Album review: GIGSPANNER BIG BAND – Turnstone

Website [Release date 11.04.25]

Peter Knight’s Gigspanner Big Band is a folk supergroup, consisting of Peter Knight (violin, vocals), a fixture of Steeleye Span’s classic 1970s lineup and he has collaborated with countless other luminaries of the scene, founder-member of Bellowhead John Spiers (melodeon, concertina, vocals), Sacha Trochet (percussion, bass, vocals) Roger Flack (guitar, bass, vocals) and the line-up is rounded off by the award-winning Edgelarks duo of Phillip Henry (dobro, harmonica, banjo, vocals) and Hannah Martin (violin, vocals, banjo).

The artwork for the album by Tim Marrs is stunning, with the turnstone wading bird taking centre spot on the cover. The album was named after said bird which has a habit of skittering along the tideline, upending pebbles and routing through seaweed in search of food, with Gigspanner Big Band taking a similar approach to traditional folk songs and giving them a new Gigspanner musical spin.

With an album this good it is hard to pick out highlights, as each song has its own merits and playing on each on is top notch as you’d expect given the pedigree of the musicians involved. That said, ‘Silver Dagger’ is simply wonderful from the fiddle solo by Peter Knight through to the dobro and sublime singing by Hannah Martin. Not far behind are ‘Sovay’ and the band’s version of the popular ‘Hind Horn’.

In some ways the Gigspanner Big Band remind this listener of Sandy Denny era Fairport Convention in the way they take traditional folk tunes and give them a rockier feel yet never losing the song’s traditional origins. ‘What Wonderous Love Is This/Sweet Highland Mary’ is a good example, with Peter Knight taking the lead vocal.

Gigspanner Big Band reach album number three and show no signs of running out of musical ideas. If you like a bit of folk rock, traditional folk and even a smidgen of progressive music, you will find much to enjoy on ‘Turnstone’.

****

Review by Jason Ritchie

April 2025

11 Teddington/Landmark Arts Centre

12 Cranbrook/St Dunstan’s Church

13 Canterbury/Gulbenkian Arts Centre

14 Colchester/Arts Centre

15 Bury St Edmunds/The Apex

17 York/NCEM

18 Hexham/Queen’s Hall

19 Kendal/Brewery Arts

20 Bury/The Met

21 Liverpool/Philharmonic Music Room

22 Buxton/Pavilion Arts Centre

24 Bath/Christchurch

25 Falmouth/The Princess Pavilion

26 Ivybridge/The Watermark

27 Topsham/Matthew’s Hall

Tickets: https://www.gigspanner.com/live

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