Jim Moray
Encyclopedia
Jim Moray is an English
folk
singer, multi-instrumentalist
and record producer
.
and the Cambridge Folk Festival
gaining notice in the music press. A nomination for the "Horizon Award" at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
2003 followed before he began work on his first full length album, Sweet England. The album was recorded in his bedroom while completing his final year of study. During this time Moray toured with Oysterband
.
Sweet England was released in June 2003 on his own Niblick Is A Giraffe record label
. Over the next year Moray toured internationally visiting Canada
, Australia
, Belgium
, France
, Italy
, Spain
and Portugal
. He also completed two headline tours of the UK and supported Richard Thompson and Will Young
.
At the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
in 2004 he was presented with the Album of the Year Award for Sweet England and the Horizon Award for best newcomer. He was also nominated twice in the Best Traditional Song category for Early One Morning
and Lord Bateman.
Moray recorded and released the single Sprig of Thyme in May 2004, and in the autumn appeared on the Oysterband's Big Session Volume 1 album. This gained yet more Folk Award nominations in 2005, including one for Cuckoo's Nest, which was sung, produced and mixed by Moray.
After a long gestation period, Moray's eponymous second album was released on 1 May 2006. Moving away from the electronic sound of Sweet England it features a more orchestral sound and denser song structures.
On 6 July 2007, The Independent featured Sweet England in its "Cult Classic" series, affirming its impact and influence on the modern folk scene.
Jim Moray's third album, Low Culture, was released on 14 July 2008. On this album Jim makes use of African kora
, the melodeon and mandolin
and mbira
thumb-piano. Low Culture won the fRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year 2008 and was also the MOJO
Folk Album of the Year 2008. It was also nominated for the Album of the Year Award in the BBC Folk Awards 2009.
On 1 Feb 2010 it was announced that Jim Moray's fourth album In Modern History would be given away as a covermount
CD with the June edition of Songlines magazine
, with a street date of 30 April 2010. It was also announced that the album would be available in a deluxe box set and standard editions on 7 June 2010.
feature in 2006.
Moray produced and mixed the track "The Cuckoo's Nest" for the Oysterband Big Session in 2004. This was a live album, recorded over two nights, featuring a similar line-up to the tour he took part in in 2003. The track was nominated in the BBC Folk Awards that year.
During 2005 Moray produced
and performed on James Raynard's debut album Strange Histories, released in September 2005 on One Little Indian records.
In 2008 he wrote and produced the song The Wishfulness Waltz for his sister Jackie Oates
' second album The Violet Hour, as well as playing all the instruments on the track. He subsequently produced and mixed her third album Hyperboreans which was released in September 2009 and nominated for three BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (including best album), and MOJO magazine's top folk albums of 2009.
Moray produced and mixed the debut album Roodumdah"by Kent-based folk-rock band Wheeler Street in autumn 2008. In 2010 he commenced work on the forthcoming album by Belshazzar's Feast.
During 2001-2003 Moray played as a solo performer, becoming well known for using a laptop and loop pedals live. After the release of Sweet England in 2003, he began playing with a variety of accompanying musicians, notably drummer Laurence Hunt
. This flexible line-up toured extensively as an electric band, with Moray playing electric guitar and supplemented by samples and sequences from laptops onstage.
Following the Jim Moray album, during 2007-2008 Moray's line-up solidified around a core of melodeon player Nick Cooke and violinist James Delarre, frequently performing as an acoustic trio before eventually adding drummer William Bowerman in 2008. Bowerman left the band in summer 2009 to join electro-pop act La Roux
and was replaced by Dave Burbidge. After puncturing both lungs, Cooke was replaced by Saul Rose
for some festival appearances in summer 2009, with Rose becoming his permanent replacement in September.
Moray also performed as Orpheus in Anais Mitchell
's folk opera, Hadestown
in January 2011 at the Union Chapel
in London.
as producer or guest musician:-
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
folk
Folk music of England
Folk music of England refers to various types of traditionally based music, often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings...
singer, multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Recording artist
While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Moray released the home-recorded I Am Jim Moray EP. During 2002 he appeared at the Glastonbury festivalGlastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and the Cambridge Folk Festival
Cambridge Folk Festival
The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is renowned for its eclectic mix of music and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It occurs...
gaining notice in the music press. A nomination for the "Horizon Award" at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
2003 followed before he began work on his first full length album, Sweet England. The album was recorded in his bedroom while completing his final year of study. During this time Moray toured with Oysterband
Oysterband
Oysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.-Early history:...
.
Sweet England was released in June 2003 on his own Niblick Is A Giraffe record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. Over the next year Moray toured internationally visiting Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He also completed two headline tours of the UK and supported Richard Thompson and Will Young
Will Young
William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
.
At the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
in 2004 he was presented with the Album of the Year Award for Sweet England and the Horizon Award for best newcomer. He was also nominated twice in the Best Traditional Song category for Early One Morning
Early One Morning
"Early One Morning" is an English folk song. The lyrics are first found in publications as far back as 1787. A broadside in the Bodleian Library, Oxford dates from about 1803...
and Lord Bateman.
Moray recorded and released the single Sprig of Thyme in May 2004, and in the autumn appeared on the Oysterband's Big Session Volume 1 album. This gained yet more Folk Award nominations in 2005, including one for Cuckoo's Nest, which was sung, produced and mixed by Moray.
After a long gestation period, Moray's eponymous second album was released on 1 May 2006. Moving away from the electronic sound of Sweet England it features a more orchestral sound and denser song structures.
On 6 July 2007, The Independent featured Sweet England in its "Cult Classic" series, affirming its impact and influence on the modern folk scene.
Jim Moray's third album, Low Culture, was released on 14 July 2008. On this album Jim makes use of African kora
Kora
Kora may refer to:* Kora , a stringed musical instrument of West African origin* Kora , a New Zealand reggae band** Kora , Kora album released in 2007* Kora , a type of pilgrimage in the Buddhist tradition...
, the melodeon and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
thumb-piano. Low Culture won the fRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year 2008 and was also the MOJO
Mojo
Mojo is a term commonly encountered in the African-American folk belief called hoodoo. A mojo is an amulet consisting of a flannel bag containing one or more magical items. It is related to the West African word "mojuba," meaning a prayer of praise and homage. It is a "prayer in a bag," or a spell...
Folk Album of the Year 2008. It was also nominated for the Album of the Year Award in the BBC Folk Awards 2009.
On 1 Feb 2010 it was announced that Jim Moray's fourth album In Modern History would be given away as a covermount
Covermount
Covermount is the name given to storage media or other products packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper...
CD with the June edition of Songlines magazine
Songlines (magazine)
Songlines is the name of a British based magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe....
, with a street date of 30 April 2010. It was also announced that the album would be available in a deluxe box set and standard editions on 7 June 2010.
Producer
Moray has often stated that he considers his main role to be that of a producer. Aside from all of his own albums he has gradually begun to produce other artists, mainly from his own studio in Bristol profiled in a Sound On SoundSound on Sound
Sound on Sound is an independently-owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, UK. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals...
feature in 2006.
Moray produced and mixed the track "The Cuckoo's Nest" for the Oysterband Big Session in 2004. This was a live album, recorded over two nights, featuring a similar line-up to the tour he took part in in 2003. The track was nominated in the BBC Folk Awards that year.
During 2005 Moray produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and performed on James Raynard's debut album Strange Histories, released in September 2005 on One Little Indian records.
In 2008 he wrote and produced the song The Wishfulness Waltz for his sister Jackie Oates
Jackie Oates
Jackie Oates is an English folk singer and fiddle player. In addition to her solo work, she currently performs as part of the folk trio Wistman's Wood and sings with Morris Offspring.She was born in Congleton in Cheshire in 1983, but grew up in Staffordshire...
' second album The Violet Hour, as well as playing all the instruments on the track. He subsequently produced and mixed her third album Hyperboreans which was released in September 2009 and nominated for three BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (including best album), and MOJO magazine's top folk albums of 2009.
Moray produced and mixed the debut album Roodumdah"by Kent-based folk-rock band Wheeler Street in autumn 2008. In 2010 he commenced work on the forthcoming album by Belshazzar's Feast.
Live performer
Moray's live shows have frequently featured video projections and lighting effects, something relatively uncommon in British folk music.During 2001-2003 Moray played as a solo performer, becoming well known for using a laptop and loop pedals live. After the release of Sweet England in 2003, he began playing with a variety of accompanying musicians, notably drummer Laurence Hunt
Pram (band)
Pram are an experimental band who formed in the Balsall Heath/Moseley area of Birmingham, England in 1990.-History:Originally from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Rosie Cuckston and Matt Eaton went to school together. They moved to Birmingham in the late 80s, schoolfriend Andy Weir keeping in touch...
. This flexible line-up toured extensively as an electric band, with Moray playing electric guitar and supplemented by samples and sequences from laptops onstage.
Following the Jim Moray album, during 2007-2008 Moray's line-up solidified around a core of melodeon player Nick Cooke and violinist James Delarre, frequently performing as an acoustic trio before eventually adding drummer William Bowerman in 2008. Bowerman left the band in summer 2009 to join electro-pop act La Roux
La Roux
La Roux are an English electropop duo made up of singer, keyboardist, co-writer and co-producer Eleanor Kate Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their relationship as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also...
and was replaced by Dave Burbidge. After puncturing both lungs, Cooke was replaced by Saul Rose
Saul Rose
Saul Rose is an English folk melodeon player and singer.- Biography :Born in Harrow, he first picked up the melodeon after breaking his leg at the age of eleven and was taught his first tunes by his father....
for some festival appearances in summer 2009, with Rose becoming his permanent replacement in September.
Moray also performed as Orpheus in Anais Mitchell
Anais Mitchell
Anaïs Mitchell is an American singer-songwriter.-Early life:Anaïs Mitchell grew up on a farm in Addison County, Vermont and attended Middlebury College. Her father is a novelist and a retired college professor....
's folk opera, Hadestown
Hadestown
Hadestown is the fourth album by Vermont-based Anaïs Mitchell, and was released by Righteous Babe Records in the U.S. on March 9, 2010. The album, a concept album, follows a variation on the Ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus must embark on a quest to rescue his wife Eurydice...
in January 2011 at the Union Chapel
Union Chapel
-United States:National Register of Historical Places*Pine Orchard Union Chapel, Branford, CT, listed on the NRHP in Connecticut*East Raymond Union Chapel, East Raymond, ME, listed on the NRHP in Maine...
in London.
Discography
- I Am Jim Moray EP (2001)
- Sweet England (2003)
- Sprig Of Thyme (single) (2004)
- Jim Moray (2006)
- Low Culture (2008)
- In Modern History (2010)
as producer or guest musician:-
- Glance - Rose KempRose KempRose Kemp is an English singer and guitarist who performs in a variety of genres. She is the daughter of Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp of the folk-rock band Steeleye Span.- Singing career :...
(piano and programming) (2003) - Rose KempRose KempRose Kemp is an English singer and guitarist who performs in a variety of genres. She is the daughter of Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp of the folk-rock band Steeleye Span.- Singing career :...
later provided additional vocals for the album Jim Moray - Big Session Vol. 1 - Oysterband (vocal/guitar/piano and production/mixing) (2004)
- Strange Histories - James Raynard (production/mixing and vocal/bouzouki/concertina/piano) (2005)
- The Violet Hour - Jackie Oates (production/song-writing and guitar/tenor guitar/double bass/drums/piano on the track "The Wishfulness Waltz") (2008)
- Roodumdah - Wheeler Street (production/melodeon/keyboards) (2009)
- Hyperboreans - Jackie Oates (production/bass/guitars/keyboards) (2009)