The fusing of awesome accordion player Eddy Jay with triple BBC Folk Awards ‘Musician of the Year’ nominee Will Pound (“one of the world’s greatest harmonica players”- Daily Telegraph) has produced one of the most dynamic duos you are likely to witness on the folk roots scene.
Their much acclaimed, fast-paced, feel-good debut CD Ignite was a completely eclectic affair mixing everything from Balkan to Swedish tunes to self-penned numbers about Richard III and 1940s ‘big band jazz’!
After wowing audiences at festivals including FolkEast this summer – and an upcoming appearance at Hartlepool Festival on Oct 13, they will embark on four key autumn dates – at Sheffield University (Oct 31), Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (Nov 1), Croydon’s The Oval Tavern (Oct 2) and Wigan’s Victorian Court Room (Nov 3) followed by an appearance at Oundle International Festival in Northamptonshire (Nov 11).
Three times nominated for BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Musician of the Year (2012, 2014 and 2015), Pound won the same title in the 2015 Spiral Earth Awards and was named Instrumentalist of the Year in 2013 and 2014 by FATEA Magazine.
It has been four years since the 29 year-old released his highly acclaimed solo debut album A Cut Above. The Warwickshire-based musician, a former narrowboat dweller now on terra firma, plays both diatonic and chromatic harmonica and reaches the parts other harp players simply don’t.
Undoubtedly one of the finest harmonica players of his generation his inventive style always pushes the boundaries as seen in his former duos Walsh and Pound and Haddo and the four piece Will Pound Band. In 2012 he memorably played the harmonica intro on the Guy Chambers-produced Hillsborough charity single He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother which became the Christmas No 1.
“A flat out genius harmonica player”!-Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2 & 6
Jay meanwhile is a virtuoso accordionist who can make his instrument sound more like an orchestra! A former member of Newfolks with Mabon fiddler Oli Wilson-Dickson, his eclectic arrangements have seen him journey into theatre including the hit stage musical version of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter which toured Broadway venues.
He has also performed with Irish singer songwriter Cathal Coughlan and UK jazz singer Tina May, devised his own version of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and an Edith Piaf tribute show Piaf The Songs which toured the UK and beyond.
This potent partnership, heard live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, owes a lot to instinct, improvisation and alchemy, with Pound and Jay forging a path to new folk sounds – harmonica and accordion gelling almost as one instrument.
Romping across reels, bluegrass, swing, polkas and rachenitsas, the duo’s exuberant arrangements of traditional tunes cannot fail to impress.
A dazzling display of virtuosity performed with power and precision, Pound and Jay’s live show ducks and dives and pulls no punches, with a fair sprinkling of impressive original compositions to add to the rich mix.