 | | Jenny McCormick - English Country Garden |
But as with every other scene that fires up along these streets, it’s one with a vast array of abilities. For every new siren singing the stories of a vibrant past, there’s a club-fisted guitarist picking their way through the obvious standards. Thankfully, Jenny McCormick is a shining example of the former. Her music, while undoubtedly folk, sits as close to the likes of the Be Good Tanyas as it does to Kathryn Williams, and is all the better for it. It’s her voice though, that really sets English Country Garden apart from the pack. Less a vocal and more a breathy gem that glistens with emotion, it shimmers and shines its way through the eleven songs with the gentle power of a summer breeze. Her talent for songwriting is pretty formidable too and there’s no greater example of this than when she sits the slow country of her Hey Joe and the aching finesse of her Fisherboy between the folk classics House Carpenter and Blackwater Side, and there’s no drop in quality. Of course, as with everywhere else, there’s always been a folk scene rumbling away in Manchester, but the resurgence of interest has meant a new generation has picked up the baton. With English Country Garden, Jenny McCormick has shown that, contrary to what some might think, we don’t have look to the other side of the Pennines or the other side of the Atlantic to find someone we can trust to run with it. | 
