I love how music is a way of connecting with different cultures, whether experienced through travel yourself or through seeing touring artists. Last night though, was a chance to connect with a local community. A market town of just 13,000 people close to my home is privileged to have an artist of international standing in its midst. Thea Gilmore was born in Oxford to Irish parents, but is now the driving force behind the annual Nantwich Words and Music Festival, to the extent that without any corporate sponsorship or public grants, she underwrites the entire week long event personally. When I arrived, the size of the queue made it clear that this love is reciprocated; indeed one couple explained that they'd been waiting three years to get tickets for one of Thea's shows here. The age mix was broad: this was an inclusive, family event at a school whose atmosphere reminded me of shows at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, 4000 miles away.
Thea compared her voice to that of a wayward toddler in its unpredictability, since she was suffering from a heavy cold; it is to her credit that she refused to disappoint the town by cancelling. This impacted her tone, but she was still pitch perfect and powerful in her projection. Her long time collaborator and husband Nigel Stonier discovered Thea whilst she was working in a recording studio, and more than compensated for her illness. In fact, he's a charismatic performer in his own right, contributing vocals and notably vigorous keyboard accompaniment. It was a family affair both in being the culmination of a festival that relies on local volunteers, and literally in that her 6 year old son Egan came on stage as a violinist in one number. The set ranged widely through her own back catalogue and was far more than a simple run through of her new album.
Thea's a prolific workaholic, having released 14 albums by the age of 33. The most recent, Regardless followed a two year break from recording after the birth of her younger child. It's more lush, with use of strings, and less raw that her earlier work such as Liejacker which had a greater sense of sadness. I connected more readily with the explicit vulnerability of Neil Halstead earlier in the week: perhaps Thea sees music as an escape, and a means of healing through making others happy rather than in a cathartic manner. The sadness is just below the surface in her lyrics: in a recent interview, she talked about suffering from post natal depression during the hiatus before Regardless. She spoke movingly last night about the fear that her own neurosis would damage her childrens' lives, and how she'd written a song for her son to atone for this. Her manner on stage was down to earth, however, with gentle humour; perhaps this reflected the fact that she knew several of those in the audience personally, and Thea remarked that she did the school run with some of them.
Her songs tend to be simple in structure and a consistent 3 to 4 minutes length: there's little experimentation with form. Her recent single Love Came Looking for Me was used at the soundtrack to the television coverage of Wimbledon this year, and the entire album's style is towards the more commercial end of folk. With a gift for melody, it's more likely her reluctance to sign to a major label than any lack of song writing ability that has prevented a larger break through. If for me, the music is a times a little too radio friendly, and could take more risks, there's no doubting her performing ability. Thea has a wonderful stage presence, achieved through her shear musicianship and her rich voice. The backing band of keyboard, acoustic guitar, and strings sounded tight, and the music was placed at the centre, holding everyone's attention without the need for lighting effects, dancing or gimmicks. As she closed aptly with My Friend Goodbye, I could see why Joan Baez admires Thea so much, and invited her on tour in the US. As Thea once said, 'it's easy to get sniffy about pop music'. She's a musician of great integrity who, despite her personal challenges, seeks to give back to the community and writes accessible music to give pleasure to a wide audience.
Note 14th October 2013
I’ve been contacted by an associate of the artist who pointed out some factual errors in this article, which I have now corrected and apologise for.
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