My weakness has always been English folk music. Everything from English folk-rock, to traditional English folk, I know next to nothing! (Some people would say Ewan MacColl is English folk, but like Duncan McFarlane, his folks were from Scotland.) ,Anyway, I’m quite thankful a little ditty came in the mail from Leeds to help me expand my musical horizons. To explain the Duncan McFarlane Band’s sound goes something like this: Roaring Jack walks into a pub & meets Warblefly for a few pints, then decide to leave together to watch a Fairport Convention gig. It also helps that Alistair Hulett, (Roaring Jack) contributes to the vocals on half a dozen tracks. Add on top of that, contributions from ex-Battlefield Band member, Alistair Russell, and you have your self some talented Alistairs here.

Even though this is the debut album from the band, Mr. McFarlane has been around since the early 70’s. In 1974 he formed a pub-rock/college circuit band called Luigi Ana Da Boys, and caught the ear of the late, great, John Peel. The song “Feeling The Ceiling” received some decent airplay on BBC Radio One. After playing in numerous bands, such as: Sharp Practice, A New Opera, & Another Way. Duncan retired from the rock circuit in 1994, (Due to back problems) and within a year started attending various folk festivals.(No need to carry amps!)

The album, “The Woodshed Boys” contain twelve tracks, & the running time clocks in a roughly sixty minutes. Stand out tracks include: “Bring ‘Em Down”, “The Woodshed Boys”, “Canadee-I-O” & “A Jug O This”. The album can be heard on the BBC, and other radio stations across Britain. (So when you’re not listening to the Shite’n’Onions radio station, tune into BBC and check them out.) For more detail on the lyrics to “The Woodshed Boys” & other albums, check out the website

November 2014

Review by: Brian Gillespie