''Forgotten Kingdom'' is folk singer-songwriter

Jim Causley Jim Causley (born 1980) is a British folk singer, songwriter, and musician from Devon who specializes in the traditional songs and music of the West Country. Journalist Colin Irwin has called him "the finest singer of his generation". Biograph ...

's fifth studio album excluding his work with The Devil's Interval and Mawkin:Causley. ''Forgotten Kingdom'' is Causley's first album of entirely self-written material although does include references to traditional song throughout. It was intended to celebrate ten years since the release of Causley's debut album ''Fruits of the Earth'' in 2005 but the release was delayed due to poor health on the part of original producer

Phil Beer Phil Beer (born 12 May 1953) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and one half of English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. Biography Beer first began to play fiddle, guitar, and mandolin whilst still at school in Teignmout ...

. Production of the album was then completed by

Show of Hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/ folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mando ...

regular producer Mark Tucker at The Green Room studios in East Devon. ''Forgotten Kingdom'' is Causley's most ambitious solo recording project to date and has the largest line-up of guest musicians of any of his albums. This guests include many well known names from the British folk scene who happen to be based in Devon such as

Seth Lakeman Seth Bernard Lakeman (born 26 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but also plays the viola and banjo. Nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize ...

and

as well as some local stalwarts of the more traditional folk music scene in the county. The theme of the album centres on the history of Devon and its neighbouring counties but also looks at Causley's own personal connection to the county and his experience of growing-up within it. The "forgotten kingdom" alluded to in the title is the Celtic Brythonic kingdom of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

which Causley previously referenced in his 2011 album; ''Dumnonia'' which was a collection of traditional songs from Devon. Not all of the songs on ''Forgotten Kingdom'' have a traditional folk feel to them and several hint at Causley's songwriting having more modern and expansive influences. The album received highly positive reviews from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

'' and ''

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occas ...

'' among others, as well as airplay on radio shows such the Mark Radcliffe ''Folk Show'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

and the

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

show on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

. Writing in ''fRoots'', Colin Irwin confirmed his previously stated opinion that Causley is "the finest singer of his generation".

Track listing

All songs by Jim Causley. # "Gabbro Bowl / The Peninsula Prayer" – 4:53 # "Back in the Day" – 4:20 # "Banks of the Tale" – 4.04 # "The Road to Combebow" – 3:24 # "Rewind" – 4:23 # "Home" – 4:07 # "This Weekend" – 4:31 # "Pride of the Moor" – 3:48 # "Summer's End" – 5:28 # "The Man You Know" – 2:53 # "Reigning Men" – 5:18 # "Goodnight Ballad" – 6:33 # "Illogan Highway" – 7:01 # "The Pastoria" – 5:49 # "Sea Sick" – 2:48

Personnel

* Jim Causley – accordion, piano, vocals * James Dumbelton – acoustic guitar, vocals * Becki Driscoll – fiddle, viola, vocals * Nick Wyke – fiddle, octave-violin, vocals *

– fiddle, guitar, laud, vocals *

Steve Knightley Steve Knightley (born 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and acoustic musician. Since 1992 he has been one half of folk/roots duo Show of Hands along with Phil Beer. Knightley was named "Songwriter of the Nineties" by BBC Radio 6 Music in ...

– mandola, vocals * Phillip Henry – dobro, chaturangi *

Hannah Martin Hannah Martin is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Rebecca Ritters. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 1992. Hannah is the only child of Philip and Julie Martin and the younger sister ...

– fiddle *

Miranda Sykes Miranda Sykes (born 1978 in Spalding, Lincolnshire) is an English folk singer, double-bassist and guitarist who performs with Steve Knightley and Phil Beer in the acoustic Traditional music, roots/Folk music, folk group Show of Hands. As of 20 ...

– double bass * Rex Preston – mandolin *

Kathryn Roberts Kathryn Roberts is an English folk singer, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Early career Roberts' first released recordings were on the album ''Intuition'', a collection of songs by various South Yorkshire folk artists which also included h ...

– piano, organ, vocals *

– bouzouki * Katy Marchant – shawm, flageolet, English bagpipes * Steve Tyler – hurdy-gurdy * Matt Norman – mandolin, fiddle, banjo, bass banjo * Mark Bazeley – melodeon * Reese Wesson – cajun melodeon * Lukas Drinkwater, guitar, double bass, vocals *

Jackie Oates Jackie Oates is an English folk singer and fiddle player. Life Jackie Oates was born in Congleton in Cheshire in 1983. At the age of 18, she moved to Devon to study English literature at Exeter University and was based in Devon until 2011, ...

– fiddle * Chris Hoban – vocals Ninebarrow * Jon Whitley – vocals * Jay LaBouchardiere – vocals The Claque * David Lowry – vocals * Bill Crawford – vocals * Tom Addison – vocals * Barry Lister – vocals

Production

* Executive Producer – Jim Causley * Producer – Mark Tucker * Recording Engineers – Mark Tucker, Phil Beer and

Sean Lakeman Sean Lakeman (born 29 January 1974) is an English folk musician and record producer. Early life Sean was born and brought up as the first of three boys in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon with his brothers, fellow folk musicians S ...

* Audio Mixing – Mark Tucker * Audio Mastering – Mark Tucker * Recording locations – Lions Rest Industrial Estate, Exminster, Devon; The Green Room Studios, Upottery, Devon and Crediton Congregational Church (The Pastoria) * Photography – David Angel * Packaging & Inlay design – Brad Waters * Costume – Hilary Gillespie * Photography locations – Dumnonii Chronicles Village and Exeter Cathedral

References

{{Authority control Jim Causley albums 2016 albums