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And Even The Sheep Shall Dance

by The Ciderhouse Rebellion

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  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of And Even The Sheep Shall Dance. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases June 7, 2024

      £10 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    In the spring of 2023, we were overcome by a concept for a new disc and decided to fit it in before we set off to Sweden to record with our Sami friend out in the wilds of the north. The disc is a reflection of the idea that as the world seems to be a tricky and dispiriting place in so many ways, one way of dealing with things is to listen and dance to upbeat music, a sort of ‘fiddling whilst Rome burns’ approach, a bit like what sparked the Jazz Age during the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s. The disc is entitled ‘And Even The Sheep Shall Dance’ after what Adam claims is a passage from Ezekiel “and when the world is lost in strife and the end times appear to upon us, cider shall be drunk, the music shall rise and even the sheep shall dance”. Apparently, this passage only exists in a few, rare, medieval versions, all of which have been suddenly been lost since Adam mentioned it. The album was recorded over a couple of evenings in our Under The Eaves studio in the middle of the Yorkshire Moors.

    The accompanying graphic novel is an accident, born of a conversation on a journey to Cornwall.
    Murray: “What on earth are we going to put in the booklet?”
    Adam: “Well, I have had a completely stupid idea that we are definitely definitely not going to do.”
    Murray: “Oh god. What?”
    Adam: “Well, a sort of comic, telling what the sheep did in each track”
    Murray: “That’s a ridiculously stupid idea.”
    Adam: “Yes, I told you that”

    The rest of the journey was spent listening to the finished tracks and working out the story - a story that turned out to be darker and more allegorical than we had expected, and revealed that, despite its undeniably danceable nature, our music had captured more of the darkness of our current times than we had intended and the despite being the ‘silly boys’ that Adam’s mother always describes us as, we might have some more sensible thoughts hidden deep down.

    Includes digital pre-order of And Even The Sheep Shall Dance. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.     ... more
    shipping out on or around June 7, 2024

      £15 GBP or more 

     

1.
As we party oblivious 04:01
info
buy track
2.
Trees shall fall
3.
The Ciderhouse Rebellion - And we shall float like sheep
4.
Until the rabbit warriors dance
5.
And the last pineapple goes
6.
Whilst islands shrink
7.
And we party on rafts of hope
8.
To storm the cucumber castle
9.
And dance in the ashes

about

A title taken from the Book of Revelation; an intro that includes Morse code; music that is revelatory in nature and created extemporaneously, The Ciderhouse Rebellion announce their fifth album, ‘And Even the Sheep Shall Dance’. Each track made-in-the-moment, without anything other than decisions made in the micro-second of each note. As always with the duo there was no planning - other than being present to the creative process - and no conscious thought put into the music, just genuine spontaneity.

Recorded in just 24 hours, over two days in the Spring of 2023, this album is Summerhayes’ and Grainger’s response to the current state of the world – post-COVID aftermath, global political turmoil, Putin, climate change… the masters of improvisation respond to global adversity.

As Summerhayes explains: “I was thinking about this apocalyptic world we appear to be in and then I just thought I’m going to create a made-up biblical quote: ‘As the apocalypse comes, and the end times are upon us, cider should be drunk and even the sheep shall dance….!’ It’s not getting rid of the problem, it’s just an antidote to all the doom and gloom,” he concedes, very much in keeping with the burgeoning Jazz Age during the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s when people just wanted music that was upbeat and uplifting.

For the first time the duo use a stomp box that enhances the danceable quality of the music without detracting from its complexity and the beautiful moments of stillness. The album also comes with a graphic novel, brilliantly illustrated by Summerhayes in a Quentin Blake-esque style, depicting a crazy story about sheep, warring rabbits and the impending apocalypse.

Summerhayes concedes that while there’s an undeniable silliness involved in Even The Sheep… “at the same time a lot of what we produce is quite dark and moody and I don’t think we could be more deeply serious about what we do.”

Accordion player Murray Grainger illucidates, “we had to react to our world, through our music. Otherwise, god helps us. In a way, we’re confirming for ourselves that there’s a choice in how we respond to the doom and gloom around us. The stomp box gave us a groove which changed how we played, but also added a new, integral energy to what we do. It’s essentially pogo-folk music, but somehow we transformed our malaise into something worth dancing to.”

With this CD and book The Ciderhouse Rebellion have managed to strike a remarkable balance between demonstrating their irresistible sense of irreverence while never compromising on their virtuosic musicianship. Essentially the overriding message is that in spite of everything, life is to be lived and if it all goes wrong, then party!

For Adam, creating music in the moment has been a lifelong path “I was laughed at in the industry only a few years ago and told to forget the idea.” But now, five albums in, his no-safety-net approach has shaken the tree and gathered the ripe-fruit from those prepared to hold their nerve: “I wanted to turn folk music on its head. Instead of focusing on the sacred artefacts of an old tradition, I want to mine the ancient bloodstream that is the language of the tradition itself.”

The Ciderhouse Rebellion, “And Even the Sheep Shall Dance” is released on 7 June on all platforms.

credits

releases June 7, 2024

UNDER THE EAVES RECORDS CAT# UTE 010
Music by Adam Summerhayes (fiddle) and Murray Grainger (accordion / stomp box)
Mixed and produced by Murray Grainger
Mastered by Jon Astley
Recorded at Under The Eaves studio, Rosedale
Book:
Story by Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger (apart from the bit about the rocket, which was a surprise to Murray, and appeared during the illustration phase).
Based on music by Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger.Illustrated by Adam Summerhayes.
© & P 2024 Adam Summerhayes, Murray Grainger

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The Ciderhouse Rebellion England, UK

Two virtuoso musicians playing some of the most startling and original music you will ever encounter. Compelling, exciting and utterly original" Phil Beer

The duo brings together master accordionist Murray Grainger and fiddle player Adam Summerhayes. ... more

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