Music for Handfastings & Weddings
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Fruit is Kate Fletcher's first solo CD . Buy or download it from CDBABY, download from AMAZON or APPLE iTUNES, Click on the button below, this takes you to a Paypal page. Click where it says 'Don't have a Paypal Account' to pay with a card if you don't have a Paypal account! |
"Kate Fletcher’s latest work, Fruit, is a solo album that really lives up to its name. Mature, rounded and refreshing, it demonstrates to the full that Kate’s ability to interpret traditional material as well as craft her own beautiful and relevant songs is matched by her musicianship and instrumental accomplishment."
It has 14 tracks of unsurpassed brilliance! Read reviews here, or see the lyrics or instrument credits.
 FRUIT Should you dare to ask me where I’ve been… |
 INVOCATION / STRÖMMING BOATS A Manx invocation for fair weather & a maiden’s lament after unfair weather. |
| CLOSE MY EYES About God. Or maybe it’s just a breaking up song. I was nineteen and a bit mixed up when I wrote it! |
| CRUEL SISTER What happened to the middle sister? She ran away with the instrument maker and learnt to play jouhikko… |
| BEYOND THE SILENCE In times of distress the safest place to be was under mum & dad’s baby grand. |
| BREEZES OF CHANGE The last song I wrote before our 2000km Pilgrimage from Dorset to the end of the world in Galicia... |
| IF WISHES WERE HORSES…If turnips were watches, I’d wear one by my side.
A patchwork of moans sewn into a love song. |
| LULLABY My anti war song, written for the last Balkan conflict and still sung for Iraq and Afghanistan… |
| SWEET ENGLAND Do the English have Hiraeth too? Would she recognise England if she saw it now? |
| MIDNIGHT There are powers in this universe about which we know nothing… |
| SPINNING SONG This spell is more reliable than apple peel magic. At least you get a jumper at the end of it, if not a man. |
| RIVER SONG I borrowed this song and an accordion ten years ago from my friend George Whitfield. I still have them both! |
| VALLEY SONG Written in one beautiful place, Erraid, about another, the Pennant Valley, where I found my voice. |
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Stirrings Magazine
"... she is defiantly a solo artist, affording us an intimate glimpse into her own distinctive and private creative world. Hers is an unusual and intriguing soundscape, rejoicing in a subtle and unpretentious use of a variety of instrumental colours and timbres"..."...with unobtrusive production by Robert Harbron, there's a homespun, primitive immediacy to the proceedings that's really attractive"..." ...Kate's songwriting is honest and succinct, understated and refreshingly non-self-indulgent,"..."...The standout tracks for me are highly contrasted: on one hand the disturbing, stark and broodingly strange Midnight, which tells of a modern-day haunting, and on the other the comforting haven of the beautiful Beyond The Silence."...
"Kate's work is quietly stunning..."
Reviewer: David Kidman.
Read the full review online.
Muse Magazine
"...inspiring arrangements of traditional songs. My immediate reaction to hearing the music of the Dorset songstress was very pleasurable."...."Kate's haunting vocals result in desolate and beautiful renditions."..."Kate Fletcher has created a down to earth folk album which seems to transport you outside of the confines of your home into the countryside's open spaces and rolling hills."
Go to the Muse Magazine website.
Sacred Hoop Magazine
Kate Fletcher, a good English name for a good English singer with a considerable amount of good feel for good traditional English music flowing from her first solo CD. Her voice and style come across as very traditional folk, and four of the songs are folk songs, the rest all bar one, are written by Kate herself. She also plays most of the instruments herself too, including one I had never heard of - kantele, a Finnish plucked psaltery.
The songs range from love songs to songs about the elements and the four directions, spells and witchcraft, Pennant valley (the shambhala of Mid Wales), and the San Bushmen. All the songs are well crafted and played, with no evidence of any self indulgence. Throughout her voice is charming and strong, and I especially like the song she wrote for Pennant, which I first heard on a day of 'wall to wall computing'. It made me stop and wonder what the hell I was doing typing a keyboard all day long.
Reviewer: Nick Wood.
Go to the Sacred Hoop Website.
The Druid Network
The blurb on this CD says it is a 'startling collection of womanly songs' and this is very much the case. Here there are spells and ballads, and each one feels wholly to be the call and cry of the female soul. Each is sung with a softly clear voice, to acoustic instruments (guitar, oboe, kantele), all played and sung by the artist except the mouth bow, played by Corwen ap Broch. There is a medieval element in places, which is where I feel she is most captivating. Other sources of inspiration are Northern European and the Kalahari, but always she is haunting in her expression of emotion - not always raw but ethereal and questioning. It is worth listening to as a whole, and some tracks are worth dissolving into completely.
Reviewer: Emma Restall-Orr.
Go to the Druid Network Website.
FRUIT
INVOCATION/STRÖMMING BOATS
CLOSE MY EYES
CRUEL SISTER
BEYOND THE SILENCE
BREEZES OF CHANGE
IF WISHES WERE HORSES
LULLABY
SWEET ENGLAND
MIDNIGHT
SPINNING SONG
RIVER SONG
VALLEY SONG
BROKEN STRING
FRUIT
As round as a pear
As straight as an apple
I am
As small as an oak
As big as an acorn
I am
As pale as the moon
As bright as a candle
I am
And if you dare to ask me where I've been
I may just smile and say I've been in the juicer
And in this this bottle, this tiny little bottle
Are the last few drops so please, please don't drop them
As quick as a day
As slow as a second
I am
As weak as an ox
As strong as a feather
I am
As poor as a king
As rich as a pauper
I am
And if you dare to ask me where I've been
I may just laugh and say I've been in the juicer
And in this bottle, this tiny little bottle
Are the last few drops so please, please don't drop them
Afloat in the deep
Drowned in the shallows
I am
And in this bottle are the last few precious drops
Please be careful, please be careful, please...
They're made of me
I am
Made of me
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INVOCATION
Wind of the air, my love's on the sea,
Ho ro y re y ro, Ho ro y re y ro
Make the weather calm and fine
Ho ro y re y ro, Ho ro y re y ro
Shonest, Leodest and the Raa
Give good luck and fortune to him
Health and peace and length of life
Ho ro y re y ro, Ho ro y re y ro
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STRÖMMING BOATS
The boats are homeward coming across the brimming fjord
The nets are full of strömming and all are well aboard
But homeward never more comes my sailor
The fisher huts are laden, they're baking brittle bread
What care they that a maiden is weeping for her dead
That bells will never ring for her wedding
Cold the storm was blowing, no winding sheet had he
No parting kiss bestowing, they buried him at sea
With all my heart beside in the blue tide
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CLOSE MY EYES
I don't have a leg to stand on
I don't have a hope in hell
But if you're at the end there waiting
I only hope you'll say I lived and did it well
But if I have to close my eyes to see
My ears to hear
If I have to close my mind to understand
I will not come back here again
Ten thousand thousand years
But only three score ten are mine
And every night I think of it
I know that I am running out of time
But if I have to close my eyes to see
My ears to hear
If I have to close my mind to understand
How can I come back here?
What will you do if I want you back?
I have to keep my head together
I do not have a leg to stand on now
What will you do if I want you back?
I have to keep my world together
I do not have a hope in hell
What are you going to do?
What are you going to do?
I read and read but still
Nothing seems to ring true
And every path I follow
Only ever leads me back to you
But you make me close my eyes to see
My ears to hear
And you make me close my mind to understand
I never want to come back here again
Not for the years and the learning
What will you do when I call you back?
I have to keep my head together
I do not have a leg to stand on now
What will you do when I want you back?
I have to keep my world together
I do not have a hope in hell
What are you going to do?
What are you going to do
When I call for you?
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There lived a Lord in the North Country
With a down down derry down
And he had daughters one, two, three,
With a down down derry derry down
A young man came a-courting there
And he won the heart of the youngest fair
He gave the youngest a golden ring
But he didn't give the eldest anything
O sister come let us walk out
And see the ships that sail about
As they walked down by the salty brim
The eldest pushed the youngest in
O sister lend to me your hand
And I will give you house and land
I'll neither lend you hand nor glove
But I will have your own true love
There she floated like a swan
And the salt sea bore her body on
A harper walked along the strand
And he saw her body float to land
He made a harp of her breast bone
And its song would melt a heart of stone
Then he came to her father's hall
To play the harp before them all
But as he laid it on a stone
The harp began to play alone
The first string sang a doleful sound
Of how the bride her sister drowned
The second string, when he tried
In terror sits the guilty bride
The third string sang beneath his bow
And surely now her tears will flow
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BEYOND THE SILENCE
I found a place beyond the silence
I found a place where I can go
I make a home beneath the music
I found a place where I can go
Stay with me
Stay with me
Stay with me forever
The storm is passed, the sky is clearing now
I found a place where I can go
The day is on, the light is growing now
I found a place where I can go
Stay with me
Close to me
Stay with me forever
I found a way, a way to reach you
I found a place where we can go
Come with me
Stay with me
Close to me forever
I found a place beyond the silence
I found a place where I can go
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BREEZES OF CHANGE
Where are you blowing to, Breezes of Change
Where are you blowing today?
Could you carry me over the hills
Put me on a pilgrim's way?
I've heard you rattling my window
I've heard you calling in the moving trees
Are you ready to blow with me?
And something inside whispers change is stability
Somebody told me that years ago
Nothing is certain, nothing is sure
I'm scared but I'm ready to go
Where are you drifting to, Tide on the Turn
Where are you drifting with me?
Will I be stranded at the End of the Earth
Or carried on out to the sea?
I feel your waters rising swiftly
I feel the pulling of the undertow
Are you ready to drift with me?
And something inside...
How you are sculpting me, Fingers of Time
Carving me out of the clay
Every feature and every line
Study of wisdom in grey
I see you beckoning with open arms
I feel your hand upon me every moment
Are you ready to walk with me?
And something inside whispers change is stability
Who was it told me that years ago?
Nothing's forever and days cannot wait
I'm scared but I'm ready to go
How you are burning me, Fire of Love
Branding me deep in my soul
Melting me, pouring me into your mould
Forging me over the coal
I hear your bellows as they rise and fall
You set me ringing as your hammer strikes me
Are you ready to give now?
And something inside whispers change is stability
Somebody told me that years ago
Nothing is perfect, nothing is mine
I'm scared but I'm ready to go
Where are you blowing to, Breezes of Change
Where are you blowing today?
Will you carry me over the hills
Put me on a pilgrim's way?
I hear you rattling my window
I hear you calling in the moving trees
Are you ready to blow with me?
And something inside whispers change is stability
Somebody told me that years ago
Nothing is certain, nothing is sure
But I'm here and I'm ready to go
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IF WISHES WERE HORSES
How many times have I wished on a star
Wished that the world could be fairer
It's so overcrowded there's nowhere to go
And there's others with acres to spare
And what I could do with an acre of land
Somewhere to be is all I ask for
How many times have I wished for an acre
If wishes were horses...
How many times have I wished on a star
Wished that my living was easy
Money enough would be money enough
And I wouldn't be selfish or greedy
And what I could start with a fortune of plenty
Something to do is all I ask for
But how many times have I wished for a fortune
If wishes were horses... beggars would ride
And how many times have I wished on a star
Wished that our love could be simple
I'd be who I am, you could be who you are
I would be who I am, you could be who you are
And what we could do with our hearts undivided
Someone to be with is all I ask for
How many times have I asked for such love
O if wishes were horses...
We would ride, we would ride
O we would ride, we would ride
I'd saddle Epona, you could take Pegasus
O if wishes were horses... beggars would ride
And what I could do with an acre of land
What I could do with a fortune
And what we could be if you'd give me your hand
If wishes were horses... beggars would ride
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LULLABY
Twilight comes, cold and grey
Weary embers of the dying day
Silence falls, fire cease
Leave our people now to sleep in peace
I will watch, through the night
Keep you safe, hold you tight
I will watch, while you
Go to sleep, rest your head
Close your eyes and lie down on your bed
Dreams may come where shadows play
Think of him before he went away
Men of might, brave and true
Pray they sleep soft as you
Even to men who fight
Must slumber come at dead of night
So close your eyes, rest your head
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SWEET ENGLAND
As I was a walking one morning in spring
To hear the larks whistle, the colley birds sing
I heard a fair maiden a-making her moan
Alas I'm a stranger away from my home
Where is your country I gladly would know
And what mean these tears that so freely do flow
What makes you to wander so far from your home
And causes lament in a strange land alone?
I came from sweet England with mother and dad
They thought in America all might be had
Of gold and of silver and riches galore
And we'd never need humger in poverty more
But alas for sweet England my father is dead
My mother could earn but a dollar for bread
And alack the white wings of the ships as they fly
Out across the blue sea and leave me here to die
Now mother is dead, I am left all alone
If I were in England no more would I roam
I've an aunt who is grey and she loves me amain
So will not some ship take me homeward again?
She lives in a cottage, a rose by her door
Her pans and her dishes I'd scrub, or the floor
I'd kiss her white cheeks and I'd nurse her in pain
And thank God I was back in sweet England again
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MIDNIGHT
She turned up again in the back of my car
And showed me a place I will live
She said Dad is a hero and you are his wife
And we all live together a wonderful life
Do you come from the depths of a turbulent mind?
Are you part of a future I'm trying to find?
Will they come for me soon if I start going round
Telling people the things that I see?
Her face in the mirror was shady and strange
As we drove through the Marlborough Downs
And she told me the secret of travel through time
That she learnt from this fabulous husband of mine
Do you come from the depths of a turbulent mind?
Did he send you to show me in case I was blind?
Will they come for me soon if I start going round
Telling people the things that I see?
We argued for maybe an hour or so
I confess I was losing my grip
And at Hungerford Hill we were arguing still
When I managed to give her the slip
Did she come from the depths of a turbulent mind?
Was she part of a future I'm trying to find?
Will they come for me soon if I start going round
Telling people the things that I see?
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SPINNING SONG
Hulla macka doo hoo rova hee
Hoo rova hinda hee rova hinda
Hulla macka doo hoo rova hee
O deck o deck o dandy
When will someone come to me?
Will he come by land or sea?
Will he my own lover be?
O tell me truly wheel-o
Wheel of fortune what dost say?
This year next or ne'er a day?
When will someone come my way?
O tell me truly wheel-o
Be he dark or be he fair
Shy or bold or debonair
Ribbons bra' will deck my hair
To meet and greet my true love
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RIVER SONG
A young man came to the mouth of the river
Under the bridge a girl was singing
The song she sang had no end or beginning
So the man sat down to listen
The song she sang was the seasons turning
The song she sang was the river flowing
She sang a song of a young man listening
She sang a song of a lovers' meeting
The tune played on to a woman waiting
The tune played on to a baby crying
And it whistled in the wind like a woman dying
And it sprang fronm the ground like a young girl growing
And the young girl came to the mouth of the river
Where every sound was the voice of her mother
She sang a song with a haunting meter
She sang a song that the wind had taught her
And a young man came to the mouth of the river
Under the bridge a girl was singing
And the song she sang had no end or beginning
So the man sat down to listen
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VALLEY SONG
Come to the valley, the beautiful valley
Where body and spirit are honoured as one
Come to the valley, the beautiful valley
Come to the valley and sing
Walk in the forest, the murmuring forest
That covers the mountain, the immoveable mountain
Run through the meadow, down in the valley
Where body and spirit are honoured as one
Walk in the forest, wash in the river
Laugh in the meadow or weep in the cave
Breathe in the spirit
Come to the valley and sing
Climb up the mountain, the immoveable mountain
The mountain that watches the valley below
Look down on the valley, this beautiful valley
Where body and spirit are honoured as one
Enter the cavern, the dark of the cave
Deep in the mountain where waterfalls sing to you
Sing to the valley, this beautiful valley
Where body and spirit are honoured as one
Walk in the forest...
Drink from the river, the glistening river
That flows from the mountain, the immoveable mountain
Bathe in the waters, these emerald waters
High in the moutain if high you will go
Walk in the forest...
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BROKEN STRING
My father used to sing that the string has broken
The string he used to hear when Rainmaker called forth the rainbull
And that is why things are so different now
For things continue to be unpleasant to me
I cannot hear the ringing sound in the sky I used to hear
I fear the string has really broken leaving me
So when I sleep I cannot feel the string which used to vibrate in me as I lay asleep
I fear the string has really broken leaving me
I cannot hear the ringing sound in the sky I used to hear
I fear the string has really broken leaving me
My father used to sing but the string has broken
I cannot hear the ringing sound in the sky
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Kate plays everything except for mouthbow, which despite its simplicity she has failed to master...
VOCALS: Kate Fletcher
GUITAR: Kate plays a Stanford guitar
SIX STRING KANTELE & FIVE STRING HORSEHAIR KANTELE made by Corwen MORE INFO HERE
OBOE by Orsi
NATIVE AMERICAN STYLE FLUTE by Nick Cox
MOUTH-BOW made and played by Corwen