“The UK Folk Rock Supergroup With Led Zeppelin Vibes!” Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 2 Folk Show
The Magpie Arc is a cross-border band out of Sheffield, Arran and Edinburgh and features award winning artists Nancy Kerr, Findlay Napier, Tom Wright, Alex Hunter and tour guitarist, the BBC Folk Award-winning Sam Carter.
Formed from the idea of bringing together a group of established folk musicians who would mix their song-writing styles and musicianship in a full-on electric band to create exciting new music and update the classic ’60s and ’70s British folk-rock sound, the possibilities of The Magpie Arc being something special and unique on today’s folk scene became obvious very quickly.
With all members being strong writers the focus is naturally on new material, however they also tackle some great cover songs plus their own re-workings of traditional songs. There’s folk, rock, a bit of country, more rock and even some elements of prog-rock but whatever the genre the band are their own musical mix of everything you could expect from such a line-up, with excellent songs, lush harmonies, scything electric guitars, gorgeous fiddle lines and rock solid bass and drums.
Their first full length album, Glamour In The Grey, was released in November 2022 and enjoyed an unbroken run of twelve months in the UK Official Folk Chart where it debuted at number 9 and was punningly compared by Mojo magazine to the first ever album of the folk-rock genre in 1969 from Fairport Convention as being “Liege and Lief affirming” whilst the rockier elements were described as “an elemental racket”.
Their headline Live shows are “An Evening with…” event where the band will play two sets with no support and so just a whole evening of classic UK folk and rock from The Magpie Arc.
Reviews
“Everyone in the band brings their own talents but the synergy makes them much more than the sum of their parts. It takes "folk-rock" to a new and exciting level.”
Fatea Magazine
“Just the right amount of Black Sabbath for folk/rock”
Rockslam Podcast
“The possibilities The Magpie Arc offer are very enticing indeed. You owe it to yourself to catch this band as soon as you can. Capability, flair and originality rarely come so well wrapped.”
Spiral Earth
The Magpie Arc
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