Unfold (2024)
Produced and recorded by Gren Bartley at Wooden Walls Studio
Mastering by Patrick Lester-Rourke at Forge Mastering Studios
Wooden Walls Records
All songs and lyrics written by Gren Bartley
1. The Listener
3. Anyone
4. For Anna
5. Final Grab
6. Birds
7. Another Sky
8. Perfectly Crazy (reprise)
10. Hold On
Gren Bartley - vocals, guitars, banjo, synths
Kath Ord - vocals, violin, viola, wurlitzer
The Listener
Changes come, but are they real
I've been waiting for the perfect time to say
but there's somebody here
Someone who knows that sometimes all we need is a listener
Visions of what we need
And all that we can live without
For a moment there I nearly had it all
Changes come, can you feel
How they become the things we build ourselves upon?
Better times ahead
And I do believe sometimes all we need is a listener
Shall we trust ourselves and just drive
'Til our time runs out and we're gone
The words that spoke the silence broke
This will pass us by if were not ready for this
But we are part of something bigger now
Perfectly Crazy
Did you know it that the ground was shaking?
Dared to imagine just the merest touch
Watch as the moon chooses the path it's taking
To the one who loved too much, too much
Maybe the bottle or the crowd it's keeping
Blood flows to brain in the sweetest rush
The girl at the bar with the trouble speaking
To the one who gave too much, too much
Maybe I’m perfectly crazy but in a funny way
Don’t even wonder why anymore
When it's cold out and I’m high wire acting home
It's hard to believe but I'll take your word
Celebrate the coming of the chosen son
She turns up her collar as she spins through the room
Never before was I so in love
Swore I'd not come here again but everyone struggles sometimes
Guess I’m in need of a friend
Lord I tried
Maybe I’m perfectly crazy but who is not to say
I need it to survive these days
When it's cold out and I’m high wire acting home
Maybe I’m perfectly crazy but in a funny way
Don’t even really mind anymore
When it's cold out and I’m high wire acting home
Anyone
Go on, just go and do it, drink your cup of coffee
Meeting on dark corners pretending that you loved me
Its crazy, nobody told me that love was just for the movies
Two people living alone at the same place same time
I could have been anyone
Maybe thats the answer? An untimely reminder?
The wind is rising up, gotta push it down
Heads up, here comes the “trade in”
Find me a place to break in
Connections all change, thats just the tale of a modern time
I could have been anyone who happened to walk your way
Final Grab
Partly spiritual
Partly methodical
Partly individual
Entirely universal
Some part of everyone
Maybe the chosen one
Half way to paradise
Arrived in the real life
Washed up upon the shore
Pushed on that open door
Saw what the mother saw
But that's not what you came here for
And who are you anyway?
With all of your thoughts to say
With all of the words you wrote
I spoke ‘fore I oughta spoke
What would you miss?
If this all was pulled down?
I don't think I understand
Because this isn’t what I planned
I'm drawing on everything
To make a final grab
To hold myself intact
Hear the vibrations laugh
Hear the vibrations sing
I dissolve into everything
Birds
Hammer my chest and for to breathe more deep
With my feet wet I cast out alone
Into hell silently
With the birds all singing come home
Oh my love, you’ve got a hold on me
But I’ll need more than stars tonight
Crooked eyes see the white of these guiding waves
And I’ll chose a hopeful line
Another sky
Falling on a boundless sea, rain drops from another sky
Somehow this seems strange to me
But I live between two worlds
I am much older now
If I Could Remember
The wind rose up and there grew the cloud
Two drops waltzed in the circle round
Hand in hand to the morning ground
Ambled down into the valley floor
Where the cut themselves to make something more
Love grew wild as three became four
Please say that we won't forget
Time’s great hand has been blurring the edge
And if I could remember just this one thing
Plunged feet first into the running stream
Stream to river through a busted seam
Young ones lost into a young one’s dream
Soon the river to the plain it winds
And brushes softly to the sea wide
Hands were torn in the ocean tide
Please say that we won't forget
Time’s great hand has been blurring the edge
And if I could remember just this one thing
So here it is the great green form
The moon conducts its chorus song
Infinite drops right then became just one
Please say that we won't forget
Time’s great hand has been blurring the edge
And if I could remember just this one thing
The wind rose up and there grew the cloud
Two drops waltzed in the circle round
Hand in hand to the morning ground
Hold On
Hold on and hear, the night is near
The moon will light the way from here
See it on horizons
Hear it in the singing trees
A hope is gonna come so call it by the name it is
Darkness unfolding
See it in the space between those stars that are shining
Thats where you’ll hear the angels sing
So hold on and hear the night is near
The moon will light the way from here
Jacob Cunningham
I asked Jim Sutton for a drummer he would recommended. Enter Jacob. He performed incredibly, magically even, and it’s been a true pleasure working with him. Unbelievable drummer, innovative and a total dude. All the bass and drums were recorded in Jacob’s basement. I have no other information on this absolute legend.
Cumbrian-born multi-instrumentalist Kathleen began learning music aged 3 when her mother taught her recorder. This was soon followed by piano and violin, and in her early teens she took up alto sax. Her formative years were spent playing in orchestras, ceilidh bands, jazz big-band, carnival band, and singing with choirs, enjoying a childhood frequenting folk festivals with her family. Kathleen went on to study violin at the Royal Northern College of Music. She then joined western swing band The Swing Commanders, with whom she sang and played fiddle, sax, and keyboard for several years, touring the UK, Europe, and the US (including Texas – the home of Western Swing). She has also built a reputation as one of Manchester's leading freelance violinists/violists, playing with numerous string quartets throughout the north of England. Her orchestral experience is considerable too, having worked with Lancashire Sinfonietta, and continuing to play regularly with Docklands Sinfonia, Gatecrasher Classical, and The Untold Orchestra. Kathleen is excited by musical collaborations, and has a wealth of studio experience writing and recording string parts for an array of hugely varied artists. Her exploratory nature has led her to work with performers of many different genres including Skutch Manos (punk-flamenco-prog), Simply Dylan (A tribute to Bob Dylan, not a Bob Dylan tribute) and Nick Hennessy (harpist & singer/story-teller). She regularly collaborates with Haystack Records (folk & trad based label) and is very much in demand throughout the northwest and beyond, writing string arrangements for studio recordings. Folk music has always been a big part of Kathleen's life, so she likes to get out to sessions, and enjoys gigging with local ceilidh bands The Mouse's Nest, and Head Over Reels. She now tours regularly with BBC Folk Award winners The Unthanks, having enjoyed a UK tour and full festival season with them last year, including a performance on The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Kathleen loves working with children and is delighted to now be running Music Magic (formerly Classical Babies), providing music of all genres for parent and baby to enjoy in an informal setting with soft flooring and toys for the babies, and coffee and cake for the adults. A true music enthusiast, Kathleen loves to perform in a wide variety of musical settings, as comfortable playing with an orchestra or string quartet as she is singing in a jazz club. In her free time she loves to bake and knit, and is a keen runner & yogi.
Bass player Jim Sutton, of Stourbridge, also has a background in heavy metal,rock and jazz – appearing as house bass player at The Trumpet, Bilston, but also playing keyboards. He formed his first band, Tanhauser, while still at school but did his first gigs with Tony Sawford’s Reg Glob Allstar Showband on guitar and piano because cello, his main instrument at the time, was unsuitable. His first folk job was with his double-bass teacher, Roger Grainger, and his band Sarabande. At the same time he was the first gigging bass player with Stourbridge heavy metal combo Diamond Head. At university in Durham he performed with Wynters Armoury and rock band The Morones. Back in the Midlands he partnered songwriter and singer Tony Jones and later The Ivor Smallpiece Big Band, before making the transition to Maurice and the Minors and the first Desperate Men. He also played jazz with vibist and drummer John Sparry. After leaving the Desperates he also performed with Blue Train, Bryn Venus’ Key Largo Trio, the New Birmingham Bobcats and his own setups. Jim has done catalogues of jazz dep gigs with bands such as Pendulum, the Swing Kings and the Crown Phoenix Big Band – plus three years with the Martinique Jazz Band. He played on John Richards’ solo release Behind The Lines and the promotional gigs for that album. He was at Wolverhampton’s Emerald Club for the Desperates’ farewell appearance and contributed to the John Richards Band’s Walls of Hope and subsequently with them. In 2015 Jim performed bass on Gren’s Magnificent Creatures album.
Our Team.
This is your Team section. It's a great place to introduce your team and talk about what makes it special, such as your culture and work philosophy. Don't be afraid to illustrate personality and character to help users connect with your team.
Another Jim Sutton recommendation. Regular of jazz bands around the West Midlands Gary stepped in and performed beautifully on the tracks “Anyone” and “Final Grab”. Check out the track Final Grab at four minutes and twelve seconds in…. thank you for that moment of pure gorgeousness Gary.