NICK PYNN : 'In Mirrored Sky' :

 

 

Some notes and excerpts... 'In Osnabrück' (Fiddle and octave fiddle) : Written during a German tour a week after a journey over unmade roads and turnip fiels in the East. 'Glide' (Acoustic guitar) : Arose from walks over the Sussex Downs and traffic jams on the M23. 'Through Trees' (Dulcimer and mandocello) : Light flickering through a grove of sycamore and beech trees. For this track the dulcimer has added thumb and sympathetic strings and is played in a 'frailing' banjo style. 'The Mill' (Dulcimer and violins) : The 'melodic' banjo style is used on the dulcimer here. Another dulcimer is droned with a bow. 'The Tunnel And The Fair' (Violin, bouzouki, mandocello and guitar) : This was inspired by a walk through a narrow tunnel in Biarritz, France; echoing car horns, conversation and a 19th century merry-go-round at the end of the tunnel.

'A Quarter-Past Kite' (5-string banjo, mandocello, bouzouki and violin) : Eskimos, derelict buildings and Grahame Greene. 'Sunday's Window' (Guitar and violins) : Written one rainy autumn; grey clouds, church spires and the cycle of life and death. 'The Myth Of The Land' (Acoustic guitar) : Blue Peter, c. 1970; somewhere in the jungle people were diving from a platform with vines tied around their ankles - the native roots of bunjee jumping. 'In Mirrored Sky' (Bouzouki, mandocello, violin, and guitar) : A chip in a mirror; a distant hot air balloon just above the horizon in dusk mirrored by another in the sunset behind.

'The Correct Selection Of Gears' (Mandocello, banjo, and slide guitar) : CHU 394C R.I.P. The title comes from an owners workshop manual. 'For Chloe' (Dulcimer and guitar) : For my daughter, written shortly after her birth. 'The Illusionist' (Acoustic guitar) : The romance of performing, without the blemishes of real life. 'Under A Greek Moon' (Acoustic guitar and mandolin) : Inspired by an extended weekend in Athens. 'A Stiller Place' (Acoustic Guitar) : The calm after the storm.

The album is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Joan Margaret Pynn. 9th February 1922 - 17th April 1995.

Performers : Nick Pynn - Violin, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, mandocello, bouzouki, mandolin and 5 string banjo; Herbie Flowers - double bass on 'Through Trees', 'Glide', 'In Mirrored Sky', and 'The Correct Selection Of Gears'; Adrian Oxaal - Cello on 'Glide'; Neil Smith - Darabhuka on 'The Mill'; Maxine Sweatman - Hurdy Gurdy on 'The Tunnel And The Fair'.

 

In Mirrored Sky : Reviews.

"A multi-instrumentalist of considerable skill, and a composer of sensitivity and imagination..." Spins.

"Fourteen tracks display a range of music which is really imaginative...This album is a must for the stressed out layman as well as for stringed instrument players to check out " Musician Magazine.

"...an individual take on folk music...Nick Pynn doesn't stick to the harmonic conventions, bringing unusual instrumentation into the idiom...an individual voice..."
Mark Russell. " Mixing It ", BBC Radio 3.

 

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