{"title":"Toby Hay","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToby Hay is a talented musician known for his intricate and emotive guitar playing. Hailing from Wales, he draws inspiration from the rich folk traditions of his homeland. With a delicate touch and a deep understanding of melody, Toby creates captivating compositions that transport listeners to another time and place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis music has been compared to artists such as Jim Ghedi, Gwenifer Raymond, and Nathan Salsburg, who share his passion for storytelling through instrumental music. Toby's unique style blends elements of traditional folk with contemporary influences, resulting in a sound that is both timeless and innovative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether performing solo or collaborating with other musicians, Toby's performances are always mesmerizing. His live shows have earned him a dedicated following and critical acclaim. Fans of Bill MacKay, James Elkington, and Glenn Jones will find much to love in Toby's evocative melodies and masterful technique.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-longest-day","title":"The Longest Day","description":"\u003cp\u003eHay’s debut, \u003ci\u003eThe Gathering\u003c\/i\u003e, was an earthy gem of 2017. Now Hay returns with The Longest Day, recorded live over four days in Giant Wafer studios in Wales and mixed by Toby’s brother Tim. Its release coincides with the summer solstice, and it is another bright offering, both more celebratory and more urgent than its predecessor. Hay is a 12 string guitarist and his style, with its penchant for unusual tunings, is all his own. His distinctive sound often comes from a desire to make his guitar sound like another instrument altogether. He engages with landscapes and their inhabitants, and while \u003ci\u003eThe Gathering\u003c\/i\u003e painted a musical portrait of Hay’s home, the scope of The \u003ci\u003eLongest Day\u003c\/i\u003e is broader. He visits America (\u003ci\u003eLeaving Chicago\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMarvin the Mustang From Montana\u003c\/i\u003e) and Cornwall (\u003ci\u003eLate Summer In Boscastle\u003c\/i\u003e), but also travels inward: a heartbreaking and joyous pair of tracks - \u003ci\u003eCurlew part I\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCurlew part II\u003c\/i\u003e - explores loss and grief, the circularity of time and its healing qualities. On the title track he looks both forward and back in time while recognising the importance and difficulty of living in the present. These themes - travel and return, time, the common ground between natural rhythmic processes and the rhythms of human life - occur throughout the album and are reflected in its enigmatic musical language. Where Hay’s themes have become more expansive, so has his musical range. There are elements of jazz, the country twang of a violin, the exploratory tendencies of modern composition. The result is an atmosphere of collaboration, and indeed Hay’s fellow musicians (Aidan Thorne on double bass, drummer Mark O’Connor, saxophonist Greg Sterland and violinist David Grubb) play a crucial role in the overall sound. But in the end it is all grounded in Hay’s deep understanding of and affinity with his surroundings. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The state51 Conspiracy","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50414683586891,"sku":"1037995","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8a6e6aaa-731e-45d8-8d67-048dffdf4df6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726684604"},{"product_id":"new-music-for-the-12-string-guitar","title":"New Music for the 12 String Guitar","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Red Kite guitar, named after the bird of prey indigenous to the part of Wales Toby lives, was made from Madagascar Ebony and Engelmann Spruce and was set up to play in unique tunings. It was decorated with a mother-of-pearl inlay Red Kite design on the fretboard. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToby composed eleven instrumental studies and an arrangement of Auld Lang Syne on The Red Kite under the collective title \u003ci\u003eNew Music for the 12 String Guitar\u003c\/i\u003e. In the pieces, Toby explores the rich array of textures and tones of the the 12 string guitar, challenging his playing and pushing to its limits what the instrument could really do. He took to the tranquil surroundings of Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Wiltshire, where he recorded the project’s 12 pieces in the wood room. With no additional musicians, and no overdubs, edits or effects, the recordings fully demonstrate Toby’s exceptional playing and composition skills. He’s made the perfect 12 string guitar record.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The state51 Conspiracy","offers":[{"title":"Orange | LP","offer_id":50442195403083,"sku":"1079110","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50442194878795,"sku":"1079109","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e6fa08e4-578f-4309-921b-b694503925a7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726994137"},{"product_id":"jim-ghedi-and-toby-hay","title":"Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay","description":"\u003cp\u003eEponymous collaboration between Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay - their first since 2018's \u003ci\u003eThe Hawksworth Grove Sessions\u003c\/i\u003e and their debut for Topic Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePostponed 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJim 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, \u003ci\u003eIn The Furrows Of\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eCommon Place\u003c\/i\u003e. 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album artwork includes beautiful liner notes by Andrew Male, senior associate editor of Mojo magazine; film, radio and TV writer for Sight and Sound and Sunday Times Culture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Topic","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50469525946699,"sku":"2014980","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50469525782859,"sku":"2014979","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Jim_Ghedi__Toby_Hay_7fb6f1dd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727362132"},{"product_id":"new-music-for-the-6-string-guitar","title":"New Music For The 6 String Guitar","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew Music for the 6 String Guitar\u003c\/em\u003e is the 7th studio album from Radnorshire based guitarist Toby Hay. His debut in 2017 \u003cem\u003eThe Gathering\u003c\/em\u003e, and 2018’s, \u003cem\u003eThe Longest Day\u003c\/em\u003e, were both nominated for the Welsh Music Prize. This new album is a follow up to 2019’s \u003cem\u003eNew Music For The 12 String Guitar\u003c\/em\u003e. Since then, he has released two collaborative albums, 2023’s self-titled \u003cem\u003eJim Ghedi \u0026amp; Toby Hay\u003c\/em\u003e released on the legendary Topic label, and 2024’s \u003cem\u003eAfter a Pause\u003c\/em\u003e, with Aidan Thorne, released on his own, Cambrian Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike it’s 12 string predecessor, the concept for the new record was dreamt up by state51. The idea was to ask Roger Bucknall of Fylde guitars to build a new custom instrument specifically for a guitarist to write and record music for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ‘Curlew’ custom 6 string is made from Macassar ebony and light-coloured cedar and is set up to play in Toby’s unique tunings. The album was recorded over three days in the Wood Room at Real World Studios. All tracks are live performances with no overdubs. “It is a beautiful studio, my brother Tim engineered the session. It is a very honest album, just me, in a room, one guitar, a mixture of compositions and improvisations. We were invited to watch the football with Peter Gabriel and a few of his friends on the final evening, a memorable experience!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural world is a recurring theme across these 12 tracks, with inspiration ranging from Hay’s time working for the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, to his recent Masters in Music \u0026amp; The Environment from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Inspiration also comes from Hay’s connection to his local landscape, his home in the Cambrian Mountains, and his sheep dog Bear. But ultimately this is an album that explores the relationship between musician and instrument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the guitar being built by Roger Bucknall, the album mixed by Tchad Blake, and the photography by Julian Broad, this album is full of talented contributions from masters in their fields.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The state51 Conspiracy","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51757535625547,"sku":"R4526-9115","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/CON1010LP_TobyHay-NewMusicForThe6StringGuitar-1LP.jpg?v=1746209587"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_c99f2450_thumbnail_4096_78de34bf-d756-4a80-9b51-950f5f142d0a.jpg?v=1726684584","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/toby-hay.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}