9. June TaborAirs & Graces
British folk vocalists probably had more of an influence on me than American folk vocalists. I love Sandy Denny, I love Maddy Prior, I love Shirley Collins, but there’s something about this record in particular that really captured me. I think it probably did have an influence on I Abused Animal without me thinking about it at the time. Even when I look at the cover, she’s got this kind of choker ribbon around her neck. She just looks so stunning, and she’s in this kind of void of black space. There is a gravitas to this record, with such minimal means. You can hear her breath, the reverb, the lips – there’s something that’s very close about the sound. Perhaps it gave me the confidence to sing acapella.
When I started listening to folk music, to hear the word Heather sung still has a little bit of frisson for me too, and I remember when I first heard ‘Queen Among the Heather’, there was kind of a thrill. I obviously knew Heather was a flower, but I didn’t realise it was this motif, so it had a power for me.
