Pamela Wyn Shannon
Courting Autumn
© 2007 Pamela Wyn Shannon (634479608483)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
Pastoral Folk. Courting Autumn was recorded largely by Pamela on her own throughout New England and is a rustic almanac of autumnal songs burnished with a melancholy mood, wistful vocals, and delicate hand-spun guitar playing.
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This 2nd edition is an eco gate-fold wallet (think mini double-lp) and included is a booklet with lyrics and photos.
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VOTED THE TOP 10 BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
"In much needed times, there comes a CD, which you realize at the very first note, that pure beauty still exists. There are echos of Vashti Bunyan, Nick Drake, Pentangle and Bridget St. John. Courting Autumn is a melancholic and mystic masterwork. Brilliant!"
- HEAVEN Magazine(The Netherlands)
"A MOST BEAUTIFUL ALBUM...GENTLE AND SENSITIVE...UTTERLY LOVELY, SO SWEETLY POIGNANT...MADE ME SHIVER."
- SHIRLEY COLLINS (UK)
“SHEER BEAUTY… SHANNON’S GUITAR PLAYING HAS BEEN RIGHTLY COMPARED TO THAT OF BERT JANSCH AND THIS ALBUM EVOKES THE NEO-RENAISSANCE EXPLORATIONS OF BANDS LIKE PENTANGLE.”
– SING OUT! (USA)
"Pamela’s performing style is enchanting: she has an attractive singing voice, sensitive and responsive, seductively sweet-toned... Pamela’s voice is brilliantly complemented by her well-developed guitar playing, which is at the same time deftly intricate and hauntingly full-toned. She also has an acute ear for colouristic arrangement, conjuring some rich and uncannily persuasive chamber-folk tapestries...The combination of unusual instrumental detail and finely-honed poetic imagery provides some stop-you-in-your-tracks, neck-pricklinghighlights... All told, this is a very special, seriously beautiful album, which also has the measure of a personal artistic statement: one of considerable power, originality and vision. Serendipity’s a wonderful thing, and all’s well with the world after all…"
- FROOTS MAGAZINE (UK)
"An Absolutely Recommended Masterpiece!"
- Gerald van Waes, Psychdelic Folk Homestead (Belgium)
"Possessing a voice as sweet as a newly picked autumn apple and a beautiful finger-picking style to match, Pamela Wyn Shannon has created a faultless slice of folk magic that reveals new layers and textures with every listen...The more I listen to the album, the more I come to realise that it is this attention to detail that makes the album such a rewarding listen, the many layers of sound augmenting the songs with rare beauty, each song a flawless part of an impeccable whole...the magical “Pipkin”, one of the finest folk songs you will ever have the privilege to hear...a truly vintage album that all Terrascope readers should own."
- TERRASCOPE, Simon Lewis (UK)
"Pamela Wyn Shannon plays an interesting brand of pastoral, old world folk music. Calling on the traditions of Ireland and England, she crafts lushly orchestrated ballads deeply rooted in the natural world. Instrumentally, the album is quite impressive from start to finish."
-Foxy Digitalis
"Since the turn of 21st-century, American music has produced a surprising number of new, classically minded folk musicians. Unlike the sober workingman’s folk artists of the ’80s and ’90s, this new batch takes their inspiration from the starry-eyed, psychedelic music of the 1960s, all cosmic-minded bliss and submersion in the natural world. The reasons for this new movement are manifold, but most obvious among them are an overload with an increasingly corporate, mechanized, and war-mongering world. One of the least noted yet finest of these new folk musicians is the Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Pamela Wyn Shannon. Emerging from a background in ’90s rock, Shannon found herself increasingly drawn toward more twinkling, organic sounds in the new millennium. She soon developed a captivating, cyclical acoustic guitar technique and began writing and performing songs of timeless grace and beauty. Her sophomore album, Courting Autumn, is a wonderful place to begin as it presents her music in its most gratifying context to date.
The disc opens with lightly strummed acoustic guitar and a low airy flute, drawing into the song "O Bittersweet Dear Madeline." Singing a lifting, lolling melody that weaves in and out of her handpicked guitar lines, Shannon's voice is yearning and soft. Her lyrics sound as if they are plucked from another age and help transport the listener to a feathery, mystical realm: "O bittersweet dear Madeline, the bed straw is tangled in your hair / He flutters over your bright mouth, as you gently pull him to your lair." Some of her songs delve further into the spooky, otherworldly qualities she conjures. "Netherworld," for example, builds from beautiful, ominous guitar into a haunting, echoing refrain bolstered by swooping cello.
In addition to her original compositions, Shannon includes two traditional tunes that fit in as naturally as rain. Her rendition of the British folk ballad "Cold Blows the Wind" is especially affecting, with its light, chiming guitar lines spinning webs of feeling and regret behind the age-old tale of love lost and mourned. Whether she's tackling traditional tunes or her own originals, Shannon's music retains a constant, unifying vision. It speaks of a natural, free world, unfettered by the heavy constraints of the modern age, a beautiful place to be." - Daily OM
Since 2003, Wyn Shannon has lived a largely isolated pastoral life as a caretaker in various estates throughout New England and the United Kingdom . With portable recording equipment, she produced Courting Autumn. Her "studios" included an 18th century house museum, a 19th farmhouse and stable, tool sheds, cow barns, sheep farms, a Colonial piggery, and various privies. The album was mixed in Philadelphia by Producer/Engineer Brian McTear (Espers, Marissa Nadler), and comes complete with packaging which Wyn Shannon hand assembled herself.
Musician credits: Pamela Wyn Shannon (voice, guitars, banjo, dulcimer, psaltery, harmonium and percussion); Anna Patton (clarinet, penny whistle); Bill Shontz (recorders); Chris Hale (sitar); Ethan Hazard-Watkins (violin); Liz Knowles (violin, viola, cello); Michelle Kinney (cello) and Stephen Katz (cello).
Cover design by Gisele Zeitler.
Pamela Wyn Shannon's, Courting Autumn, is now available. The songs have an elliptical quality which creates its own timeframe, rules, and kingdoms, reminiscent of that magic found in UK '60s artifacts, Irish and Appalachian folk music. In August 2007, in advance of the album’s release, she played the Green Man Festival in Wales and performed live on BBC Radio One. She'll make a handful of American appearances to promote the album, and perform concerts in the UK late in the year, and early into 2008.
for more information please visit:
www.girlhenge.com
www.myspace.com/pamelawynshannon
reviews
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Courting Autumn
author: Juri MalinovskiWonderful music and supreme magic of Pamela's voice. Kneel to the queen!
no words
author: Benjamin Heidtmannthis breathtaking music is too delicate and beautiful for this desensitized world. It brings joy and rich feeling - it trains the senses and reawakens those mysterious, dormant sensations we have locked away since childhood. No words could possibly convey the effect "Courting Autumn" had on me. It is poetry crafted into intricate, majestic arrangements, a gentle plucking of one's very heartstrings. Priceless. This makes me feel joy amidst the painful emptiness around. Bliss among hurt and feeble souls. A testimony to the subtlety and honesty of the heart. I have no further words - check this magic out my friends
Courting Autumn
author: Ruth BarrettOne of the most beautiful, evocative, and poetic collection of music I've heard in years. Blessings on your lovely autumn colored head! Thank you!
Pamela Wyn Shannon - Courting Autumn
author: j. hartmansI think Courting Autumn by Pamela Wyn Shannon is a beautiful, sensitive album. The songs are great, her singing and guitarplaying are very special. It's one of the finest (pastoral)folk-albums I've ever heard.
- author: leveque
I saw her in concert in scotland , she was like an apparition from the forest , shy , fragile and strong at the same time and it was very moving...I love her cd ,I often will offer it !
Courting Autumn
author: Staffan BooThank you for a great album, that puts you in a special mood. It would be nice to listen to a live concert. How about coming to Sweden and have some concerts? Any plans?
pamela wyn shannon courting autumn
author: anthony dunphyOne of the best albums i have ever heard.In the Top 5 BEAUTIFUL
- author: Laurent
Autumn is a season that I've always loved. Very hard to explain why. Perhaps, like every owner of a tormented soul, an important thing since deadly addiction to music, has been to find the perfect record for each season. A bunch of things to keep in mind, befriending all your moods and visions. Courting Autumn by the great Pamela Wyn Shannon is just that. A very sweet trip in the country, looking at the falling leaves. With only the gloom to meet. But wih a voice so incredibly moving,and that astonishing songwriting, it's a four stars of a sadness. Long may you cure our ears.
Courting Autumn
author: Michael GouldThere has always been a risk associated with buying music by non mainstream artists, in that you don’t have much chance to hear before you buy, and often rely on information received second hand. Even in these days of the internet you have to make decisions based on perhaps one or two tracks. I am happy to say that in the case of Courting Autumn this risk has been worth it. Every listen of the album brings to light sounds I hadn‘t heard previously, and the more wonderful it is to hear. The first thing you realise is that Pamela isn’t just a singer who accompanies herself on the guitar, she knows how to play well, and her guitar playing is an integral part of the song. She also plays a number of other instruments which add to the power of the music, and uses strings to complement the sound. Her voice is easy to listen to and she sings clearly so you can hear the poetry of her lyrics which is good as they are worth listening to. In many ways she harks back to the acid-folk stars of the 60’s and 70’s, John Renbourn, Incredible String Band and Nick Drake spring to mind, not bad company to be in. However, she is individual enough that she seamlessly merges old and new to come up with timeless songs which may stray from the traditions of the ’Folk Police’ but make the music come alive and move forward. This is music I will listen to over again in the peace of a summer garden. Go and search her out on the web and buy this album. You won’t be disappointed.
Courting Autumn
author: Allan FrewinThis is a lovely album - one of the most enchanting I have heard for many years - it ranks for me up with the most glorious pastoral folk albums I have ever known - as wonderful in its own way as HMS Donovan - and from me, that is high praise indeed!
- author: Michael Kutapan
Thoroughly enjoyable listening pleasure.Many highlights throughout the album, everyone wil have their own but for me the title track and Ca'The Yowes stand out and also Netherworld...you could go on. This really is an exceptional recording which I recommend to anyone.Music from deep within and without time and space.
Courting Autumn
author: Ronald de HooghThe pleasure with this album already starts with the package, which is very special and beautiful. The music is really perfect. I also have Pamela's first cd, but Courting Autumn surpasses it. Wonderful!
Courting autumn
author: Johan LoermansBeautiful sensitive music. Great fingerpicking and a soft and warm voice accompany stories of forests in fairytales. Netherworld and Pipkin are those rare songs from another world which touches my soul in another layer where I've never been before.
Courting autumn
author: p.meulendijksA beautiful cd... very pastoral..but with an unique sound (I remember when I heard Ann Briggs for the first time...something like this but totally different voice). Very warm voice, and beautiful melodies. Recommended... The best folk cd I heard in years....
- author: Hans Jonkers, the Netherlands
When I received the CD I've played the music over and over on my new hifi-set. This is beautiful melancholic, sensible music, beyond compare.
- author: ewald spiss
Thanks for this great album!
courting Autumn
author: Jill BennettI first heard Pamelas music on BBC 6 music and instantly loved it. Courting Autumn is beautiful musically and lyrically, with a gentle lulaby quality
Courting Autumn
author: Leslie perkinsGreat album, lovely voice, great musicianship.
COURTING AUTUMN
author: Caroline EyreHow beautiful! Cannot say more! Please come back to Green Man in 2008
Courting Autumn , Love Found
author: April D JohnsonThis album is perfectly matched to the wind down of the year called Fall.You can feel the falling leaves as you listen to each song. Moody, evocative, beautifully instrumented and relaxing. Warning do not drive while listening as it's so soothing , your mind wanders off the road!