Born in Sheffield before moving around various parts of the British Isles and then settling in Moss Valley – an abandoned and forgotten area on the edgelands of South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire – it makes perfect sense that 26 year old Jim Ghedi’s music feels both fluidly transient yet also deeply rooted to a sense of place.
Nature permeates through his second album ‘A Hymn For Ancient Land’ (released this winter to much praise on Basin Rock – also home to Nadia Reid and Julie Byrne) from start to finish, gliding through its core like a bubbling brook. The subtle mix of finger-picked guitar, classical instrumentation and the beauty of the arrangements create something almost tangible – like a light dew on the tip ends of grass or the sticky moisture of well trampled soil. Winding guitar instrumentals lead you up forgotten paths, gently whirring strings along rolling hillsides, the drums beat like the faint sounds of thunder on the horizon and the rich hum of the ambience hangs like a gentle morning fog.
‘A raga-like texture of tingling drones and jaunty picking that recalls both John Fahey and the Penguin Cafe’, **** – The Independent
Support comes from dbh. dbh is Daniel Bridgwood-Hill, a composer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist based in Manchester, UK. For a long time he has had a hand in an inordinate amount of the great music emerging from Manchester’s music scene, as guitarist of NASDAQ and the FTSE 100, and playing all manner of instruments with Kiran Leonard and Irma Vep, to name but two. Most recently he has been playing live with New York singer-songwriter, Julie Byrne. dbh has released three albums of solo instrumentals to date: Mass (Thread Recordings, 2017); Mood (Thread Recordings, 2015); and Time Flies (Crowfoot Records, 2013). He was also featured on the seventh volume of Tompkins Square’s guitar compilation series, Imaginational Anthem.