Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay is the eponymous collaboration from the guitarists, their first since 2018’s ‘The Hawksworth Grove Sessions’ and their debut for Topic Records. Postponed for two years due to the small matter of a global pandemic, finally, as some semblance of normality took shape, in February 2022, the duo headed into Giant Wafer Studios, mid-Wales, with very little rehearsal time and recorded the entire album live, with no edits or overdubs over three days.
Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay are both prolific, praised and established artists in their own right. Hailing from South Yorkshire, Ghedi’s previous work has often been instrumental, exploring the natural world and his relationship to it, as seen on 2018’s A Hymn For Ancient Land but also developing into using his voice, songwriting and traditional material on his more recent album, ‘In The Furrows Of Common Place’.
Toby Hay, hailing from the Cambrian mountains, professes likewise, that the landscape serves as eternal muse and the spiritual groundwork of his entrancing guitar playing which has dazzled critics and listeners alike throughout his career. All of this makes their collaboration with the world’s oldest independent label and custodians of UK folk music, Topic Records, a natural home for this exceptional record.
UPC: 714822046152 (CD) | 714822186155 (LP)
Catalogue Number: TSCD615 (CD) | TXLP615 (LP)
Release Date: 26 May 2023