established clubs, Chris seized the initiative. He created his own events. First a festival, then a regular monthly night at Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds.
Chris: “I was going to join the board at my local folk club, The Grove, but I didn’t want to change the aesthetics of it.”
Under his own brand, Chris does things a little differently. Making optimal use of social media, along with a more modern approach to design and PR, his nights at Hyde Park Folk Club have been attracting a youthful, vibrant crowd in growing numbers.
In parallel, over the last couple of years, his own career as a musician has really taken off.
Chris: “I got a lot better as a songwriter in that time. I put all my effort into releasing my first album. I planned it for ages. Then I thought I should probably tour it around, so I played a string of about 12 shows and was getting about 20 people to each. Then I did a show in London and 40 people came. I’ve just done a tour of 16 shows and I’ve been getting 60 or 70 people. I went to Glasgow and there were 100 people. It’s like ‘what are you all doing here?’”
The recent rise has been swift but you could say it’s been in the making for some time.
Chris: “I got a guitar when I was really young, probably about 11, but I didn’t pick it up until I was 17 or 18. It just sat there in my room. Then I really hammered it. I wanted to learn Fire and Rain by James Taylor… Then I was busking for seven years. I didn’t have a job, I didn’t really know what else to do with my life. I struggle with being told what to do. But I’d earn more from busking than working in, say, a clothes shop. I’d do Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, some Beatles, Billy Joel – stuff that I actually liked, that I can bear playing.”
Based in Wakefield, Chris started getting the morning train to York or Harrogate for his busking days, where there was “a tonne more money”. He’s since settled in Leeds, where a good slice of the city’s music-mad student population, particularly those studying jazz and folk at Leeds’ Conservatoire, have taken a keen interest in the artists Chris puts on at his Hyde Park Folk Club, as well as Chris’s own sound.
His second album, Steady Away, is a more plush, introspective extension of his debut, 2022’s Bound To Rise. Both represent a sophisticated, delicate take on the iconic sound of Seventies folk revivalism.
Chris: “I naturally gravitate towards that softer sound. I love trad-folk and I play a little bit of trad-folk but I prefer more singer-songwriter, Seventies stuff, like Nick Drake, John Martin. Those are the people I listened to at first. And James Taylor.”
Nick Drake’s influence does indeed shine through, in all sorts of ways: Chris’s soft, caressing vocal style, the cantering guitar flows, as well as his lyrical themes, which are often centred around the natural world – the elements, the trees, the animals.
Chris: “I try to keep it organic and authentic and not question things too much. I just play. I always wanted to play to people and I thought it would happen, like there’s something inside me, like it’s maybe fated, but you never know.”
The folk resurgence has not been limited to Leeds. Folk clubs in London are busier. The Sheffield scene continues to thrive. There are the rumblings of an experimental ‘avant folk’ scene in Bristol. Folk punk is kicking again.
On a broader scale, you have the ‘doom folk’ of Lankum. Acclaimed artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Big Thief weave threads of contemporary folk into their genteel indie-pop creations. A-listers, Noah Kahn and Taylor Swift, have since jumped on that particular bandwagon. Folk’s spores have been taking flight in all sorts of directions.
You could argue that we began re-connecting with such music during lockdown. Bands could not physically meet to play, so musicians went back to acoustic, solo instrumentation. Meanwhile, in search of a new hobby that aligned to lockdown rules, others bought an instrument for the first time and their interest in the genre was piqued.
Locally, The Puzzle has also been witness to the new bloom. Chris Brain is the latest in a long line of musicians invited to play its monthly folk and roots night, ‘Lore’. As event host and local musician, Gareth Scott, explains: “Lore has been a named night for about 18 months now. In that time, we’ve had Jennifer Reid, Pete Coe and Mikey Kenney, to name just a few. It’s always such a lovely night. It’s free entry – with donations welcome for the artist – and it’s a very intimate, whites-of-the-eyes type of atmosphere. The audience are always educated, good listeners and real appreciators of live music.”
Next month, Lore welcomes folk auteur, Jon Loomes. For more information on future gigs at The Puzzle and the surrounding area, check out our latest live listings and featured venues.
Pitch Folk – Five Modern-Day Folk Artists To Sink Your Teeth Into
Our selection of some of the most inspiring, innovative, folk-oriented musicians currently pushing the traditions into new realms.
- Henry Parker – follow>
2. Amy May Ellis – follow>
3. Broadside Hacks – follow>
4. John Francis Flynn – follow>
5. Jim Ghedi – follow>
Words: Stephen Desmond
