Arts & Culture
Folk artists Hannah James and Toby Kuhn to play Oxford show in March promoting Sleeping Spirals album

The pair will appear at Oxford’s North Wall Arts Centre on 25 March, with doors opening at 8pm. 

Tickets are priced at £16 (for general) and £14 (for concessions). 

Hannah James (Lady Maisery, Maddy Prior, Sam Sweeney, Seasick Steve and Songs of Separation) is a singer, accordionist and dancer who has made her unique path across the varied landscape of English and European folk music. She been singing, dancing and playing traditional English music for years, and says she has always embraced the wider cultural influences that inform many of those old songs.

Toby Kuhn (Wild Strings Trio, Bipolar Bows and Old Salt) comes from an altogether different background: a French cellist with classical training who has developed a completely unique style indebted to guitar, violin and double bass.

A spokesperson for the artists said: “Jointly their music is soulful, original and conversational. They explore throughout their compositions strong links with both the natural world and with folk traditions from across Europe, all the while delving into a rich inner journey.

“The combination of accordion and cello allows for a wide palette of sounds and textures which lift James’s pure voice and deeply honest songwriting, in the next breath switching to choppy rhythms and joyful interplay between cello and percussive dance. This duo delivers a diverse, playful and incredibly touching performance.”

Hannah’s and Toby’s debut album Sleeping Spirals is described as a journey through music and emotion, bringing together English folk and European melodies, a series of sensitive and personal lyrics both traditional and original, in a complex and engaging dialog between two skilled musicians.

Toby’s cello is described as the privileged interlocutor of Hannah’s singing, accordion playing and foot percussion, to make for a delicate and gripping performance that leaves the listener deeply moved, telling stories of nature, change, pain and delight throughout an album finely crafted to deliver the best that both artists have to offer.

 

Review information of Sleeping Spirals: 

“Thoughtful, moving and totally heart-felt”. Ian Croft RnR Magazine.

“Sleeping Spirals manages to be both charged and atmospheric while maintaining and air of mystery and sense of wonder” - Marc Higgins Fatea.

 

More information and latest tour news can be found at Hannah James and Toby Kuhn (hannahtobymusic.org)

https://hannahjamesmusic.com  tobyscello.org