Living the dream (From The Oxford Times)

Living the dream

3:01pm Friday 11th July 2008 in Restaurants By Sarah Lawrence

Just ten months after being invited to perform alongside some of the biggest names in the music world Cumnor cellist Barney Morse-Brown found himself on stage collecting a prestigious prize at this year's BBC Folk Radio Awards.

Barney is a member of the critically-acclaimed folk fusion band Imagined Village, founded by musician and producer Simon Emmerson and singer/songwriter Billy Bragg. The band won the Best Traditional Track award with their song Cold Hailey Rainey Night, taken from the Imagined Village album.

"It was a very exciting night," said Barney. "It was glitzy and I was people-spotting. It was a bit surreal as a musician to be asked to be a member of a band and a few months later win an award and perform on the Jools Holland show, which was a particular dream of mine." However, it is the crafting of music and pushing traditional boundaries, and not aiming for the next award, that spurs Barney forward.

Barney's journey from music college to award-winning musician has seen him abandon his classical and baroque roots. He describes himself as experimental, progressive and adventurous - attributes not usually associated with the orchestral instrument.

Brought up in a musically-orientated home, he first picked up a cello at the age of seven and began classical training.

He attended Music College in Birmingham and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, graduating to the Royal College of Music in London. There he abandoned classical training because "It was very competitive," he recalled. "Thirty-odd people all playing the same music baying for the top spot. I moved to the baroque style and I began working more and in smaller assembles which gave me more variety and experience."

I’m learning more about folk music and traditions all the time and learning from great people like Chris Wood, people who know their craft.

Barney Morse-Brown

Moving to Oxfordshire in 2001, he met his wife-to-be and fellow musician Kate Garrett - the music project leader at Ark T Centre, in Cowley Road, Oxford, and founder of the Oxford Young Women's Band Project.

Crediting her for encouraging his experimental ambitions, he plays and tours in the folk-orientated Kate Garrett Band. His talents and reputation grew gigging with the band, recording albums and having a residential stint at Joe's café in Cowley Road. He was asked by Simon Emmerson to work with Imagined Village in 2006 - a project the Grammy nominated producer had been working on for over five years. He progressed from being a session musician to a permanent member of the band. The aim of the collective is to update British folk music and include other cultures that now live in the country. Traditional folk songs have been rearranged so sitars play alongside cellos and new folk lyrics reflect modern concerns. On the album the Scottish ballad Tam Lyn' (corr) is transformed into a tale of a girl falling in love with an immigrant who's about to be deported. This re-examination of what, as Billy Bragg describes, it is like to be English has upset some traditionalists but excited others like Barney.

"I was already aware of Simon Emmerson who is very open minded." Barney said. "He puts a sitar with a cello to get a new sound. It has received mixed reviews and well as being highly acclaimed. They want to reach new audiences, younger audiences, reach new people in a new way. I'm learning more about folk music and traditions all the time and learning from great people like Chris Wood, people who know their craft."

Barney said the challenge and variety of work with Imagined Village has greatly influenced his music and performances.

"The way I view the audience has changed and it's not enough to sit with a cello and expect them to listen to what you dish out."

Even when he is playing solo there is a myriad of instrumental depth to his work. Performing as Duotone electronic gadgetry records a section of a cello that is then continuously repeated. Layers of guitar and then Barney's voice can be added and looped or to create the live piece. He said: "It's a visual show which is exciting as there is the interaction with the audience which reveals how important it is."

Also a cello teacher - mainly for adults - Barney wants to encourage all students to be "a bit more adventurous". In the future he wants to teach music students the value of learning a craft, being creative and able to make money in areas other than traditional orchestral routes. "There should be more positive views expressed about how musicians can make a living from music, how it can pay. I want to take that message into colleges and universities one day."

He's critical of the meteoric rise of both popular and classical acts - many of which are discovered by the hugely popular Saturday night television shows like X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent.

He believes the emphasis in today's society was instant access to fame and fortune rather than learning music as a trade along with its traditions, he believes. "It appears to be a different band or face playing the same pieces as someone similar a few months previously. People think they can stand in front of three people and become famous. I want to make it a proper, legitimate job."

With record companies preoccupied with the latest money making fad he said websites like YouTube and MySpace were becoming valuable tools for independent musicians especially for musicians in Oxford's "vibrant local music scene". The Jools Holland performance of the award-winning Cold Haily Rainy Night' has had nearly 13,000 plays on YouTube. "Those types of websites are great for musicians, it really promotes good local music that may not otherwise be out there."