{"title":"Trevor Beales","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrevor Beales is a talented musician and songwriter known for his unique blend of folk, rock, and blues. With a soulful voice and captivating lyrics, Trevor's music resonates with listeners on a deep level. His heartfelt performances have earned him a dedicated fan base and critical acclaim in the industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally from [City], Trevor began his musical journey at an early age, honing his skills as a guitarist and vocalist. Drawing inspiration from artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Tom Waits, he developed his own distinct sound that showcases his raw talent and emotional depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOver the years, Trevor has released several albums that showcase his versatility as an artist. From introspective ballads to foot-stomping anthems, each song tells a story that captures the essence of the human experience. Whether performing solo or with his band, Trevor delivers unforgettable live shows that leave audiences wanting more.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"fireside-stories-hebden-bridge-circa-1971-1974","title":"Fireside Stories (Hebden Bridge Circa 1971-1974)","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnearthed tapes of a totally unknown teenager folk singer from early 1970s Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, England. A superb cache of ‘loner folk’ songs recorded in the early-70s by Hebden Bridge’s answer to \u003cstrong\u003eNick Drake\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eToday the valley town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire is world-renowned as something of a bohemian backwater. It wasn’t like this back in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, when a disparate selection of radicals, drop-outs, heads, musicians, artists, and writers started to be attracted to the Calder Valley. Local lad and future poet laureate \u003cstrong\u003eTed Hughes\u003c\/strong\u003e called the area “the fouled nest of industrialization”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOver time, those seeds of radicalism and collectivism ensured Hebden Bridge evolved into a place where people could be themselves and all shades of individual oddness not only tolerated but actively encouraged. But back at the turn of the dreary 1970s, it remained a monochrome world defined by its unforgiving surrounding landscapes, where the old gritstone over-dwellings were stained with soot and rain lashed down for weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt was here that \u003cstrong\u003eTrevor Beales\u003c\/strong\u003e, who was born in 1953, grew up, and from where he drew musical and lyrical inspiration. Perhaps it was this dual nationality heritage, unusual in the valley’s largely white working-class population at the time, that gave the teenager Trevor Beale’s music an outsider’s perspective. The discovery of \u003cem\u003eBob Dylan\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDjango Reinhardt\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Byrds\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eJames Taylor\u003c\/em\u003e at a young age led to him picking up a guitar at the age of ten, and he was soon writing his own originals and performing them at local (though often remote) folk clubs and pubs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in the attic of the family home at Ivy Bank in Charlestown on the verdant wooded slopes at the edge of Hebden Bridge between 1971 and 1974, these early recordings are collected here for the first time and mark Trevor Beales long-overdue solo debut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn these songs is a suffer-no-fools sense of realism that is defiantly Northern, yet also expresses a worldliness that belies Beales’ young years, whilst also showcasing an inherent storyteller’s ear for narrative. Here is a postcard from the past at that crucial musical period of transition, when the idealistic exponents of the 1960s emerged into an austere new decade that was to be shaped by strikes, rising unemployment, and economic upheaval.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo aspects of this music make it remarkable: Beales’ natural ability showcases a sophisticated guitar-picking style that was leagues ahead of many of his (older, more recognized) contemporaries. This is music that can confidently hold its own with pioneers such as \u003cstrong\u003eDavey Graham\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Chapman\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eDave Evans\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eBert Jansch\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eJackson C Frank\u003c\/strong\u003e, as influenced by jazz, blues, and steel guitar as any of the old songbook classics from ancient Albion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSecondly, his lyrics are a far cry from either the naïve bedroom scribblings of a teenager who has barely left his upland home, nor do they fall foul of the type of lazy cliches and sub-Tolkien imagery that was still in abundance in the early 1970s. Most remarkably the earliest songs here were laid down less than a year after he left school (an unearthed report written by his headteacher on July 3rd, 1970, noted he had “a considerable ability and interest in music”, though his education ended abruptly when he simply walked out of a science lesson one sunny day while at sixth form, never to return).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTrevor’s music is grounded in reality – his reality. ‘\u003cem\u003eThen I’ll Take You Home\u003c\/em\u003e’, for example, considers the Guru Marajai, who encouraged his acolytes to give over their worldly possessions, yet who drove a Rolls Royce and lived like a playboy. Unsurprisingly, this latest in a long line of spiritual charlatans found several followers in Hebden Bridge, and Beales casts a disdainful eye over the growing popularity for such false prophets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith its ancient narratives and propensity for myth-making, folk has certainly produced its fair share of cult figures who have enjoyed rediscovery or career resurgence and with this debut compilation of home recordings, rescued from cassette tapes, Trevor Beales might just be the latest addition. Certainly he was the real deal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrucially, Beales' music is never jaded or cynical, but instead possesses a poet’s ear, a strong sense of self, and some sound critical faculties. And much of it recorded at an age when he could neither vote nor order a pint of heavy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTrevor Beales\u003c\/strong\u003e died suddenly and unexpectedly on March 29th, 1987, aged 33. He left behind Christine and their young child Lydia.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Basin Rock","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50895316648267,"sku":"2001199","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50895315632459,"sku":"2001198","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/BR015CD_0c1961d6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1732652985"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_8991c923_thumbnail_4096_5448aa2c-fc5d-44e8-90ae-698ee437751f.jpg?v=1732652958","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/trevor-beales.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}