Mary Hampton - Folly [CD]

Who is the man behind the rhododendron? What is a ‘benison’? Where did idealism ever get us, anyway? Mary Hampton’s second album FOLLY is here. 4 stars in Uncut & Shindig & 3 in Songlines 4 star review in the FT, a lead, 4 star review in Q, Colin Irwin wrote a nice review in the latest fRoots (a feature on Mary follows Reviews. Reviews on Wears the Trousers' and 'Electric Ghost' and a few other online sites are expected shortly. Radio 3's Late Junction love the album and will be playing from it. Mark Riley's BBC 6 Music have lined up a session with Mary in early October. Hailed as one of the true originals of the ‘new’ folk scene. She sings, plays guitar and piano and writes in a room in Brighton overlooking the sea. Her 2nd album is once again very largely self-penned but this time concerned with the relationship between idealism and folly Mary has toured and performed with a diverse array of artists over the past few years, from Eliza Carthy to Imitation Electric Piano (with members of Stereolab). She has supported St. Etienne and British Sea Power in Brighton, Bellowhead at London's Scala and Alisdair Roberts on a national tour. In 2007 she played for the 1000th anniversary of Oxford (on a bandstand inside a French fire installation), for the 75th anniversary of Cecil Sharp House (home of English Folk Dance & Song Society) and in the exquisite setting of End of the Road Festival. As well as solo dates in 2008 Mary played The Green Man Festival and toured the UK with singer/songwriter, Adem. In June 2009 she toured the UK alongside acclaimed American singer Diane Cluck. "You can fish around for reference points - Incredible String Band, Lal Waterson, Kate Bush, Melanie and Anne Briggs all might qualify - but this is wondrously individual " - Mojo **** Also available NAVIGATOR15 'My Mother's Children'