There’s something a little bit special happening at The Sage in Gateshead on Saturday 9th September. A one-time-only Rachel Unthank and the Winterset will perform the Mercury-nominated album ‘The Bairns’ in Sage One during the afternoon, while The Unthanks will perform classic albums ‘Here’s the Tender Coming’ and ‘Last’ for an evening show.
The Unthanks kick off the event with a sing-along in the concourse where everyone is welcome to attend/join in. There will also be a Q&A and performances during the day from supporters Lucy Farrell and Devon Sprouce.
The event marks the reissue of all three albums, originally licensed to EMI on a ten-year deal. Now this has elapsed, the band have the opportunity to release all three on vinyl for the first time, as well as a 24-page CD book with exclusive content and forwards from Charles Hazlewood, Martin Freeman and Nick Hornby.
One of the premier English folk groups of the early 21st century, The Unthanks mix elements of traditional Northumbrian folk music with jazz, pop and classical. Any attempts to put a label on this band are futile. They have won Mojo magazine ‘Folk Album of the Year’ twice and were the only British folk representation in The Guardian’s and Uncut’s ‘Best Album of the Decade’.
The Unthanks are much more than a band. Constantly exploring ideas through music and storytelling, they have been self-managed since they started in 2004. And for ten years, they have run annual residential singing weekends on the Northumberland coast.
During lockdown, they staged an online 23-hour weekend community participation event and collaborated with actress Maxine Peake to make site-specific theatre. They also run their own festival, their own record label and created music for the soundtrack of Mackenzie Crook’s adaption of Wurzel Gummidge.
The core band, siblings Rachel and Becky Unthank, pianist Adrian McNally, singer/fiddle player Niopha Keegan and multi-instrumentalist/singer Chris Price are the creative identity. On stage, however, they are more frequently a 10/11-piece.
This unique collective has an army of famous admirers too including Elvis Costello, Robert Wyatt and Dawn French.
Tickets are available for full-day access or separate performances. Both tickets and information are available at sagegateshead.com.
