Hiding Place
HIDING PLACE my favourite collaboration with John Clarke.
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GIG! Great Lawn Sessions 10 June 2021
THU 10 JUN: FIONN COX-DAVIES + KATIE WHITEHOUSE & FRIENDS
FOOD from 6pm (out on the lawn)
First set:
I’ll be joined by my a capella chorus, Heartwave, and guitarist Vince Iddon.
Second set: Fionn Cox-Davies
Fionn’s music sits in a modern-folk/experimental genre taking inspiration from the likes of Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Scott Walker. His songs are poetic autobiographies dealing with a range of topics from death and life to love and beyond, all set to intricate and explorative guitar melodies.
Having started singing as a choir boy, then moving on to musical theatre and Jazz, all the while listening to modern-folk, Fionn has a unique vocal style. Due partially to his many years of experience, his performance presence is confident and vulnerable as he shares with you his stories in all their colour.
LIKE A STAR (for Max)
Yesterday we gathered together in disbelief
held our breath
touched the cool of your waxy perfection
sang and spoke and cried
stroked your graceful clever hands
and your perfect unlined brow
Today we stumble bravely
into the epicentre of shared grief
all our arms and our collective minds
reach out, to hold
a family
and 18 years
A youthful group
stands apart
united in utter bewilderment
a tableau
a few skateboards propped
The word community
never felt so real, or so raw
We stand on grass
among the pines, the oaks and silver birch
watching the shovels of earth
and talking of ashes and of dust
Their turn now to hold your fine bones
and as many field daisies as we can find
go with you on your way
All the colours of the words we wrote
and flowers we painted will swirl
and be absorbed with you
into the lasting roots of plants and trees
Tomorrow, and forever
your lithe brightness
your music
and your smile will shine on in us
Meanwhile your soul’s already lifted
and settles like a star
Before the Crows Disappeared
Before the crows disappeared
a bent old man had been spotted
loitering in the town square
He scribbled in his notebook
as he squinted
and counted the birds high up on the castle wall
When he got to twelve
he glanced down again, shuddered
realizing he’d spelt out the words of a long forgotten curse
We all held our breath when the cat pounced
we knew that eleven had been bad
but ten would be worse
People started locking their doors at night
after they saw black feathers on the bench that Tuesday
Anna,seeking distraction
pulled the baker’s son behind the war memorial
they didn’t think anyone was looking
as they kissed goodbye to another shiny corvid soul
But the paper girl had been spying on them
and broadcast the news, spraying secrets
alongside her broadsheet deliveries,
as seven small shadows lengthened
on the road in the blazing afternoon sun
Precious metals, precious lives.
Two more down with the quick and innocent exchange
of rings in the church as the clock struck 4
and two more bite the dust as the rose petals fly and fall.
Jacks’s got a smile while Jill cries and the last bird falls.
Now we can’t even call it murder.
***
Katie Whitehouse May 2020