Gravel Road

ABOUT

Gravel Road plays traditional folk, bluegrass and sea shanties!

The band consists of Nielen Prinsloo, Rob Anderson, Neil Harvey, John Bolton and Madeleine Ginn. The band plays regularly at the Aegir Brewery in Noordhoek every Saturday. Expect some general foot tapping fun!

The Gravel Road repertoire includes traditional folk, bluegrass, sea shanties, instrumental pieces, a capellas and some contemporary material. Each member plays an instrument as well as singing, giving a full sound with multiple harmonies. The instrument lineup comprises guitar, banjo, mandolin, double bass, flute, whistles, mouth organ and ukulele. For each song or tune the arrangement is largely determined by the genre. Typically, Irish songs will require guitar, mandolin, whistle or flute and double bass, as will most of the folk songs. Bluegrass is a spin-off of American country roots music, originally popularised by Bill Monroe. This genre takes its name from his band, the Blue Grass Boys, who named their group for the bluegrass of Monroe's home state of Kentucky. It usually features banjo and mandolin together with the double bass, guitar and strong vocal harmonies. The a capella component of the band’s repertoire covers gospel, sea shanties and traditional English and Irish folk songs.

The members of Gravel Road are:-

Neil and Nielen, who were longtime members of the Cape Town group Blacksmith. They have played together since the mid-1970s at various local music venue, most notably at The Chelsea Arms during the late ‘70s. During the ‘80s Blacksmith recorded three videos for the SABC. Neil occasionally performs with well-known Cape Town folk group, Jenny and the Jameses. Nielen has also performed with guitarist Steve Newman and with David Kramer at the Baxter Theatre and Carnegie Hall, New York. Blacksmith regularly collaborated with the Cape Town Highlanders’ pipe band at the Knysna Folk Festival.

Similarly, John and Rob are ex-members of Cape Town folk group Shanty, who will be remembered by some as a regular fixture in the Irish tent at Maynardville Carnival in Wynberg. Both are marine biologists (specialising in seaweeds!). Rob cites his grandfather as an early musical influence, who sang music-hall ditties and Robbie

Burns songs and whistled traditional tunes. More recently a founder of Gravel Road, he claims to “retain a weakness for the melodrama of sea-shanties!” John, a born Lancastrian, has extensive experience singing in choirs such as the Cape Town Male Voice Choir, singing with the London Welsh Choir of the World in London in 2012 and on a tour of Argentina/Uruguay in 2017. He adds: “Being in a folk band where five of us sing in harmony is a real highlight.”

Madeleine Ginn joined Gravel Road a couple of years ago, from the False Bay Folk Club. She lists her musical influences as Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Joan Baez, Nanci Griffiths, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Crosby Stills. Maddy was with the dance band Back- to-Back for about 10 years as a resident band at the Paulaner

Brauhaus in the V&A Waterfront, also collaborating with the Cape Town Highlanders at the Kirstenbosch summer concerts. “Now I'm in my happy place with Gravel Road”, says Maddy.

Gravel Road has played regularly at the Aegir Brewery in Noordhoek for the past seven years and continues to do so. Keep an eye on the calendar of the False Bay Folk Club, where they also occasionally perform. A recent tour of a few Klein Karoo towns was hugely enjoyable and they hope to repeat that sometime soon!