Dallahan’s frontman and founding member Jack Badcock will release his first solo piece of work later this month. The singer and guitarist’s debut single Too Many Things will be available from Friday 23rd October. His debut release sets the stakes high for a promising solo career with this skilfully melodic and lyrically rich single.
A veteran performer, Jack has toured extensively across the world as frontman and founding member of his multi award-winning band Dallahan. His decision to embark on a solo career was in response to him feeling more and more compelled to write material in the singer-songwriter style, rather than band-inspired compositions that had been his focus to date.
With this self-penned work showcasing thoughtful lyrics and a musical maturity, Jack’s inimitable craft for song writing is palpable. Too Many Things cites inspiration from musicians on the Americana scene such as Sarah Jarosz and Darrell Scott, as well as singer-songwriters on the Scottish and Irish folk scene such as Kris Drever and David Keenan.
On his inspirations behind Too Many Things, Jack said: “This song is an honest and I think relatable reflection on the duality of one’s own personality. It’s observing that within us there is a more dysfunctional version of ourselves, referred to in the song as “that fella”. This conflicting entity sometimes shows itself when we’re unhappy, irritable or simply when the sun goes down and influences our behaviour in ways that are less than constructive, such as overindulging in alcohol.
“The line within the song that reads “My best friend, my lover, my muse and my idol” is relating to the love in our life that keeps “that fella” at bay. The individuals who can see through the duality and love you for who you fundamentally are. The people that you can always rely on to see you through.”
Jack’s debut single showcases musical collaboration from John Lowrie on piano and snare drum and Siobhan Miller on backing vocals. In the closing section, a choir of some recognised names on the traditional music scene can be heard lending their vocals, these include Pablo Lafuente, Katie MacFarlane, John Lowrie, Jenny Floki, Sam Dunn, Lewis Somerville and Vera Linkkvist.
Jack was raised in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland and later Yorkshire, England, splitting his first eighteen years between the two before moving to Scotland as a teenager in 2011, where he immersed himself in its traditional music scene.
Aged eighteen, while living in Edinburgh, Jack formed a partnership with multi-instrumentalist Ciaran Ryan, initially cutting their teeth playing traditional music on the Capital’s pub gig circuit, before going on to tour the UK, Germany and Denmark. The duo would go on to form Dallahan in 2013, which rapidly became one of Scotland’s busiest international folk bands. To date they have recorded three albums with numerous tours in the UK, the USA, Canada and all over Europe.
Jack has also performed and recorded with Rura, Siobhan Miller, Dougie MacLean and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra among many others. He was also a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award.
‘Too Many Things’ was recorded at Viewbank Studio by Pablo Lafuente, with additional recordings during lockdown taking place at Mango Mansion Studio by Jack himself. The single was mixed by Scott Wood at Oak Ridge Studios and mastered by Chris Waite at Gran’s House Studio.
Too Many Things will be available to buy on Friday 23rd October. It will be available on all usual streaming sites as well as being available to purchase at www.jackbadcock.com
Facebook: @jackbadcockmusic / Instagram: @jackbadcockmusic
