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Lindisfarne's Rod Clements releases first solo album Lindisfarne's Rod Clements stepped forward to take up writing, and fronting one of folk rock's most enduring names, Lindisfarne, on the death of Alan Hull in 1995. Rather than fall apart as many do when a mainstay goes, Lindisfarne forged on, fortified by Clement's assured contribution to writing and an increasing prominence within the line-up. Which brings us to 2000, and a first solo album, Stamping Ground, in which Rod Clements steps out with a clutch of contemporary, finely-crafted songs. They owe as much to Rod's roots in the blues as his love for the folk tradition and the history of his native Northumberland, in north east England. The album, released this September on the Market Square label (MSMCD107) with UK distribution through Koch International, features twelve brand new songs from Rod with contributions from Nigel Stonier (who wrote many of the songs on Lindisfarne's Here Comes The Neighbourhood and also produced Stamping Ground) and Dave Denholm.
Two tracks here, Old Blue Goose and Hattie McDaniel (a song about the first black artist to win an Oscar) feature just Rod's voice and dobro, while for more rock-oriented tracks like Whisky Highway, Blue Interior, Whole Lifestyle Thing and Black Rain, Rod fronts a band built around Dave Denholm and Ian Thomson on guitars and bass, backed by 10cc's Paul Burgess on drums. Two songs on the new album are based on North East England themes: Charity Main and Roads of East Northumberland, which features acclaimed instrumentalist Kathryn Tickell on Northumbrian pipes. Rod recalls a Lindisfarne tour of 1985 when the band supported The Byrds' Gene Clark on Cowboy In The Rain (which also features Sid Griffin on autoharp), while on We Have To Talk, he shares lead vocals with rising star Thea Gilmore, on whose own new album Rod plays bass and dobro. Stamping Ground features two acoustic band tracks in One More Night With You and Stamping Ground, the latter being one of three tracks on the album featuring the talents of Glasgow-based blues harmonica virtuoso Fraser Speirs, whom Rod met when working with Bert Jansch. In Stamping Ground, Rod Clements forges a rich, contemporary collection of songs of real depth and quality.
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