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In his review of ‘One Evening and Other Folk Songs’, Buck Curran‘s 2024 album and a KLOF Mag Featured Album of the Month, Thomas Blake referred to it as an album of hidden depths, adding, “His talent is an alchemical one: seemingly quotidian musical ingredients are turned into rare metals in his hands, and with this eclectic but hugely talented band, the results are doubly impressive.”
When Buck first spoke to us about this album, he spoke of the chemistry between the musicians during the recording sessions, and thanks to Dave Logan, we can witness some of that magic first-hand. Dave was on hand to film them performing Deep in the Lovin’ Arms of My Babe, and he has managed to capture not just the talents of those who helped create this music but also reveal part of the story behind this album’s creation and the characters who helped to bring it to life. It’s a Gorgeous track, and that opening gets me every time, the way it builds is perfect.
Buck Curran on Deep in the Lovin’ Arms of My Babe
I feel incredibly fortunate to have this video for Deep in the Lovin’ Arms of My Babe. The video was filmed by my dear friend Dave Logan on the 4th of July, 2022, at Big Tree Studio in Brescia, Italy, when my wife Adele and I recorded my latest album ‘One Evening and Other Folk Songs’ with our friends: keyboardist Jodi Pedrali, drummer Dave Barbarossa, and bassist Roberto Frassini Moneta. I wanted to record the song ‘Live in the studio’ together, and I feel Dave did a perfect job capturing the essence of what we were all experiencing in the moment. Hilariously, we had one false start because the headphones slowly slipped down over my face as we worked through the first verse. So, most of what you see in this video is from the version of the song you hear on the record. In addition, the session was recorded by musician and recording engineer Marco Fasolo. Aside from myself, Adele, Jodi, and Roberto, it features the drumming of Dave Barbarossa (whose drumming I had been in love with for a very long time and is best known for his amazing work with Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant and Republica). There are strong elements of improvisation in what you hear on this recording. It was my first time in the studio with Dave Barbarossa and Roberto Frassini Moneta, coupled with beautiful loose energy, as we had only one brief rehearsal the day before. I’ve recorded and mixed all my previous solo albums as well as Arborea’s albums (alone in my own spaces), so I was a bit unsure of myself when I arrived at the studio that day. Nevertheless, it was a joy to have Adele and Jodi (my longtime musical partner) there, and their presence gave a deep sense of cosiness and comradery to the session. It was also an incredible honour to finally work with Dave Barbarossa, and hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity to do more music together in the future.
~ Buck Curran, February 6th, 2025
About ‘One Evening and Other Folk Songs’
The foundation of this recording is the musical chemistry between Jodi Pedrali and myself. Jodi and I had been playing music together since 2017, and the band we assembled for this session centred around the idea of having London native Dave Barbarossa play drums with us. Dave Barbarossa (Bow Wow Wow and Adam Ant) was my favourite drummer during my formative years playing guitar in high school. Dave and I first met over a pint in London (in Soho) in April of 2022. We talked about fatherhood and life, but mostly about music. It was wonderful to discover that he shared my love for the music of Pentangle. Soon after that meeting, we started discussing the idea of recording a live session in the manner of some of Pentangle’s performances that we had watched on my cell phone in the pub. Once Dave agreed to fly to Bergamo to record with Jodi and me, we recruited the brilliant Italian singer Adele Pappalardo and bass player Robert Frassini Moneta to round out the session.
The essence of what we documented on this record is the energy of a quickly assembled group who had never played together before, and due to time restrictions, we arranged parts and rehearsed for only a few hours the day before entering the studio. All the songs performed by the band were recorded in the studio by Marco Fasolo as a ‘Live’ session (4, 5, and 6 July 2022) – the tracks we used were from first or second-take performances (Jodi and I really wanted to capture the energy of playing music together Live in the same space). I can hear things got a little loose in places, but overall, we were really happy with how we all played together and grateful for recording the energy of that moment during those fleeting summer days in 2022.
~ Buck Curran, February 7th, 2024
Bandcamp: https://obsoleterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/one-evening-and-other-folk-songs
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music
