Guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant launches new album in home town Shoreham

Could this be his Tubular Bells for the Covid generation, wonders Shoreham-based guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant as he releases his new album Rewilding.
Richard DurrantRichard Durrant
Richard Durrant

Richard will be launching the album across two sessions at his hometown Ropetackle on Saturday, October 31, from 11am-12.30pm and then from 2-3.30pm.

Both events include an illustrated talk by Richard and a chance to hear the album in its entirety. Each ends with a Q&A session. The 2pm event will also be streamed live to Richard’s Facebook and YouTube.

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Richard began work on Rewilding in January 2020 continuing throughout lockdown. The aim was to release it as a double album mid-year. Instead it is coming out now, released as a single album.

As Richard says: “The world changed and so did my music.

“Throughout all that has happened, the concept of re-wilding (nature’s path of least resistance) has held my interest. Many ideas for beautiful sounds and combinations of instruments arrived as a consequence – turtle doves, contra-bassoon, nightingales, cello, cuckoos, ukuleles, oboe and berimbau. They’re all there on the new album!”

Led by guitars, ukuleles and cello, it comes promised as an uplifting and optimistic album with a sharp focus on the natural world and more than a hint of English prog.

With Covid-19 came the cancellation of Richard’s concerts this year. His solo 2020 tour was to have been from St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney to Santiago de Compostela in Spain cycling between venues carrying his instruments on his bicycle.

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The idea was to inspire discussion about the climate change crisis.

It didn’t happen, and nor did his two guitar summer schools, wiping out 18 months of planning and a year’s income. Instead his focus shifted onto the new album. With extra time, Richard says he pushed production values through the roof.

“I last played at Ropetackle in February, and since then I have only played three very small gigs to a restricted audience. I am so pleased that Ropetackle got some Arts Council funding that will enable it to continue for the foreseeable future – whatever that means. I don’t actually think we are going to get back to normal for something like five years maybe, before Covid is behind us and before people are relaxed enough.

“I think it means that people have got to find other freedoms. I have been spending a lot of time writing and recording and trying to design myself a new life. You can’t just go into a huddle and cry your eyes out. My new way of life was to spend eight months working on the album and to try to get to grips with all the modern technology of streaming. I did some live-streams during lockdown and most of my album was recorded during lockdown. There was an awful lot of smartening up from a technological point of view in the studio!

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“And the treat was that I got to spend a lot more time with Louise and the children than I would otherwise have done. The whole thing has been a mix of weirdness and magic and oddness, just being in this situation.

“And it changes your perspective. I think I have recognised that the natural world offers us hope. The concept of the regeneration of nature is able to offer a real optimistic force. It replaces politics. I have moved away from politics and into the natural world...”

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• Talk is increasing of further lockdowns in the UK. What do you think of the situation? Join the Big Conversation and have your say on everything from healthcare to how the pandemic has affected you personally and how we make our communities stronger: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/bc-worthing