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Second track on double A side being released by us on 16th July on itunes etc. Available from here to download now.
Come along to The Willow Tree, Winchester to hear this great new act and also Kelly Oliver as special guest.
Having a piano composition played on BBC Radio 2 after an ad hoc submission would be a great start to any musician’s career. Piano was then Hampshire-based composer and musician Rob Sword’s main instrument, but he had simultaneously been experimenting with the sanshin, a three stringed Okinawan instrument which he had discovered during nine months’ work and travel in Japan. After Rob discovered the alternate guitar tunings of artists such as Beck and Nick Drake, he was inspired to apply his self-taught sanshin technique to the guitar and soon found a new compositional voice and a vehicle for his songwriting.
After graduating from university, Rob joined an 8-piece folk ensemble to which he also enlisted his girlfriend Rachel Thomas and her younger brother Simon as singers. Simon demonstrated great talent to Rob as a vocalist and guitarist and, after performing in the band together for some time, the pair started collaborating on some of their own songs, distilling the music into simple guitar-based arrangements that were inspired by the sparse textures of early Appalachian folk. During a period of travel around India in early 2014, Rob resolved to focus more intently on this new collaboration and, after returning, organised a number of performances and recordings for the duo under the moniker 'Sandtimer'. Rachel also contributed backing vocals to a number of their songs.
Folkstock Records have been in dialogue with Rob and Simon for some time and are proud to be releasing this snapshot of their beautiful acoustic harmonies with this double A side release, If I Were A River / Cold Shoulder.
lyrics
Hey guys, what're you doing tonight?
I saw a movie yesterday where the main character died
and it's hard to believe that we'll never quite achieve
what we want to in our lives.
Back in the day, hey, I thought we all had it made
but now we're all just wandering in a six foot cave
and it's not much of a reprieve when three of you leave
and one of you stays.
Don't give me the cold shoulder,
'cause I've been pushing boulders over streams
to keep myself together, never rupture the seams.
Oh, hell, well, I'm back here again.
I'm tired of the same but I don't like change, well I'm back here again
and I'm not wasting my time but I'm not using it well.
What a story to tell.
Don't give me the cold shoulder,
'cause I've been pushing boulders over streams
to keep myself together, never rupture the seams.
Stepping out in the morning, pinch yourself awake.
Keep your eyes on the sand falling, keep yourself awake.
I'm not wasting my time- but am I using it well?
What a story to tell.
Don't give me the cold shoulder,
'cause I've been pushing boulders over streams
to keep myself together, never rupture the seams.
Stepping out in the morning, pinch yourself awake.
Keep your eyes on the sand falling, keep yourself awake.
Hey guys, what're you doing tonight?
I saw a movie yesterday where the main character died.
credits
released July 16, 2015
Simon Thomas: Vocals, Guitar, Bass
Robert Sword: Vocals, Guitar, Percussion
Rachel Thomas: Vocals
Written by: Robert Sword, Rachel Thomas (Rachel came up with the melody for the 'stepping out in the morning' bit- I was playing the chords absent-mindedly and she walked into the room improvising that melody which I promptly nicked!)
Produced by Robert Sword and Simon Thomas
Mixed by Giles Thomas
Mastered by Terry Waker at Tonalex Mastering (www.tonalexonlinemastering.co.uk)
Boutique label releasing handpicked singer songwriters from the Folkstock fold.
Most engineering, mixing and mastering
by Lauren Deakin Davies.
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