Videos

Jonathan Powell Plays Ukulele In A Field In New Video

• 3rd Jun 2011

With the above headline maybe not doing the song justice – Jonathan Powell has unveiled the video for his forthcoming single “Brave Captain Mallard” – released June 6th.

Jonathan Powell was a teenage viola virtuoso, don't you know? He won the National Chamber Music Competition no fewer than five times, which prompted a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Music. Impressive, no?

However – at 18, decided to abandon everything he'd learned. After taking an award-winning play to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he decided to stay in the city, immersing himself in the music scene.

In a whirlwind 12 months, Jonathan has worked as a co-writer, producer and has performed at venues and festivals across the UK and Europe including The British Showcase Stage at The Midem Interceltique Festival in Cannes, the Greenman Festival, Hop Farm Fest & Beach Break Live. He recently showcased at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Speaking of his new single, Powell says: “It's one of those funny songs that as a writer you find creeps up on you. I was reading an article in the New Scientist that was about a plane that crash landed on water after a flock of birds went through its engine. The article was half praising the physics and half praising the pilot, but I couldn't help thinking “what about the birds?”.  I'd just bought this lovely ukelele and Brave Captain Mallard was the first song I wrote on it.
 
When I told my production partner, Gethin, that I'd written a song on a uke, from the perspective of a duck, he though I'd lost it, you know, done a Sid Barrett.”

More information about Jonathan Powell can be found by following this link.

MSD