Talking Elephant 2026
Taking accordion to the forefront of English folk-rock, Fairporters’ associate crosses temporal frontiers in search of timelessness.
Winding To You
Dave Whetstone didn’t only play with such FAIRPORT CONVENTION offshoots as THE ALBION BAND and WAZ! and that band members’ solo projects – he composed several songs for the mothership per se, songs which landed on "Gladys' Leap" and a few other albums. The British musician’s own discography, however, seems rather short, with “Winding To You” arriving three decades after the veteran’s solo debut “The Resolution” saw the light of day. Whetstone might have been satisfied with dwelling in the shadow of his friends, yet he met a number of old acquaintances in 2025, when Dave took part in Ashley Hutchings’s anniversary bash, and thus the idea of a new song-cycle was born. Some of it will feel familiar, although spectacularly revitalized, to those who remember the likes of “Grandson Of Morris On”; but half of the pieces gathered here are fresh – if this word can describe material without an expiry date.
Still, the clue to the record is concealed in the solemnly uplifting “Always Chasing Rainbows” which Dave co-penned with the Guv’nor aeons ago and dusted off now to let the accordion, not the most prominent rock instrument, shimmer and shine alongside Cathy Lesurf’s angelic voice, Simon Nicol’s inspired strum and Dave Mattacks’s gentle beat in a more organic way than Whetstone’s free reeds sounded in the same company four decades back. It’s the quest for perfection and sense of own mortality, encapsulated in this song, that drives the whole album, yet there’s a lot of exhilarating tunes on it, too, from wordless opener “One For Dan” where his unhurried buttons excitedly direct the twang ‘n’ flow of Graeme Taylor’s acoustic and electric strings to the platter’s titular finale, where the wear ‘n’ tear in John Tams’s vocals render the tale of Dave’s grandparents especially poignant. But while there’s also belligerence in the riff-riding “Fanfare In G Halek Brawl” and in the jig of “Jolly Jolly Demons” which houses a sizzling Hammond, and while there’s elegy in the traditional “To Ireland” which Polly Bolton’s pipes take to the sky, the mournful “Turning Leaves” streams transparency in the pure-guitar arrangement, the absence of the composer’s licks emphasizing his talent as a writer.
So by the time “Feel So Young” arrives, Dave Whetstone’s existential outlook is apparent to everyone – yet it needs to be stated overtly for the listener to join in the refrain and enjoy life as much as this artist does. A most welcome return.
*****
