James Blackshaw (uk)
Proudly announcing our second collaboration with VIERNULVIER, a blissful dive into the world of folk guitar with James Blackshaw! For the past 3 years, we’ve been asking our generous hosts VIERNULVIER (404 in Dutch, the art institution in residence at De Vooruit), to organise 3 sets designed to bring far-out sounds to the festival and engage our audience in a different, yet just as compelling, kind of conversation. One per day, these shows are a unique opportunity for us to invite artists who normally would not be able to feature on our programming, and for you to discover something new and exclusive as most of these shows are designed just for this festival.
Without further ado, we’re proud to introduce James Blackshaw, an English guitarist known for his fingerpicking prowess and predilection for 12-string acoustic guitars. Hailing from Hastings UK, James captures a certain folkish aura through his elaborate yet minimal compositions, which often only feature his sole guitar, or simple backing arrangements. It’s hard not to hear distant echos of English traditional music, and think of wind-strikes cliffs, emerald green and roaring waves, while James strikes and strokes and picks his chords, and brings back to a time not quite far yet not quite so close either.
In addition to their evocative nature, these compositions possess a calming and soothing quality, and through delicate loops and intricate fingerpicked melodies, soften even the strongest of aches. Its healing nature is what makes James’ music so incredibly compelling; behind a veil of “simple, stripped-back” guitar melodies there’s a whole world to be discovered. Blissfully dreamy compositions like “The Cloud Of Unknowing” are a masterful example of James’ unparalleled quality as a silent storyteller. Simply put, the whole album sounds like flying over England on a pillow of clouds, for its rich and lush compositions never fail to grasp the listener and wrap them them in a warm embrace, transporting them to these untamed lands. Immerse yourself in these tranquil soundscapes and feel free to get lost, James will guide you through a journey of introspection and self-discovery and safely back to more familiar surroundings.
His latest release “Unraveling in your Hands” is perhaps his most ambitious yet, and features a (gently) sprawling 26-minute long acoustic guitar suite as well as a mystic organ and wind instrument composition that is as soothing as it is… well, unravelling. What is there to be seen, heard or found behind this veil of notes? Feel free to discover for yourself, the artist is simply providing a prompt.
As further proof of his innate storytelling qualities, in 2014 as part of the celebration of the centenary of Louis Feuillade’s Fantômas silent film series, James was tasked with scoring the silent movie “Fantômas: Le Faux Magistrat” delivering a truly thrilling composition! Blendeing Brazilian guitar music with musique concrete and French impressionism and surrealism, this soundtrack offered a unique sonic perspective of a cult classic, infusing new life into it. Haunting, eerie yet profoundly touching and moving, his collaboration laid bare the profound humanity of even the worst and most sinister “monsters” leaving us spellbound. And spellbound we can only wait and see what James will choose to perform for us from his vast and extremely rich repertoire.
We are proud to present this exclusive performance in collaboration with Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER.