Product Description

'The Girl Who Couldn't Fly' is the sixth album from Britishfolk star Kate Rusby. Produced by husband John McCusker thealbum sees Rusby bring together a selection of traditional folk songs with her own material. Guest vocals come from Kellie While and Idlewild's Robbie Womble, while the artwork has been designed by former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon.

Track Listing

1. Game of All Fours
2. The Lark
3. No Names
4. Mary Blaize
5. A Ballad
6. You Belong To Me
7. Elfin Knight
8. Bonny House of Airlie
9. Moon Shadow
10. Wandering Soul
11. Fare Thee Well
12. Bonus Track: Little Jack Frost

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1244 in Music
• Released on: 2007-11-05
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
A succession of plaudit-harvesting folk albums and subsequent international renown means that Yorkshire's Kate Rusby no longer needs to be nurtured with kind words of condescension along the lines of lass, babe and starlet, and yet there remains something irredeemably youthful about The Girl Who Couldn't Fly. It’s not just the butterfly flutter of Rusby's voice--which allows the nudge and wink of a smutty traditional favourite like "Game Of All Fours" to retain its charade and the magic of innocent years to linger. Sometimes the songs are bare--guitar and vocals--but they're never spartan, pink as nature intended, a curiously roseate melancholia where even an ill-fated adieu such as "No Names"--one of three songs sang, improbably, with Roddy Woomble of Idlewild--mollifies as fluently as a lullaby. The jolly virtues of the traditional "Mary Blaize" and Rusby's very own faux-traditional epic "Elfin Knight" are fleshier, finding Rusby accompanied by such folk scene luminati as Michael McGoldrick, Andy Cutting and John McCusker to ebullient effect. Proof, indeed, that folk music need not be studiously dour or touristically picturesque. If the current British folk scene is to produce a genuine household name, it's likely to be Kate Rusby.--Kevin Maidment

The Times
"..the finest female folk singer to hit the scene in two decades."

About the Artist
At first (much to her amusement) they called her a folk babe. Then she was some sort of crusader for a brave new young folk world. Now she's also an international star, an award-winning songwriter, a sensible married lady and an actress (!) Oh... and the funniest woman in Barnsley. Probably.

A new Kate Rusby album is now something of an event. And not just for the folk audience which originally took her to its heart when she first started playing with the family ceilidh band when she was 12 and played her first solo gig at Holmfirth Festival at 15. After just over a decade as a musician and singer she's now made six albums, plus a couple with the all-female band The Poozies.

An established artist who's cut through all the usual silly notions about genres and musical barriers, performing "folk music for people who don't like folk music", while retaining the love and credibility of her original fan base and blending the traditional songs learned from her parents as a kid with her own intuitive songwriting

Customer Reviews

Roddy Woomble is the cherry on top!
Kate Rusby is a treat and possibly the most unsung performer in the UK. I own hundreds of CDs and very few of them continue to move me like "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly". From the teasing, light-hearted rhyme of `Mary Blaize' to the haunting simplicity of `Fare Thee Well', this album is a treat for the ears and a journey for the emotions. 'No Names' is the ultimate highlight for me, specifically because of Roddy Woomble's fantastic contribution. The vast space between Kate and Roddy's tones serves only to add to the bittersweet parting message that the song contains. This is a wonderful album that deserves much wider critical aclaim than it has received so far.

Wistful love songs by young chanteuse
As many of the other reviewers have stated Kate Rusby has a beautiful plaintiff voice and this can be both a blessing and a hindrance as she will never have the vocal range and power of say June Tabor however when she sticks to what she is good at as in this album she is a fine singer songwriter and arranger of traditional words and music. This is a very good album and the fact that most of the songs are originals is a pleasant surprise as too many folk singers still labour under the impression that folkies like only proper folk tunes as collected by Percy Grainger.

Brilliant at times
Ninety per cent of this is her usual high standard. There are however a few songs that sound a bit tired and I don't think her voice is at its youthful, wistful best. That said, this is an album well worth having if you like Kate Rusby.