Bird in the Belly
Bird in the Belly are a Brighton-based folk music collective, consisting of alt-folk musician Jinnwoo, folk duo Hickory Signals, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Tom Pryor.
History
In August 2016, Jinnwoo announced he was working with a new folk collective called Bird in the Belly. Bird in the Belly stated their objective as a band was to uncover forgotten or overlooked British songs, stories, and poems, and reintroduce them into the current folk music canon.The band released their debut single "Horace in Brighton" in November 2017. The lyrics are based on a poem by Horace Smith, detailing his day trip to Brighton in 1813.
The band's debut album The Crowing was released in March 2018. The album consisted of songs the band had found in archives and libraries, set to contemporary folk music by the band. The Daily Express selected it as "Album of the Week" and described it as "Folk album of the year so far".
Their second album, Neighbours and Sisters, was released in October 2019, preceded by the singles "Robin & Starling" and "New Gate Stone". In addition to songs made from archived lyrics, the album features a song written by Ward detailing myths around beekeeping, and a song written by Jinnwoo which tell the story of James Pratt and John Smith, the last men in England to be executed for sodomy.
In March 2020, "Horace in Brighton" featured as one of Chris Riddell's song choices on BBC Radio 4"s Desert Island Discs.
Film
In 2018 the band was working on a documentary film about the album-making process, and looks at the current British folk music scene as a whole. Involved in the project are June Tabor, Frankie Armstrong, Stick in the Wheel, The Rails, Naomi Bedford, Lisa Knapp, Gerry Diver, Fellside Records, Ian A. Anderson and Rob Young.Discography
Albums
| Title | Album details |
| The Crowing |
|
| Neighbours and Sisters |