The Story (UK band)
Encyclopedia
The Story are an English psychedelic folk duo comprising former Forest
member Martin Welham and his son Tom Welham. The pair write and record melodic songs that range from psychedelic pop
to stream-of-consciousness folk and play an array of predominantly acoustic instruments as a backdrop to their blend of vocal harmonies.
based band The Story with his son Tom and returned to recording music. The duo's sound has echoes of Martin's earlier work with authentic psychedelic songwriting at its core.
The band's first release was a 2004 vinyl split album, The Dawn Is Crowned, with Californian freak folk
band Whysp on Good Village Records. The Story's side featured five broadly acoustic tracks that blend esoteric, dark imagery with powerful vocal harmonies resulting in an un-attributable psychedelic air.
In 2005 the band released their first full-length album Tale Spin on Sunbeam Records - the first contemporary artists released by the label. This psychedelic folk pop album featured acoustic guitars, keyboards and light percussion combined with airy harmony vocals and wistful melodies.
Follow-up album Arcane Rising was released in 2007. A stream of consciousness conceptual song cycle
, the album was made up of improvised melodies and acoustic guitar backings augmented by flutes, melody harp, harmonica and hand percussion. Lyrically the album celebrates life and nature through the changing seasons whilst questioning religious doctrines and humankind's ecological footprint. Also in 2007, The Story song "The Wicker Man" featured on the dark folk compilation album John Barleycorn Reborn on Cold Spring Records.
The band's third full-length album Joy Ride on Memory Lane was released September 2011 on Rainbow Quartz Records under the band name The Story UK.
Forest (band)
Forest were an English psychedelic folk / acid folk trio who formed in Grimsby, Lincolnshire in 1966. Made up of brothers Martin Welham, Adrian Welham and school friend Dez Allenby, they started out performing unaccompanied traditional folk music in a similar vein to contemporaries The Watersons...
member Martin Welham and his son Tom Welham. The pair write and record melodic songs that range from psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
to stream-of-consciousness folk and play an array of predominantly acoustic instruments as a backdrop to their blend of vocal harmonies.
Biography
Martin Welham was part of the influential 1960's acid folk trio Forest. In 2002, thirty years after Forest disbanded, he formed SomersetSomerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
based band The Story with his son Tom and returned to recording music. The duo's sound has echoes of Martin's earlier work with authentic psychedelic songwriting at its core.
The band's first release was a 2004 vinyl split album, The Dawn Is Crowned, with Californian freak folk
Freak folk
Freak folk is a genre of folk music associated with contemporary artists such as Faun Fables, Animal Collective, Davenport, Devendra Banhart,CocoRosie, Panda Bear, Kelli Ali, Joanna Newsom, Bowerbirds, Woods, Greg Weeks, Hecuba, Akron/Family, Rio en Medio, Birdengine, Sufjan Stevens, Sean Hayes,...
band Whysp on Good Village Records. The Story's side featured five broadly acoustic tracks that blend esoteric, dark imagery with powerful vocal harmonies resulting in an un-attributable psychedelic air.
In 2005 the band released their first full-length album Tale Spin on Sunbeam Records - the first contemporary artists released by the label. This psychedelic folk pop album featured acoustic guitars, keyboards and light percussion combined with airy harmony vocals and wistful melodies.
Follow-up album Arcane Rising was released in 2007. A stream of consciousness conceptual song cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
, the album was made up of improvised melodies and acoustic guitar backings augmented by flutes, melody harp, harmonica and hand percussion. Lyrically the album celebrates life and nature through the changing seasons whilst questioning religious doctrines and humankind's ecological footprint. Also in 2007, The Story song "The Wicker Man" featured on the dark folk compilation album John Barleycorn Reborn on Cold Spring Records.
The band's third full-length album Joy Ride on Memory Lane was released September 2011 on Rainbow Quartz Records under the band name The Story UK.
Discography
- The Dawn Is Crowned (2004)
- Tale Spin (2005)
- Arcane Rising (2007)
- Joy Ride on Memory Lane (2011)