Interview: Seth Lakeman on “The Granite Way”

Keeping the past alive to help the future by reframing of old stories for today.

It may be twenty years since Seth Lakeman was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for his second album, “Kitty Jay”, which helped him establish a career that has seen high-profile collaborations, albums and innumerable tours, but as his new album, “The Granite Way”, makes clear, he can still find inspiration for the future in the past. Americana UK’s Martin Johnson caught up with Seth Lakeman over Zoom as he walked his dog on a misty winter’s morning on a West Country moor. The moor served as a fitting backdrop as Seth explained that he had looked back to his early albums for inspiration on a set of songs that represent his take on the myths and legends of the West Country. He explains how believes he has developed as an artist over the last twenty years, and why he sees himself primarily as a songwriter. It is clear from the conversation that Seth Lakeland has a wide range of musical tastes and is very aware of the need to keep his music fresh with the use of improvisation both in the studio and on tour. His love of improvisation may have had something to do with the gigs he got backing Van Morrison and Robert Plant, and he gives a hint of the pleasure he had working with such titans of modern music.

How are things?

It is pretty misty up here on the moor. It will lift at some point, there’s already a bit of blue.

Before we get around to your new album, “The Granite Way”, I just want to see what your thoughts are on your Mercury Prize nomination twenty years ago. What did it mean to you as a young artist, and how different an artist are you now?

The twenty years do seem to have been a whirlwind, but back then as an artist, I was trying to experiment with folksong and storytelling with this unusual style of singing, and the array of instruments I had including fiddle, stomp boxes, mandolins, bouzoukis and things. So, I think the whole approach was quite unusual. For me as an artist that year was a launch pad, the Mercury gave me a foundation for a serious career in the music business. Before that, I’d been writing, performing and working with lots of other people, playing with Melodic Mind in certain groups and ensembles. So, that was the starting point for me.

I’ve got a few more grey hairs and wrinkles now, suffering the stresses and strains of having a large family, but seriously, as an artist, I feel I’ve grown. As any artist does, I feel I’ve explored my voice and my message, I’ve written a variety of songs, some more personal, some more narrative, especially on this new album “The Granite Way”. So, I think I’ve really explored things, and I’ve been on a different journey, not just as myself as an artist but with Melodic Mind, I’ve been an improviser for all the big guns like Van Morrison, Robert Plant and people like that. So, I’ve had a chance to explore other areas of music, and as a musician, I feel very fortunate.

Why name your new album after the Granite Way on Dartmoor?

One of the songs refers to the Granite Way, and this path exists on the moors, this ancient path the Granite Way, and I thought it summed up how the album came together. It is very much centred around where I am right now on this misty moorland, and the conditions are perfect for that sound actually. The narrative is celebrating the folklore and legend of the moor and the surrounding area, and it is very much harking back to the “Kitty Jay” album and the concept of a Dartmoor-themed album. I feel that “The Granite Way” was very much inspired by that, I guess, looking back but also trying to collect and write fresh material. That’s where the title came from, and yes, there is actually a Granite Way.

You’ve mentioned folklore, how important do you think it is to keep the awareness of folklore current?

I enjoy stories within songs, a beginning, middle and end, I love the journey of a song and as we know a song can be ten minutes long in folksongs. I love the tradition of course, but I also love writing songs from the past, I guess celebrating history, celebrating folklore, and that’s not necessarily regurgitating traditional songs it is writing new ones. I’ve always enjoyed doing that as a process, and I think it is really important, especially for young people. Shanties are as big as ever, and thinking about folksongs, they are enormous at the moment and are so popular with all age groups, but I think the depth of folk music is so important for young people. More so now than ever because we have such a shallow world, particularly the way we are all consuming information. I feel it is important we have that depth of story and heritage.

Do you still see universal truths in folklore?

I certainly do, I think we can learn lessons from the past, that’s always been there. As a father of three children just going to secondary school and learning history, I think it is really important because you learn really important lessons for the future from the past. I think music, songwriting and stories in songs can really help with that.

You wrote the songs and you produced the album, what was it like wearing those hats?

They are very different roles, and to be honest, I got those musicians in and they hadn’t heard the material before. It is always an incredible gamble to get musicians into the studio for four days who haven’t heard the material before, and you spend an hour on each song. First impressions count, and lots of really influential and inspiring musicians have taught me that, it’s like speed-dating, you know if it clicks. The first flurry of ideas in that room with those people are the ones that count, I think that’s where the magic of music comes from. It can mean songs can end up disappearing, and ones that you had high hopes for just end up on the floor, but that’s where you get the real magic of music rather than sitting there for ages and coming up with arrangements. So, it is all very spontaneous and enjoyable, and I enjoy recording. I’m very excited by “The Granite Way” for those reasons, and those guys are amazing musicians because it’s not for everybody. You are up against it, I have to say, but you get some wonderful moments of creativity. That’s where it all comes from.

As far as your music goes, how much improvisation is there?

Huge, that’s basically what I’m doing all the time. I’m sorry to say that’s the scatter-brained daydreaming kind of person I am, it’s hard to lock me down. It’s good and bad, sometimes you play something and they say play that same thing again, and obviously, it’s going to be different, it’s the way of music and I quite like the fluidity of that. I used to love jazz when I was younger, and I love playing off as a melodic player, but also when it comes to songwriting I think things have to be able to move depending on how they evolve in a room or over time. It’s the fun of it, if it’s fixed it can sound a bit stagnant, or a bit stale, so it’s important to keep that freshness and excitement in music, and I think you get that from the spontaneity and that improvisation.

You’ve talked about folk music, and today music is put into little boxes, but how do you see your own music?

I don’t know, I find it ever so difficult, really. I love playing tunes, I love writing songs, I love writing very upbeat contemporary songs that you wouldn’t even call folksongs, singer-songwriter maybe. I love lots of different kinds of music, in terms of being a writer I like to experiment and I think it’s important, especially when you’ve got lots of different tools. When you are writing on a fiddle it immediately throws itself into the tradition, whereas if you stick on a guitar it’s a singer-songwriter. You can have the same song and it can jump into two different genres just with a different instrument if you see what I’m saying. That’s interesting, it depends on the tools you are using, but I just see myself as a songwriter, I enjoy the process of songwriting, and I think it is good to wake up every day and just push yourself and see what you can come up with. The way I see it the real drive for me as a writer is just to come up with different ideas. So, yeah, a songwriter, any song any style.

You have your own label these days, and while that brings freedom, it is also a challenge as you are responsible commercially. How are you finding that experience?

There is a freedom to it that I didn’t have before. I think with this album I’m three albums in on the label and as you say there is a freedom because even with indie labels like Cooking Vinyl you are still restricted because you are beholding to them. It’s not necessarily creatively, but I didn’t feel they were offering a lot in the financial deal you’d get back. The businessman in me thinks it is a much better idea to be on your own, especially as the type of musician you are and the way you want to experiment because it gives you more options on your own.

Who inspired you to become a musician, and what influence do you keep going back to?

My dad is probably the biggest inspiration to me, Geoff Lakeman, and he always has been. That’s where a lot of it came from, he is mostly a self-taught musician, he loves songs, he’s written songs and they are all in very different styles. He worked as a journalist for forty years at the Daily Mirror, and I can see where the idea of storytelling came from as a songwriter. So, yeah, I think it is definitely my father, the person I was inspired by the most.

What can people expect on your UK tour?

It’s really exciting. It is the same band, Ben Nicholls, Cormac Byrne, Benji Kirkpatrick, Alex Hart, this wonderful singer I’ve been working with the last few years from “A Pilgrim’s Tale” onwards. There’s the added bonus of this musician I’ve known a long time, a younger guy about 32 who is an amazing melodeon player called Andy Churchill Moss. He is all over “The Granite Way” and he is joining us on the tour. It is always good to have another instrument there, I think it will probably light the fire on stage, I think it will probably give us a little bit more, and I think it will be exciting for the audience. I think we can play around a lot with the songs on “The Granite Way”, but also some of that older material as well. A lot of older material will be in the set, but I’m hoping to do a big proportion of “The Granite Way” in the first half, you know, the first 40 minutes so that people will get an idea of the sound and the stories. Artists do that and it kind of pushes the boundary, but because it sounds quite similar to “Freedom Fields” and a lot of those other albums I hope people won’t be walking out in the interval. You never know though, you have to balance it just right.

You worked with a lot of other artists, did you learn anything from Van Morrison and Robert Plant, and do you have any anecdotes?

Many things. Van, when you are stood on the stage with him on the skiffle tours I did with him he’d point, and that point when he points is the moment when he is saying you need to fill in off me now. He’d be scatting doing his thing, or he’d be doing a sax solo, and you’ve just got to be on your toes. I was just watching him like a hawk the whole time and it’s improv and they are all straightforward ‘50s classics, all of them. I have to say I love playing off him, and it’s that thing of being alerted and not having to worry where you went with songs, and I loved that about it. So, the rest of the band were fixed musicians, they did improvise, but they weren’t improvising the way I was going all over the place. It’s kind of the way you’ve got to be with that guy and I think it went really well because of that.

I know it was the same with Robert. When an arrangement is fixed for too long, unfortunately, it loses its magic. He would stand at the side of the stage, and I remember he did it once when we were in Ireland, in Belfast, and he told us it was a different set list, and we were starting with this song. The band would freak out, and I would be laughing with him thinking this is brilliant because it keeps everyone on their toes. As soon as everyone gets complacent it loses a certain magic, it loses a certain energy. That’s probably the biggest thing I learnt from them as a musician, obviously, there is plenty of other stuff.

There are plenty of anecdotes about Robert, but I’m not sure I will be allowed to, I mean, three years of Planty and all that lot. One of the highlights is him and the entire Sydney Opera House singing Happy Birthday to me on the stage, that was one of the fun moments. There were lots of crazy moments. The advice from a man like that is fabulous, he is operating on another level as a musician, and that’s the thing with somebody like Robert and Van. They are encyclopaedic when it comes to the blues music of America, and Van especially when it comes to jazz, New York jazz, he is all over it as you might imagine. Chatting with those guys over dinner I’d be lost, and you’d have to pinch yourself with some of the conversations when they come on to Bob Dylan, the Lizard King, Jim Morrison. They are all their mates, you know, and not so matey as well. I was very privileged to have been around those guys and to learn from them, and who knows about the future you jump back up and offer your services again. Those sorts of things are like a dream come true.

At AUK, we like to share music with our readers, so can you share which artists, albums, or tracks are currently top three on your personal playlist?

I’ve been loving David Francey’s work again, a Canadian songwriter, ‘Poorer Then’ is a great song. I love Springsteen’s “Nebraska” album, I guess this time of year brings out a different flavour in people. I’ve also been trying to boost myself and the kids up with the summery Senegalese African vibes. Olivier Matuti is a guy I love, he died a couple of years ago and maybe seems like the Peter Gabriel of that country, a Youssou N’Dour type. Quite diverse really, and I’ve also started playing a bit of Hot Club, Django and Grappelli, put in ‘Djangology’ or maybe ‘Minor Swing’ which is a bit simpler. I’ve been working with a gypsy jazz guitarist, just for a bit of fun, you know.

Finally, do you want to say anything to our UK readers?

Keep listening, and keep supporting music because it’s not easy out there. I read the other day that the divide between artists is growing, 312,000 plays gets you £1,000 as an artist, and that is divided up with the record company as well. Musicians aren’t really doing it for the money anymore, it’s because it’s their art form. I’m a lucky one because at least I’m established, but for young artists, it is ever so difficult, it feels like it is a limbo period right now. So I would say, please keep listening and please keep supporting live music.

Seth Lakeman’s “The Granite Way” is released on 14th February on Honour Oak Records.

Seth Lakeman’s 2025 UK Tour.

Wed 19 Feb – BRISTOL St Georges
Thu 20 Feb – BUXTON Opera House
Fri 21 Feb – FARNHAM Maltings
Sat 22 Feb – EXETER Cathedral
Sun 23 Feb – SWANSEA Taliesin Arts Centre
Mon 24 Feb – SHREWSBURY Theatre Severn
Tue 25 Feb – MILTON KEYNES The Stables
Wed 26 Feb – COVENTRY Warwick Arts Centre
Thu 27 Feb – LONDON Union Chapel
Fri 28 Feb – BURY ST EDMUNDS The Apex
Sat 01 Mar – BRIGHTON St Georges

About Martin Johnson 454 Articles
I've been a music obsessive for more years than I care to admit to. Part of my enjoyment from music comes from discovering new sounds and artists while continuing to explore the roots of American 20th century music that has impacted the whole of world culture.
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