Lewis Barfoot: Delivering ‘pure folk’
Described as “one of the most important voices in contemporary Irish music” by Fatea magazine, angelic singer-songwriter Lewis Barfoot is on an 11-date UK solo tour, which includes a stop in Cambridge.
Born in London (her mum came to the capital from Ireland in the 60s), Lewis grew up in Walthamstow, on the edge of Epping Forest. She now lives in Cork in the Republic of Ireland.
But it was from Dublin where she spoke to the Cambridge Independent. “I was on the radio yesterday [in Dublin] doing a live session,” says the friendly musician, who has released two albums to date: 2021’s Glenaphuca and 2023’s Home.
“My new record is out tomorrow, so I’ve been dropping it off at all the record stores – it was fun actually.”
The ‘new record’ is the vinyl version of Home.
“We had this terrible saga where the pressing company, Dublin Vinyl, liquidated and I lost £2,000 to them and didn’t get a record for my tour last year,” she says.
“So I had to find another £2,500 to get 200 copies pressed, with a company outside of Ireland – and I’ve done that, so it wasn’t a good experience but it’s a good result!
“I’ve got the records in the end, so I’m celebrating that and letting the debacle of the process pass.”
On her tour, which kicked off last Thursday (7 November) in London, Lewis is accompanying herself on nylon-string guitar and shruti box and is sharing songs from her forthcoming EP, The Old Bog Road.
“I’m not going to release the EP until 2025, I’m just teasing singles,” she notes, “I’m drip-feeding singles out to the public this year and I’ll probably slip another single out in January – and then release the EP in the springtime. But I’m being very coy and slow about it!”
The EP’s title track was put out as a single on Friday (8 November). “It’s a triple single,” explains Lewis, “so it’s the single of The Old Bog Road with the two other singles from the EP so far on it as well, and then the full EP will come out with a few more tracks next year.”
Although the majority of the tour – including the Cambridge show – involves Lewis performing solo on stage, she also had a rather interesting gig last Saturday (9 November) with an all-male voices choir, the Côr Meibion Gwalia Choir, at the London Welsh Centre.
“They got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to collaborate with them, and I was like ‘That sounds amazing’.
“They’d recorded with the band Stornoway and so they sent me some tracks and I said ‘Look, I would love to collaborate but at the moment it might just have to be live rather than recordings’.
“So they’ve invited me to headline a night and then they’re going to join me for a couple of tracks, singing live with me and then I’ll be in Cambridge the Sunday after.”
The Old Bog Road is a collection of a cappella traditional folk songs from Ireland and the UK that explore themes of love, longing and lament.
“After Home I wanted to… I felt like I’d left a little bit of my folk behind, as I focused on that project,” explains Lewis, “so I wanted to gift some folk to the world, because that’s something I do very well and it’s very much my roots.
“So I wanted to deliver pure folk – me and my voice, nothing else, just to enjoy the simplicity of where it all comes from.”
Lewis Barfoot will be appearing at Hank’s Dirty Cambridge, on Lensfield Road, on Sunday (17 November).
“We’re going to have a table set up for people to paint whilst the gig’s happening,” she reveals, “I’ve got a couple of friends who live in Cambridge who are fine artists, so we’re going to have space for people to paint and respond to the show!
“It sounds like 70s New York, a bit of a salon or something… we’re not providing paint but if there are artists who want to come and paint or draw in small books – not massive canvases – they are very welcome.”
Entry to the gig is free, although there will be a tip jar. For more information, visit lewisbarfoot.com/event-details/solo-uk-tour-cambridge.
