Tamar – a blend of west country folk, Celtic and Americana
Oliver Wheeldon and Barney Kenny met three years ago at a music session in The Drake Manor Inn, Buckland Monachorum. Realising they were both young singer/songwriters, with similar tastes in music they struck up a friendship and eventually formed west country folk band, Tamar. Oliver was still at university in Manchester and Barney was working in Cumbria so it wasn’t until about a year ago that they decided to go full-time with the band and give it their best shot. They started out by performing at lots of open mic sessions until their reputation for a fusion of west country folk, Celtic and Americana gradually started to get them noticed. Mad Dog Mcrea invited them to play at a few of the group’s gigs and since then events have snowballed for Tamar - the band is now booked at a gig most nights of the week.
Tamar launched its first album, ‘A Long Way from Home’ in May 2017 with a sell-out event at The Whiskey Jar in Manchester. Both Oliver and Barney wrote songs for the album, composing the music and writing the lyrics around the concept of missing home, telling stories about the people of Devon and Cornwall intertwined with historical events, rural traditions and folklore. Their first collection of songs is the result of a year’s composition, although the actual recording and production took place in a very intensive couple of weeks spent in Oliver’s garage! The album features Barney’s ‘She Moves’, a Dartmoor themed song and Oliver’s ‘Farewell Plymouth Sound’, based on his grandfather’s tales of life in Plymouth following the Blitz. The band has been on tour to promote the CD, playing all over the UK, including Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Cumbria, as well as a host of favourite west country venues. Tamar was also recently chosen to play at one of the first events to be held at the Dartmoor Whisky Distillery in Bovey Tracey.
Oliver and Barney will be playing gigs in January at The Brooke Inn, Plympton and Meavy Parish Hall (26 January) so keep an eye on Tamar’s Facebook page for more details. Tamar’s debut album 'A Long Way from Home' is also available to stream and download from Itunes and Spotify.