The Hermon, Oswestry, booked as venue for Shropshire launch of Jonathan Day's new album 'a Spirit Library'

Following Carved in Bone and Atlantic Drifter, border based singer songwriter Jonathan Day will celebrate the launch of his third studio album a Spirit Library with a concert at The Hermon, Oswestry on Thursday 25 April. 

Recorded in two diverse locations - SFG studio in the Berwyn Mountains and The Magic Garden, Wolverhampton, the collection of songs were written while out walking and sitting alone on cliffs and among forests and hills near to his home on the Shropshire/Wales border.

Day also found inspiration for lyrics from a variety of people including a seventh century Gaelic poet, the memoirs of Everest explorers Mallory and Irvine, Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, Mary Webb’s Gone To Earth, words and stories from Tlingit, Khoisan and Jero speakers, and the philosophical musings and wisdom of Black Elk, a Lakota visionary.

There is an interesting collection of instruments on a Spirit Library sourced from musicians and traders while on his worldwide travels and tours. These include a gu zheng from Kowloon, a tanpura from Chennai, a pair of iron gongs from Bali, a saung gauk harp from Myanmar and a butterfly dulcetina from Kalighat in India. These sit surprisingly easily alongside his 1964 Burns guitar and a percussion section stolen from his kitchen!

Describing the concept behind the a Spirit Library Jonathan Day said: “It’s a place half real, half magical, to preserve the ideas and ideals of all that’s wonderful and enduring about humanity;  literature, painting, medicine, music, kindness, empathy, science, philosophy; and to keep what’s good about us safe and alive when everything we hold dear seems so under threat. The individual songs happen in rooms or spaces within and extending from the library. The atrium, where the Kailash Maake string quartet performs an opening piece of welcome, is an entry point, if you like.“

A short documentary by Henry Rose entitled Singing Into Silence, about the making of the album and Jonathan Day’s song writing process can be seen HERE. Jonathan Day performs Pipistrelle Fly Beneath A Vault Of Stars HERE and a video of Cajsa’s Tears (Les Mariées Perdues) is available to view HERE.

Pre-release reviews of a Spirit Library include the following:

‘Day’s guitar playing evokes John Martyn, a perfect foil for perfectly matched phrases which tumble out to form a seamless mosaic and illuminate the deepest musings of the soul.’  R2 Magazine

‘Day’s song writing and vocal delivery is strangely reminiscent of Nick Cave’s quieter moments, albeit with an approach that is more impressionistic and more optimistic.’ Folk Radio

a Spirit Library is out on the NiiMiika label and available to pre order online at www.jonathanday.net.

Jonathan’s band The Arctic Cloudberries will accompany him at The Hermon on Thursday 25 April, with support from Vin Whyte. Early bird tickets are £8 for the first 30 purchased, £5 for U16s and the remainder £11 in advance and on the door, available online at  www.hermonchapel.com or via the box office 01691 662196.