Saturday, 04 February 2012 
Telling The Bees
- Profile
- Albums
- Links
Their 'darkly crafted folkedelia' is a worthy extension of the English pastoral tradition, their songs are inspired by nature, folklore, the politics and protest of the ecological movement and possibly most significantly the 'otherworldliness' of the English countryside. Theirs is the in-between place, the hidden countryside that lurks in the wildwoods mossy sanctums, ruled by the rhythms of the seasonal cycle and it's ancient green heart.
Andy Letcher is renowned as an expert on the English bagpipes, in the past he has played in various medieval folkedelic bands, including: Jabberwocky, Space Goats, Celtarabia, Paescod and The Steve Tyler band. He is also the author of Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. Andy also has a real grounding in the anti-roads protests of the nineties, he was there with Swampy at the Newbury by-pass protest camps.
Their first album Untie The Wind, was released in 2008:
'Telling The Bees have created a heady soundscape of pagan earthiness 'On the footpaths and byways of England you are never alone' (Quietly Raging). Yet it is not an off-with-the-fairies noodling desire for a better place, it has a darker, angry heart, in the past Letcher has put action to words in anti-road protests 'on the motorways and carriageways of England you are always alone'. These are songs that delve very deep, they repay repeated listening.
There are many points of reference within this album, their MySpace list of influences includes Vashti Bunyan, Espers and the wonderful Ozric Tentacles, if there is one influence that stands out for me it's Comus, their shade haunts the deepwood of Untie The Wind; the drone of a deeply bowed cello set against an insistent fiddle conjures an edgy sense of unease that sets the spine a tingling.'
Spiral Earth review
Their next album An English Arcanum is released in November 2009
Drawing once again on landscape, folklore and myth, and the themes of love and loss, An English Arcanum consists of eleven original tracks that are firmly within the English pastoral tradition. Weaving traditional, classical, prog and even funk influences about Andy Letcher’s haunting troubadour songs, Telling the Bees combine fiddle, mandolin, cello, bass and English bagpipes to beautiful effect. Review coming soon
The debut album from Telling The Bees who formed in 2007 around the songwriting of Andy Letcher, his songs of 'darkly crafted folkadelia' are brought to life by the assembled talents of Josie Webber, Jane Griffith's and Colin Fletcher. Andy Letcher is the pre-eminent authority on English bagpiping and the magic mushroom, what a combination...Read the full review...
Official site: www.tellingthebees.co.uk
www.myspace.com/tellingthebees
www.andyletcher.co.uk - Blog
Rima Staines, illustrator of Telling the Bees album covers www.intothehermitage.blogspot.com
