In 2024, my good friend Johnny Campbell released 'True North', a truly unique project comprising an album of field recorded traditional songs from each respective Northern English county, recorded on or around the highest point of each county, along with a wonderful accompanying book filled with a wealth of incredible photographs and information.
I was delighted and honoured to be approached and asked by Johnny to be involved in this fascinating and worthy project but he put me through one hell of a tough experience in order to achieve my contribution, so I think it only fair that I tell the tale of how it came about...
One bright day, Johnny and me embarked together on a bold mission to scale Mickle Fell, the highest mountain peak in my home county of Durham, as part of Johnny's recording project 'True North'. The plan was that we would record ourselves performing a duet of 'The Oakey Strike Evictions', the song he had chosen to represent County Durham, from the summit of Mickle Fell. 'The Oakey Strike Evictions' was written just over a hundred years ago by the late great Tommy Armstrong, a.k.a. "The Pitman Poet" or "The Bard of the Northern Coalfield". I was very familiar with the song, having previously recorded it myself back in the dim and distant past for The Whisky Priests debut album 'Nee Gud Luck' in 1989.
With instruments and recording equipment strapped to our backs we set off on foot from the nearby public car park, following the footpath in a winding yet fascinating route towards the foot of the mountain.
The River Tees flows along the foot of Mickle Fell and public access to Mickle Fell is limited, so when we reached the river, we were forced to take a right-angled turn for what seemed to me a brutal walk of endless miles around the mountain to get to the nearest footbridge in order to cross. Once we'd crossed the river, we were finally able to ascend.
The climb was steep, whilst the ground was rugged and boggy, and with our backs laden with gear, it was quite a challenge. Johnny, a seasoned rambler and around 20 years my junior, found the going a lot easier than yours truly, and as he effortlessly and tirelessly forged ahead like a mountain goat on speed, I did my best to power on, aching and breathless, in a vain attempt to keep up, all the while looking daggers into his back and cursing him for putting me through this punishing regime!!
So, it was with great relief on my part when we finally reached the summit and I was able to enjoy a few minutes wandering around, taking in the glorious view and reflecting on our achievement thus far. There were one or two other adventurous souls around who'd scaled the summit and were likewise taking in the views around them. They looked at us with mild curiosity but nothing more, who knows what they most have thought of us?
It wasn't long, however, before we began setting up to record. After such a long and drawn-out effort to reach the summit, once we got there everything happened very quickly. After three rapid-fire takes of 'Oakey's Strike', with Johnny on guitar, me on mandolin, and the pair of us on vocals, Johnny decided he had what he needed and we were done, no fuss, no bother. I'd done my best to stay focussed, trying not to collapse from exhaustion, as I fumbled my way through each take. We repacked all the equipment and without further ado headed back down. All at once, I was feeling drained, relieved, bewildered and light-headed and as my physical body blundered its way to the bottom, my mind seemed to float down.
As we neared the car park, Johnny had one last surprise for me and it was a true delight. He'd managed to spot a beautiful tiny blue flower, the Spring Gentian, an extremely rare flower in Britain that grows exclusively in Upper Teasdale and is the floral emblem of County Durham. It was quite a thrill.
By the time we got back to the car, it was evening time and we had hiked a colossal, to me at least, distance of somewhere between 22-26 miles (I can't recall the exact distance, Johnny could probably tell you better than me but it was definitely in that ballpark), almost the length of a full marathon. In our battle to conquer Mickle Fell and make musical history in the process (surely we are the first, the only, and quite possibly the last people to embark on such a musical journey - come on, prove me wrong!), we had won, but unlike poor old Pheidippides, we had survived to fight another day.
This was without a doubt, the most unique and challenging recording session of my musical career to date, and an experience I will never forget. So thanks Johnny for the opportunity to add another hard-won stitch to the tapestry of my life. Was it worth it? Definitely. Would I do it again? No f***ing way!!!!
To order 'True North', click the image of the album cover (above) or CLICK HERE.
A fabulous accompanying book is also available.