Stick in the Wheel


Stick in the Wheel are an English band with its origins in East London. It is led by vocalist and artist Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter, their producer, arranger and Dobro player. They bring a contemporary approach to folk music with raw minimalism, setting vocals to simple accompaniments and handclaps. They sing both their own compositions and traditional songs, which hold a strong relationship to each other through their subject matter. They were praised by Eliza Carthy for bringing important new songs to the repertoire.

History

Stick in the Wheel was formed by Ian Carter, Nicola Kearey and Rachel Thomas Davies, who had previously worked together on other projects including the dubstep group Various.

EP1

This was recorded partly in their kitchens; Nicola Kearey plays autoharp. In 2013, Rachel Thomas Davies moved to Wales, at which point Nicola Kearey took on all the main vocals and was joined by Fran Morter.

Cuts

Their second EP, Cuts, contained four traditional tunes, originally recorded for Radio 2, FATEA and other folk radio shows/compilations. 'Barbara Allen' was recorded for the Radio 2 Folk Show’s Cecil Sharp Collection, 'The Cruel Ship’s Captain' was recorded for the Folk and Friends show on Radio Warwickshire, 'Champions at Keeping them Rolling' was recorded for the Winter 2013 FATEA Brushstrokes Sessions and 'Marrabones' was recorded for the Loughton Folk Club 2013 charity CD.

Bones

The third EP, Bones, was released a few weeks later and featured Ian Carter, Nicola Kearey and Fran Morter with Joolie Wood on violin and additional vocals from Rachel Davies. Bones was recorded in a kitchen and above a North London tube station. Described by fROOTS as startling for the way familiar folk songs "are served back to us as urban field hollers". The CD won fROOTS Editor’s Choice Of 2014 for Album of the year and was described as "2014’s breath of fresh air".
Towards the end of the year the band recorded live sessions for Xfm and BBC6 Music, and at the beginning of 2015 they were nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in two categories: the Horizon Award for Best Emerging Act, and for Best Traditional Song.

From Here

Their debut album, From Here, was released in September 2015 on their own record label, From Here Records. It features Ewan MacColl’s song 'Champion at Keeping Them Rolling', the traditional song The Blacksmith, and Copper Family’s Hard Times of Old England alongside new song Me N Becky, a story of the 2011 London riots, looting, remorse and jail. The Guardian Newspaper described it as 'A powerful and original debut'.. Bright Young Folk concluded its review with the following "From Here collects songs of and for the downtrodden, with honest, caustic yet poetic lyrics of everyday life that take no prisoners, combined with often sparse but mesmerising music. By positioning traditional selections alongside new material, Stick in the Wheel show that for most people, little has changed over the last few hundred years". The album won the 2015 fRoots Critics Poll For Albums Of The Year for new albums. In 2016 they were nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in two categories: the Horizon Award for Best Group, and for Best Traditional Track.

Stick In The Wheel Presents From Here: English Folk Field Recordings

As a way of giving something back to the scene that had, if not completely accepted them, at least accommodated them, the group set out to make a collection of live recordings of other musicians immersed in traditional music; what they call a snapshot of English folk music right now. They wanted to capture performances that were immediate and intimate. They recorded across the country in private and personal spaces, in down-time, and between gigs. Often recorded in less than an hour in locations as diverse as a stone cottage in Edale, a London bank vault, a Bristol back room, to a Robin Hood's Bay garden at dusk and a Bedford kitchen. The theme of the project was From Here and each artist's contribution was their response to that theme. They were recorded live, with two stereo mics and no overdubs. Artists involved included Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, John Kirkpatrick, Jon Boden and Spiro. Caught By The River said: "The idea behind this bountiful record... is so ingenuously ambitious and artfully executed, it feels both like the beginning of a major project of contemporary musicology and plays like a dream open-mic session at the perfect folk club". The project was supported by funding from Arts Council England.

Follow Them True

Stick in the Wheel's 2017 album was a return to a group format with a thematic album, described by the Guardian as "precision folk with anger, lust and blood ". Nicola Kearey said in an interview that they had the picture for the cover early on, and she wanted to write songs based on the picture. The album is about rituals and cycles, how people are condemned to make the same mistakes of the past. It was recorded over a number of weekends in a warehouse in Basildon, where Simon Foote works. They recorded in the open plan office and used various rooms as booths and the stairwell for percussion. The exception was As I Roved Out which was recorded later; Nicola Kearey sang the vocal into her phone and Ian Carter built the track around it.

This and the Memory of This Mixtape

A collection of studio sketches and collaborations Ian Carter and Nicola Kearey recorded mid-2018, this limited cassette and CD was released in Autumn 2018. It features Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Lisa Knapp, Jack Sharp and Laura Smyth and Ted Kemp. The cover art was by David Bray, previous Various collaborator.

From Here: English Folk Field Recordings, Volume 2

The second set of field recordings was recorded towards the end of 2018. Including recordings of Nancy Kerr, Rachel Unthank, Grace Petrie, June Tabor, Will Pound, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, Kathryn Tickell and Belinda Kempster on the main release and Bryony Griffith, Sandra Kerr, Frankie Armstrong on a bonus CD and download. Again recorded with simple equipment it was headlined by the Guardian newspaper as "unvarnished voices fire the form".

Against The Loathsome Beyond Mixtape

A second mixtape of experiments and collaborations recorded mid 2019, on cassette and CD. It features Cinder Well, Jack Sharp and C Joynes.

Discography

Singles & EPs