Rag Foundation - The Sparrow & The Thief

Rag Foundation have come a long way since forming as a Celtic-tinged folk duo in Swansea, gathering fans and a rhythm section along the way, with a singer who channels Tom Jones through folk anthems with a melodic and indie inspired twist.

This is music that is made far away from the mainstream, but like a lot of music, it is picking up fans across national radio, firmly pushing the five members, Neil Woolard (vocals), Richard Cowell (guitar & vocals), Daniel Kilbride (bass & vocals), Kate Ronconi (fiddle, banjo, keys & vocals) and Huw Rees (percussion & vocals), into the national spotlight. Like a lot of recent musical projects, The Sparrow & The Thief has been partially crowdfunded, with a limited number of physical copies, but the album has been lovingly crafted, which each track given space to develop.

With influences ranging from the traditional Welsh folk song, to the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Fleet Foxes, Mumford and Sons, and a more subdued Fleetwood Mac, it is the vocal harmonies that the five singers achieve that is probably their biggest selling point. Songs such as opener ‘First Day of September’, or the radio friendly ‘Keep the Lights Low’ mix with songs of deeper, and far darker themes, such as ‘Freedom is a Stranger’, where the ensembles true roots in folk emerge.

The deft guitar of Richard Cowell, mixes well with the fiddle, banjo and keyboards of Kate Ronconi, whilst the playing of the rhythm section is at once both subdued and buoyant adding stylistically correct colouring and depth to the already well crafted songs. This is an album that is bound to appeal to folk fans, but it is more than that, this is music written and played by grown ups for grown ups who are willing to take a chance on something.

The Sparrow & The Thief is available from Amazon and iTunes.