BAND BIOGRAPHY

Since forming in 2003, Horses Brawl have caused quite a stir with their cutting-edge take on early and traditional music.With roots firmly embedded in traditional English and early music from Europe, the two performers experiment on guitar, bowed guitar, double-barrelled recorders, crumhorn and fiddle to create fresh contemporary compositions. Taking fragments of early and traditional folk music, the duo create entirely new pieces. Often cinematic and dramatic, the music can be darkly emotional and strangely uplifting.

Horses Brawl are making their mark by being one of the only early music groups who perform in both concert and gig settings – from Queen Elizabeth Hall supporting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to Norwich Pop Underground Convention. Performing from memory their virtuosity and originality draws in even the most unsuspecting audience members, and they have been hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “an early music group to keep an eye on...".

Horses Brawl are joined in a new collaboration by the internationally renowned performer, teacher and director of baroque and renaissance music Philip Thorby (viol & recorders). Philip is Senior Fellow of Early Music at Trinity College of Music and is the founder member of the acclaimed Musica Antiqua of London. Horses Brawl and Philip Thorby have recently been selected onto ‘Escalator’, a scheme supported by the Arts Council of England which encourages the development of innovative and original music groups.

ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM WILD LAMENT

Innovative instrumental duo Horses Brawl have a distinct and intensely engaging sound. Embedded in folk and early music traditions, the pair reinterpret and recompose fragments of traditional melodies to produce a contemporary sound which has developed fans amongst early music enthusiasts and beyond. Horses Brawl’s third album, Wild Lament sees the group really take flight and establish their own unique sound. Finding inspiration in the melodies they seek out and stumble across, Horses Brawl improvise around the smallest phrases or fragments of early music, transforming these into their own full, rich flights of sound. The resulting fresh and contemporary new compositions are suffused with the elemental beauty of their tradition.

Horses Brawl branch out in new directions on Wild Lament, which features some preparation on their instruments in the form of sponge, sticker and clothes-peg mutes as well as some unusual guitar de-tunings and the incorporation of certain melodic gems Adrian encountered on his pilgrimage to Bulgaria. The album also features internationally renowned performer, teacher and director of Baroque and Renaissance music Philip Thorby, who performs viol & recorders on a number of tracks.

On this their third album, the music of Horses Brawl teeters on the edge of a dark and intensity yet soars to often sublime heights. At times wild with its fervent strings, at times lonely and pure with its aching lament, their music is always sincere, always humble.

Cat. no: BRAWL 004 Label: Brawl Records Release date: 8 June 2009


Laura Cannell Biography
Laura Cannell is a recorder and self-taught fiddle player from Norfolk, UK. After graduating from the London College of Music and Media in 2001 with 1st Class Honours in Performance, Laura was elected as a Woodwind Fellow. She then went on to continue her studies at the University of East Anglia and graduated with a Masters in Performance Studies in 2003.

In May 2009 she was awarded a career development grant from the Musicians Benevolent Fund to support a one year fiddling project which includes consultations and with three leading fiddle players in England, Scotland and Wales.

In 2005 and 2006 she received a bursary to attend the Cambridge Early Music Summer School. In 2008 she returned as an assistant tutor. In 2004 she was awarded a grant for the arts from the Arts Council of England towards creative development into new repertoire for the recorder.

Laura is the founder member of the highly acclaimed contemporary folk & early music group Horses Brawl who released their debut album in october 2005 and their second 'Dindirin' in summer 2007 and third in June 09.

She also collaborates regularly with other performers in the fields of traditional, baroque and contemporary music. Laura made her debut solo album of traditional folk music in 1997 (with Adrian) and has performed widely throughout the UK at festivals and events including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, IF:06 at the Spitz, The Windor Festival, The Thames Festival, Folk in the Fall at QEH, The Holywell Room, Oxford, The British Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, St Andrews Hall Norwich, and abroad at the Dublin Conservatoire and a tour in Canada.

Laura has had articles and reviews published in The Recorder Magazine (UK) and the ERTA newsletter. She has studied recorder with Ross Winters, Margaret Westlake, Piers Adams (Red Priest) and Rachel Moss.

Laura was also a research assistant to the author Jennifer Westwood on her book 'The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys'. An incredible guide to the folklore and legends of England's counties.

Adrian Lever Biography