Roots 2

The sense of community created by Devon folk duo Show of Hands is perhaps their greatest achievement. It begins on stage, where Steve Knightley (guitar, mandocello, cuatro, etc) and Phil Beer (almost anything, but first and foremost the fiddle) have been joined by Miranda Sykes (double bass), Cormac Byrne (percussion) and a host of collaborators from Seth Lakeman to Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin, Johnny Kalsi and Shahid Khan. Roots 2 is, as the title suggests, the follow-up to their first round-up, Roots. It brings their decades-long story up-to-date with tracks from four albums – Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed, Wake the Union, Long Way Home (including a wonderful spoken Saxon cameo from my favourite historian, Michael Wood) and Battlefield Dancefloor. There’s also room enough for a couple of live classics – in particular, a reworking of their anthem ‘Country Life’.

Those who’ve seen many a live show may remember Knightley’s preamble to their cover of ‘The Boys of Summer’, where he talks about the feeling of Exmouth as the low season begins, when the crowds have all gone home and the music stops. As Show of Hands hang up their touring boots, with Roots 2 complementing the final tour, we can surely say our love for you will still be strong…