Acoustic Culley's 'scary' time on Isle of Jura
FOR a musician whose lightness of touch masks a darker side, the recording of Harrogate acoustic act Karl Culley's debut album on the Isle of Jura included some appropriately spooky moments.
"At the end of each day's session I had to walk back to my 'bothy' where I was staying on my own. I had to go past this stroppy wild boar. We'd have a stand-off each night in the dark. I was terrified of that big pig."
The path this talented singer-songwriter travels is not a common one. For a man in his 20s, several of his self-penned songs sound as old as Robert Johnson, as haunted as the blues.
Boasting a rapid-fire, rhythmic finger-picking style on acoustic guitar, a soulful, gentle voice and a natural flair for melody, Culley's songs are all light and shadow, flitting between passion and despair, longing and suffering, love and death.
The fact that Culley's album Bundle of Nerves is coming out next week on London-based label Triumphant Sounds, best known for fellow singer-songwriter Peter Bruntnell, is also something of an achievement in itself.
Despite the incredible amount of talent in the town, few Harrogate musicians get the chance to have their work released at any sort of professional level.
Offered the choice of recording in London or the Isle of Jura by the label, Culley jumped at the chance of the latter, having already fallen under Scotland's spell and what he describes as its "desolate beauty" during visits to his uncle's farm in Selkirk as a child.
The mild-mannered Culley seems to have enjoyed the experience of working with renowned producer, Giles Derring and session musician, Simon Edwards, whose distinguished CV includes the likes of Beth Gibbons and David Gray.
Recording in a converted school house on the island with the wind howling outside was a bit of a scary experience, even without the giant pig, he admits, with a hint of mischievous smile.
The results are hardly Paolo Nutini or David Gray, however, though you sense Culley could go that way if he wanted.
Even this original talent's breezier, poppier songs such as Suffering or Thick as Thieves tend to have a depth of meaning and intensity of feeling more redolent of 'indie' performers such as the late Elliott Smith.
When asked to describe his music, fans of Culley usually mention words like John Martyn or Nick Drake, though this, too, doesn't quite do justice.
There's also a dark humour at play, laying potential traps for anyone seeking to pigeonhole his music.
"I love ghost stories and I like to use ghostly imagery when I write lyrics but one of the songs on the album called The Haunting of Karl Culley is actually a homage to Thriller. All those high-pitched "hee hees" are supposed to be Michael Jackson!"
A published poet, the road that led to where Culley is now, is surprisingly diverse - which may help explain things a little.
As a teenager at Rossett School, Culley was lead singer with a local indie rock band The Mindermasts.
Disatisfaction with the limitations of 'indie' led to a short drum and bass phase in his bedroom before a longer spell as drummer with the rootsy, rumbustious local outfit Las Sangras.
Despite sharing elements of the past with Vin Garbutt, Martin Stephenson or Jake Thackeray, Culley spurns the formulas of traditional folk music.
"I may cross into folk territory but I'm not "folk". The real folk people, the cardigan brigade don't like me. I've played a few festivals where there's been slow handclapping from the hardcore."
Culley will launch his album locally in the Blues Bar next Tuesday at one of his popular Karl Culley and Friends acoustic nights which draws on Harrogate's surprisingly deep pool of acoustic talent.
The town's musical community is packed with potential he says.
"There's so many talented people here. Danny Webster is an astonishing musician. John Davey has written some of the best songs I've ever heard. Greig Johnson is a great lyricist, as well as making really great music videos. And Nick Mackay is an amazing guitarist and songwriter."
It's difficult to describe Culley himself so simply. There's always a dark side subtly at play, something lying just of sight, as anyone who's heard previews of the Bundle of Nerves album can testify.
"If I'm a nice person it's because some of my music is so bleak. If I wasn't able to get the darkness out in my songs I don't think I could be the way I am in real life."
Bundle of Nerves is released on February 10 and is available on Amazon and Play.com
The album is launched locally in the Blues Bar in Harrogate next Tuesday, February 2 at one of his popular Karl Culley and Friends acoustic nights. 8pm start
More info from myspace.com/karlculley
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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