Jim Moray
Jim Moray |
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Jim Moray is an English singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.
Recording Artist
While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire he released the home-recorded I Am Jim Moray EP. During 2002 he appeared at the Glastonbury festival 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 1st Feb 2010 it was announced that Jim Morays 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 April 30, 2010. It was also announced that the album would be available in a deluxe box set and standard editions on June 7.
Producer
Moray has often stated that he considers his main role to be that of a producer[citation needed]. 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 Sound feature in 2006.[1]
Moray produced and mixed the track "The Cuckoos 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,[2] 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 Radio2 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 Belshazzars 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. 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.
Discography
- I Am Jim Moray EP (2001)
- Sweet England (2003)
- Sprig Of Thyme (single) (2004)
- Jim Moray (2006)
- Low Culture (2008)
as producer or guest musician:-
- "Glance" - Rose Kemp (piano and programming) (2003) - Rose Kemp 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)
References
- ^ http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug06/articles/jimmoray.htm
- ^ Jackie's Violet Hour. BBC Devon website. Created 31 January 2008, last updated 10 April 2008. Accessed 27 September 2008.