Winter Rituals EP

Laura Cannell - Violin/over-bowed violin Kate Ellis - Cello/organ (organ of St. James's Church, Clacton-on-Sea) Recorded, mixed and produced by L. Cannell & K. Ellis 2020 UK and Ireland based Composer/Performers Laura Cannell and Kate Ellis celebrate the rituals of winter with their new 5 track WINTER RITUALS EP. Featuring Cannell’s signature evocative overbowed violin and traditional fiddle playing alongside Ellis’s deeply expressive cello and impromptu church organ playing. Following the release of These Feral Lands Volume I in November, Laura Cannell violin/composer and Kate Ellis cellist/composer release their new WINTER RITUALS EP. Cannell and Ellis have unearthed a parallel musical DNA, embedded early in both of their musical careers are traditional folk styles and folklore, though that might not be their main output now, their common ground has found it’s way onto this new EP of WINTER RITUALS - A celebration of collective rituals. From the ancient customs of Wassailing - carolling around a tree and spreading good cheer to a traditional folk dance, the Irish lamenting song She Moved Through the Fair (One Star Awake), they also bring a taste of their future duo work in MERROWS, a piece recorded inside Jaywick Martello Tower on the Essex coast and an old thatched cottage in Suffolk and inspired by the Irish mer people who could travel between land and sea using a special hat. Playing violin, cello and the organ of St James’s church, Clacton on Sea, the duo connect with personal histories and folklore, and offer this as a celebration of collective winter ritual while we are all apart.