Older News |
This is the older news page check out the home page for the very latest news. October 2009 New edition of the 'Midsummers' Limited edition CD now available. We have now put together a second limited edition run of the Midsummers CD following the first edition's completely selling out a couple of months ago, and it can now be purchased from our web shop. The 2nd handcrafted edition is identical to the first edition except that the 2nd edition is not numbered. So thanks to everyone who has enquired about a 2nd edition following the original edition selling out. (Standard jewel case editions are still available in our our web shop).For full information, track listing, and some rather lovely reviews of Midsummers, check out the releases section. A selection of tracks from 'midsummers' are available to listen to at The Rowan Amber Mill myspace page and also on The Rowan Amber Mill Reverb Nation page Recording, Expansion and Gigging Recording: October finds us in the studio starting to record 12 tracks for our album which will be released early in 2010. At this early stage it's all going incredibly well. If you'd like to follow the minutiae of what we are doing in the studio check out The Rowan Amber Mill Twitter page and occasional photos will appear on The Rowan Amber Mill Facebook page, and we'll let you hear some Work In Progress songs somewhere (sign up to our Mailing list to hear where it maybe first). Expansion: We are delighted to announce the arrival of our fourth member Sharon, who neatly completes the circle. A multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso recorder player she is a welcome addition to the band, and in the short time that she has joined she has already made a real impact on the music and it is a delight to be making music with her. Latest News September 2009 'Midsummers' Limited edition CD Sold Out. It seems peculiarly apt that just as we officially move into Autumn, the limited edition version midsummers has now completely sold out (standard jewel case editions are still available in our our web shop). A big thanks to everyone who has bought either editions of the CD, and thanks also for all the lovely messages you have sent to us about it - we truly appreciate it. We have also just been added to CDbaby, so you can purchase and download Midsummers direct from there - check out The Rowan Amber Mill on CDbaby, it is also available from iTunes and will shortly be avaiable from a whole host of other download sites. For full information, track listing, and some rather lovely reviews of Midsummers, check out the releases section. A selection of tracks from 'midsummers' are available to listen to at The Rowan Amber Mill myspace page and also on The Rowan Amber Mill Reverb Nation page Latest News June 2009 The Rowan Amber Mill CD 'midsummers' is available to now. Our 10 track debut CD, entitled midsummers, which we have been earnestly putting together over the last three months was released on 24th June (Midsummers Day). The songs on the CD are themed around feelings and elements emanating from Summer.
There are 2 different editions available. The first is a very special first run edition (limited to 50) handcrafted gatefold slipcase made from 100% recycled chipboard with expanded artwork and sleeve notes. Now Sold Out. The standard edition is presented in a jewel case and will be available from 24th June. Both editions are available right here from our web shop. For full information, track listing, and some rather lovely reviews of Midsummers, check out the releases section. A selection of tracks from 'midsummers' are available to listen to at The Rowan Amber Mill myspace page and also on The Rowan Amber Mill Reverb Nation page Order the 'midsummers' CD here.The Rowan Amber are recruiting. The Rowan Amber Mill are currently recruiting for extra musicians, so if you live in the Devon / Cornwall end of the South West and you can sing or play violin or percussion (or flute or autoharp etc), and want to join us in our musical reveries, then please do drop us a line via our contact form. May 2009 Our debut CD, entitled midsummers, which we have been earnestly putting together over the last three months is nearing completion. The CD will be released on 24th June (Midsummers Day) and will be available to pre-order from our website. The songs on the CD are all loosely themed around Summer, and as those of you who have followed us on our Twitter feed will have read, the recording has been a blast. Stay tuned for further news of the CD. To be the first to hear the full details of the CD, its release dates / pre-ordering and forthcoming live dates sign up to our mailing list. The Rowan Amber are recording. The Rowan Amber Mill are currently in the "studio" recording a number of tracks for some forthcoming releases that will be released over the coming months. You can follow the progress in minute detail over on The Rowan Amber Mill Twitter page, and also in Photographic form over on The Rowan Amber Mill Facebook page, plus hear the progress on The Rowan Amber Mill Reverb Nation page. To be the first to hear the details of the CD release dates / pre-ordering and forthcoming live dates sign up to our mailing list. Older News New places to hear The Rowan Amber Mill music. Firstly, The Rowan Amber Mill have some music and pictures now in place a Last FM so check it out at The Rowan Amber Mill on Last FM. There may be some other things added there soon - once we've worked out what it is all about. It seems like a lovely place to be and there is loads of great music there - both new and old.
Firstly, out of the USA, comes A Darker Shade Of Pagan, and internet based radio show playing some fine dark underground music including all of our faves like Espers, Marissa Nadler, Ex Reverie etc. The 60 minute show is magically hosted by the magnificently Lebowskieqsue Jason Pitzl-Waters, and is available to download via the podcast direct from the A Darker Shade Of Pagan website.
Those folks at Sideways Through Sound have also released a rather wonderful limited edition double CD set featuring some top weird folkists (including some of our own faves such as Arborea, Silver Pines and The Gentle Good). Our own track on the compilation is 'Blood and Blones' and it appears on CD for the first (and only) time. The CD is available via the official Sideways Through Sound myspace page and also from the official Sideways Through Sound home page. There you will find more details and a full tracklisting. Check it out. The legendary Terrascope Online (Terrascopic Magazine) reviewed our track Blood and Bones on the compilation and said "Working to an epic scale, The Rowan Amber Mill are intense and magnificent on “Blood and Bones”, a hypnotic banjo adding menace to the tune, whilst an incessant drone nags away at the back of your mind ". |
Also fans of the transistor radio (and its internet equivalent) will be pleased to hear of a couple of shows from opposite sides of the world who regularly play The Rowan Amber Mill music on their shows. 
Even Older News January 2009. The Rowan Amber Mill are slowly emerging from their wintry slumbers. New recordings are beginning to emerge and will continue to do so over the next few months alongside preparations for some live dates later in the year - more news soon.
So what is so great about the indmill site? (well quite a lot of things actually). Firstly, their downloads are very reasonably priced at £1.25 / $1.70 per album and £0.45p / $0.70 per single / e.p. Secondly, the music is available at higher bit rates than other download sites - either cd quality 320kbs or near as dammit 256kbs. Thirdly, the artist gets 90% of the proceeds of the sales. Fourthly, the site is also geared towards a percentage of each and every sale being made to charitable organisations. What more incentive do you need? You could say that this is what post-medieval society has been waiting for. We are very pleased and honoured to have our music made available on such a fantastic site. So why not check out The Rowan Amber Mill page at the indmill and get some music. August 2008 (i)- Lots of things are happening, Firstly you may have noticed a name change, The Amber Folk Mill are now called The Rowan Amber Mill, just because we liked the sound of that better. Also we have finished three new versions of tracks (The Hunter, Saturnalia and A Miller's Tale) based on the original recorded demos. You will be able to download the tracks shortly as they are being made available on a new ethical downloads site - which is nice. The four of us will be recording some new tracks shortly, which we'll let you know more about soon. June 2008 (ii) - Just to let you know the music of The Rowan Amber Mill will be played on the radio on 2SER 107.3, Sydney, Australia on at 22.00 on Monday 30th June on the lovely Sideways Through Sound show. For those who don't know, Sideways Through Sound is a gorgeous show playing a wide range of pyschedelic-folk tunes. It is now being streamed on the internet so it can be heard all over the world (and beyond) on the 2SER website. If you want to tune in you will need to adjust your timepieces. If you are in the UK tune in at 13.00. Berlin 14.00. USA - NY 08.00, SF 05.30 etc. June 2008 (i) - The Rowan Amber Mill has expanded into a quartet. Joining Stephen, Kim and Terry is percussionist Donna. Check out the links page for Donna's home page and myspace site. April 2008 - If you find yourself in Sydney, Australia on 24th April between 22.00 & 00.00, you you would be wise to tune in to the lovely Sideways Through Sound radio show on 99.3FM Sydney. The show plays superb selections of fingerpicking acoustic / psychedelic music - what could be better. This weeks show will include a track from The Rowan Amber Mill. If you don't find yourself in Sydney - as you were. March 2008 - The The Rowan Amber Mill has expanded into a trio. Joining Stephen in the band is a proper singer, guitarist and recorder player extroadinaire - Kim, and a proper Bass player / percussionist - Terry. The band have had a couple of get togethers and are casually going through a dozen original songs with a view to recording them (soon) and playing them live (soonish). The lyrics to the new songs appear on the new Lyrics page. There are also some new pics on the Images page. December 2007 - In early December 2007, The Rowan Amber Mill were transported (against our will) to a remote Cider Apple orchard in Devon, where local natives forced us to perform a Wassail to the spirit of the Apple King. The results of which is our version of the medieval traditional English song Wassail that we have now posted up. A local shepherd came along to play his pipes, and 107 accordions played along to the song (although 104 of them are completely silent). We all managed to escape in the back of a Tesco's lorry that had come to pick up the Apple harvest. September 2007 (ii) - Just posted up on the Music Player page is the latest track - Spinning n Singing. The song is a song of devotion to the beautiful countryside of Trumptonshire. The banjo was taken out of semi retirement and dusted it off for this one, plus some added melodica, bouzouki, paint pot percussion and sticks. I have also included an instrumental mix of the track for those who like that sort of thing. September 2007 - Just posted up on the Music Player page is the latest completed track entitled Saturnalia. This has been the most difficult track ever to mix (and will no doubt have to mixed again properly before too long). Musically its pretty stripped down to acoustic guitar, some rough strings, harp with some meaty percussion and a cidered up cornet. August 2007(ii) - Just posted up on the Music Player page is the latest completed track entitled A Millers Tale. Musically it features lead Glockenspiel, diatonic Accordion, cheap Mandolin and even cheaper furniture. Lyrically its either a revenge tale or its a retrospective plea for social justice during the late medieval period - just like the rest of the songs - tee hee! August 2007 (i)- Back from seeing some great bands play at the Green Man Festival in beautiful Wales. Personal highlights included Men-an-Tol, P.G. Six, Thistletown, Tunng, The Lilac Time and a superb set by Findlay Brown. Lowlights included the mud by the end of the festival. Roll on Moseley. July 2007 - Recording continues. Now posted up on the Music Player page is the latest completed track entitled Blood and Bones. Those with a keen ear will detect the presence of Mellotron Violins, a Flemish Bagpipe drone, Woodblocks and old paint pots stacked on the floor of a shed. June 2007 - The cyber home of The Rowan Amber Mill, purveyors of Pastoral Folkadelica, now open's it doors. Cogs are turning, songs have been written, olde instruments have been dusted off, and tape machines are whirring (or to put it simply some new music is being recorded - as we speak). One tune has been posted up - The Hunter (featuring Terry - former miller drummer - on drums), some more tunes will be posted up soon. |
