Twa Brothers - Amy Leach and Alasdair Paul

This version of The Twa Brothers (Child 49) is taken from Hamish Henderson's remarkable recordings of Pat Bowley which we found in the School of Scottish Studies' archive on Tobar an Dualchais. In the first recording, Pat is only around 8 years old but still carries this heart breaking story so well. Pat apparently learnt this when Hamish Henderson was teaching the song to her mother, singer Ella Ward. Where he got this tune from - we'd love to know as we can't find any other variants that use this tune. Unlike many versions of this ballad his brother is not blamed for his death and he has no bitter parting words which casts the whole song in a different light to other versions.
We recorded this with the wonderful Jamie Cook in the main hall of the John Marley Centre, a stunning Art Deco building in Scotswood in the West End of Newcastle. Originally built as a secondary school, the John Marley Centre now plays host to Breeze Creatives who run it as a series of studio spaces for artists, musicians and other creative practitioners including Cupola Studios, a collective of musicians and producers to which Jamie belongs. Jamie is a pillar of the Newcastle music community, both as a musician and producer and for his audio visual work and it was a pleasure to work alongside him and Saya Rose who did such an incredible job of capturing our performance.
At the heart of Amy Leach and Alasdair Paul's music is their shared love of traditional songs, particularly ballads, and a shared desire to present them simply and allow them to speak for themselves. After several years of sporadic collaboration, including as members of The Flyting with Sean O'Kane and Shona Mooney, the Scottish duo are now set to share their approach far and wide. The arrangements presented by the duo are minimalist and deceptively simple, allowing the song and lyrics to dictate the pace of the music and showcasing the instinctive connection between singer and accompanist.
amyandalasdairmusic
amyandalasdairmusic