Performing the songs and poems of Molly Drake

A wistful mother in the 1950s makes some simple home recordings in her family sitting room. Little could she have known that decades later, her son would become one of the most poetic and influential songwriters ever, or that more than sixty years later, the dust would be blown off her own songs.

On the surface, the 2013 release of Molly Drake’s work could easily have been perceived as just a curious footnote and jigsaw piece in explaining the enormous talent of Nick Drake.

In the eyes of The Unthanks however, and increasingly amongst others, Molly’s work is extraordinary enough to rank alongside and independently of her brilliant son.

With encouragement from the Drake musical estate and the full blessing and enthusiasm of celebrated actress Gabrielle Drake (Molly’s daughter and Nick’s sister) The Unthanks are relishing the opportunity and will treat the challenge with the same love and diligence for their subject as they did when reinterpreting the work of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnson’s on Diversions Vol 1.

Never intended for public release, Molly Drake’s recordings, made by her husband, were made at home and are of the time. In a climate where films, stories and music are being rehashed for spurious repeat exploitation, if ever a body of work actually merited reappraisal and fresh presentation, surely the work of Molly Drake is it.

Her songs share plenty of common ground with her son’s – charming and bittersweet, yet dark and pensive.

A tour of Molly Drake’s work, reimagined by The Unthanks, will be accompanied by the release of Diversions Vol 4. – The Unthanks Perform The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake. More details on the album release, set for April 2017, to be announced at a later date.

As has become tradition, The Unthanks will be on the Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie Christmas show on Dec 23rd, BBC 6 Music and will be singing live.

We are told that due to the intimate nature of the music, the tour travels to venues that are mostly smaller than for an Unthanks tour and to “book early to avoid disappointment!”

April 2017
18  NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME New Vic Theatre
19  MANCHESTER RNCM Theatre
20  WREXHAM William Aston Hall
21  KENDAL Brewery Arts Centre
22  EDINBURGH Queens Hall
23  BERWICK Maltings Theatre
26  BIRMINGHAM Glee Club
27  CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
28  BASINGSTOKE The Anvil
29  CARDIFF Tramshed
30  BRADFORD UPON AVON Wiltshire Music Centre

May 2017
01  BRIGHTON Old Market
02  SOUTHHAMPTON Turner Sims
03  LONDON Albany
06  CLITHEROE Grand
07  BARROW Forum
10  RUNCORN Brindley
11  LEEDS City Varieties
12  LEEDS City Varieties
13  STOCKTON ARC
14  NEWCASTLE
The Theatre Royal
25 DUBLIN Vicar St
28  LONDON
The Barbican (Milton Court Hall)