Powerful second acoustic album from Welsh sheep farmer and musician.
Inevitably music will be inspired by personal experiences and Tom Jenkins has a fascinating dual work situation. On the one hand he’s a sheep farmer in South Wales and he revels in his family history of running a farm in rural Wales. But he’s also a wonderful singer-songwriter and to date he’s released two highly praised albums and a range of shorter EP-length recordings still pitched as albums.
Late last year, after these band and energetic releases, he surprised many with a gentle and acoustic album – ‘Meadow Pt 1‘. He’s now followed it up with a second album building on what was recorded for the first, with a set of six songs mixing laid back acoustic strumming and full band songs.
Jenkin is rightly proud of his family heritage of working the land on their farm – and being a shepherd is vital to his music. As he says – “Wales has a tradition of Shepherd poets and I wanted to capture the sentiment of being a Welsh shepherd myself…”
He wrote the opener ‘A Letter From The Hill’ overlooking the old oak tree where his family’s ashes are laid to rest and the song reflects his time working on the land. One can’t help but respect farmers who work so hard in increasingly challenging situations. This song perfectly shows the personal experiences of the loneliness that can often come with dedicating long periods of the year to a life with a flock and herd. Acoustic guitar and harmonica back Jenkin’s effective vocals and it’s a lovely opener.
Next up we have a slightly more up-tempo track ‘Blame It‘ which has a dreamy quality to it – perfect for Jenkins’ style of vocals. ’Runaway Now’ is another up-tempo track with some powerful urgent vocals around a strong drum beat and lovely electric guitar. ‘The Cruel Passing Of Time’ is an acoustic/piano song with strong vocals from guest Katherine Priddy, with lyrics looking back to a better time in the past. Piano and harmonica shine on ‘Back Roads’ continuing the agricultural personal lyrical tone of the album. Closer ‘Stay And Work The Land’ perfectly complements opener ‘A Letter From The Hill’ with acoustic guitar and multiple vocals once again looking at the toil and challenges of being a farmer – but with grace and respect.
Jenkins has made a powerful tribute to his families farming history and it’s a fascinating insight into a role in life that gains respect the more we fully grasp what a joyful yet difficult job it is. Lovely.
