Old Spot’s latest single is a quietly absorbing reworking of the classic Tom Dooley. Rowan Piggott’s fiddle has a gently insistent rhythmic urgency, creating the foundation for the sweetly picked notes of Joe Danks’ banjo. The duo’s instruments seem to talk to one another, combining in an intimate musical dialogue. Over the top, Danks’ voice is clear and pure, the story unfolding in his melodic tones, until the pair sing together briefly towards the end in a beautiful and subtle blend. Filmed by Tom Evans in Ali and Phillipe Barnes’s flat, the candlelit video is an atmospheric accompaniment to the song, creating the late-night feel of a conversation in which stories are told, and secrets are shared.
The Old Time duo aim to bring flavours of Appalachia to contemporary audiences, and they have continued to explore their sound on new record, Old Spot II, which is due out tomorrow, 24th April 2026c. You can order the album on Bandcamp here.
Joe says of the duo’s new album: “I’m so chuffed with this record, it’s a real alchemy of all the stuff we love and is born out of our ever-growing infatuation with Appalachian traditional music. I think we are all at once closer to tradition than we’ve ever been and bolder and braver in our musical choices. Our connection is always growing, and whether we are sitting in a session with others, rehearsing around the kitchen table or WhatsApping voice memos and Bandcamp links to each other, we’re constantly chiselling away at this project and growing a shared musical identity. I think OSII is that identity where it’s at right now, and for the first time I think we’ve really delivered a great snapshot of us in all our obsession, excitement and experimentation.”
Rowan adds: “In the Oldtime tradition, fiddle and banjo sit together in conversation – sometimes accompanying each other, sometimes singing out in unison, sometimes bantering back and forth… We’ve had this electric musical connection from the beginning – constantly in a state of flow where we can both follow and inspire each other in the moment. It’s this freedom that we wanted to capture for the record – challenging ourselves to create new textures with just fiddle, banjo and shruti drone; to be brave in our interpretations of old melodies; and to be the danciest duo on the Old Time scene in the UK.”
Do check out the new album – Old Spot succeed in making old sounds new again.
