Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Nic Jones - The Noah's Ark Trap (Trailer, 1977)


The Noah's Ark Trap was the third release from English folk singer and finger-style guitarist Nic Jones. His interest in folk music began in the mid '60s when he joined the group The Hilliard, and it was during his time with this group that he learned to play the fiddle. Jones started playing professional gigs on his own after The Hilliard split. Between 1970 and '80, Jones recorded three albums for Trailer Records and one for Topic Records. Jones was in high demand as a studio musician during this time, and though only releasing five of his own recordings, he was featured on many other artist's albums. In 1982, Jones was in a car accident that caused serious physical injury and brain damage, rendering him unable to play fiddle and limiting his ability to play guitar. He was forced to abandon his professional career as a musician. He remained inactive for the following 28 years until his return to stage in 2010. He is lauded for his technically proficient finger picking style which is precise and rhythmic, similar to that of one of his greatest influences Martin Carthy. The Noah's Ark Trap has yet to be reissued and the record is sought after by collectors and hard to come by.

Highly recommended - get it here. And please forgive the light surface noise. If I ever find a cleaner copy, I'll be sure to upload a new transfer.

4 comments:

  1. Many thanks for this. Nic was one of the best singer-guitarists England ever produced and one of the nicest people as well, so it was tragic what happened to him. Also tragic is that the bastard who owns the rights to his music refuses to reissue it, so good on you.

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  2. Nic's old group was actually called The Halliard.

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