After having chosen to focus on two artists from across the other side of the Atlantic for my previous contributions to this feature I thought this time round I would keep things a little closer to home. Plumhall are a duo based in the north of England and comprise of Michelle Plum and Nick B. Hall, hence the name. Plum’s musical career to date includes a four year spell supplying vocals and keyboards for chart-topping anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba from 2001 to 2004, before departing to help form Waking The Witch with Patsy Matheson, Rachel Goodwin and Jools Parker. Her stint with this quartet would last only a couple of years during which time they recorded one album “Like Everybody” (2004). From there she spent a further four years touring as a session musician with the Chris Norman Band, yes the original singer with Smokie, before finally joining forces with Hall.
Hall’s CV includes a short stint with progressive rock/folk rock outfit Magna Carta, but is possibly better known for his time as guitarist for Ian Prowse’s band Amsterdam, a.k.a the Scouse Springsteen, Combining their surnames, the duo’s first album “Thundercloud”, was released in 2006 and immediately drew media attention with The Guardian/ Observer describing them as “Hidden Gems” for their strong vocal harmonies and “mesmerising combination of acoustic and electric instruments”, helping to create their alt-country sound. The album was stuffed full of great songs in particular the title track along with ‘Never Forget My Name’, and the exquisite ‘Learning How To Talk’, that immediately highlighted their songwriting craft. It was around this time that I had the good fortune to witness them in a live setting, and though they were just the support act that evening and completely new to both myself and most of the audience, such was the level of their performance that I gladly joined the queue after their set to buy the album. Their impact was immediate.
Their second release “The Ghost Of Noise”, came out in 2020 and saw the duo experimenting in the studio, adding a more electronica sound to their songwriting. During this time they caught the attention of filmmaker Richard Heap who asked them to write an original song to appear in the 2020 International feature film “The Runaways”, and the song ‘Closing Down’, has now become a staple part of their live set. As well as this the duo have also appeared regularly on stage with such luminaries as Al Stewart, including two memorable shows at London’s Palladium and Cadogan Hall, Show Of Hands’ Phil Beer, and Larry Campbell, guitarist and producer for both Bob Dylan and Levon Helm.
The duo released their third and most recent album “One Star Awake”, earlier this year which saw them returning to the slightly more organic sound of their debut, emphasised by such tracks as ‘Way Down In The Well’, while contributions from Fairport Convention’s renowned fiddle player Ric Sanders along with Ranagri’s Eliza Marshall on flute helped to impart a folk flavour to the duo’s palette. The Fairport Convention connection was cemented when the duo was asked to appear as special guests for the folk-rock legends on their most recent winter tour sharing the stage for both the title track of their new album as well as a rousing rendition of the Fairports’ perennial encore ‘Meet On The Ledge’. As with past tours, the queue during the interval by members of the audience wanting to avail themselves with Plumhall wares, was a testament to the popularity of the duo, both for their charismatic live shows and their critically acclaimed songwriting so it was somewhat surprising to find that up to now they have never featured in these hallowed pages. Yes, their sound does have a distinct British folk flavour, but their songwriting, their musicianship and their sublime vocals comfortably cross the divide to belong in Americana’s broad musical belt. If Plumhall have as yet not come under your radar then may I suggest that you take a listen to the tracks below after which I’m sure, like me, you’ll become a convert.
