Beautifuljourney on the Old Salt Road

Ballycommon-based singer-songwriter Natasha Stone has just finished her new and hugely-impressive second solo album, which will be launched at Jim o' the Mill's pub in Upperchurch later this month.

Describing her music as contemporary folk with American and Irish influences, Natasha's new release ‘The Old Salt Road’ features 13 guest musicians, most of them from this locality. She co-produced the 11 tracks with sound engineer Darren Flynn of Cloughjordan. Very happy with how it has turned out, Natasha spoke of the making of her album as a “beautiful, gentle journey” that began about a year ago.

But the first steps along ‘The Old Salt Road’ were taken a lot longer ago, and they were in many ways a cathartic journey for the local singer. A musician all her life, Natasha started out as a singing teacher. She began writing her own music in her early 20s and put together an album, which was released on social media.

“It was never what I wanted it to be,” Natasha said of her debut album. “I let the producer kind of take it over and it became something that was quite commercial and not really my thing.

“I never identified with it; I never saw myself in it. I'm almost embarrassed about it! It had really immature lyrics...”

Music subsequently took a back seat to parenthood for Natasha, who originally hails from Brighton and has been living in Ireland for more than 20 years. She now works as a doula with Wellmama Ireland, a non-profit North Tipp group that provides a wide range of birthing services to mothers, their partners and families.

Natasha had always wanted to get back to writing music but only recently found the opportunity to turn the many ideas in her head into something real.

“This album has been on the cards for I would say about 15 years,” she said of ‘The Old Salt Road’. “It's been in the background, always simmering away and being added to.”

Five of the songs were written during the pandemic, which - like a great many other local musicians - Natasha used to her advantage. “Covid was a really interesting time for me. I found it very productive, creatively. Normally, I'd be lucky if I write one good song every two years but I got five in a six-month period, which I was really happy with, and it was enough to finish the album...

“My only intention with this album was I was going to be happy with the outcome and take my time with it. And I'm so happy with it - I'm proud to share it!”

AN ECLECTIC MIX

‘The Old Salt Road’ - the title a reference to a road (not its real name) in Galway where Natasha met a friend who died by suicide several years ago - is an album of folk with a dash of jazz, blues and even Motown on one of the tracks. “It's a kind of eclectic mix,” the writer said of her new opus, on which a British folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling was a key influence.

Natasha regards US jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald as the peer she drew most inspiration from when growing up, and this is evident in the warm, heartfelt texture of the songs, some of which are very catchy, all of which amply demonstrate Natasha's powerful vocal prowess.

But she said her album really only started to take shape when she engaged with all those guest musicians, all 13 of whom gave of their time at different stages to help bring Natasha's ideas to life.

“Seeing how these incredible musicians, people who are just so good at their craft, wanted to be part of it, because they believed in it that much - for me, that was the biggest gift that I've taken away from it. It was that level of belief that people had in my music - in the words and the orchestration, and the way it's been put together.

“I knew instinctively who I wanted on each song but I didn't have the skills to create overtures and pieces for each instrument, so it was nice to see the album grow because each musician brought something to the table - going: ‘do you like this’? - then they'd go away and collaborate on it, and then we'd get them into the studio. It became this really beautiful journey where the album got legs of its own.”

LAUNCH NIGHT

Natasha, who also plays guitar on some songs, will launch ‘The Old Salt Road’ at Jim o' the Mill's, partly because one of Jim's daughters plays piano on the album, but also because for years the famous upland pub held a certain intrigue for Natasha, as indeed it has for many.

She had always wanted to go there. She previously lived in Cloughjordan, where every six months or so a community bus would make the trip to Upperchurch for a night out. Twice she booked onto that bus - both times she had to pull out because her children were sick. When she finally managed to get up to Jim's, Natasha “fell in love with the place”.

“It's just one of those really beautiful, quirky little places. For me, for the launch, I just wanted it to be quite intimate, not overbearing or anything, just really gentle and laid back.”

The gig will be held in the barn and there will be a session in the pub afterwards. Nat invited those attending to bring an instrument and join in. She is hoping to run a national tour in support of her album in the autumn, on which she will be joined by some of the musicians she has worked with. She wanted to warmly thank them all - Wendy Baily (double bass), Eoin Campbell (double bass), Cian O'Brien (double bass), Marguerite McEntee (acoustic guitar), Sarah Szucs (acoustic guitar), Donald Austin (acoustic guitar), Nicholas Ward (acoustic and electric guitar), Birgit Leitner (violin), Cáit Ní Riain (piano), Andy Spearpoint (saxophone), Ruairí O'Shea (mandolin) and Brian Richardson (drums). Thanks also to Darren (who also played electric bass and acoustic guitar on the album) and Solas Croí for the album artwork.

The launch night takes place at Jim o' the Mill's, Upperchurch, on Saturday, August 27, after which the album will be available for online streaming and in CD format. Support on the night from Dear Dog Feather. Tickets are limited and selling fast - they can be purchased through Eventbrite. Visit the Instagram page natstonemusic for more information.