Sid Peacock and Ruth Angell: a powerhouse duo from very different worlds
This third Lives In Music series concentrates not just on peoples' music journeys... it also has a consistent thread running through everyone's lives: that of Covid 19, the resultant lockdown, and the effect it's had on people's activities. This episode is no exception, but there is a difference. We recorded this talk some eleven months ago, just as Sid Peacock's Surge in Spring festival at Cannon Hill, the Midlands Arts Centre, was cancelled as lockdown came down on all our music activities. I settled down to edit our chat, and talked to Sid and Ruth Angell - who make a formidable musical team - about what might still be relevant – or even taking place. And it turns out there is a lot. But what shoots though this episode is the to and fro between two very different musicians, with very different personalities, and even more different backgrounds, and how they collaborate. It also opens up a fascinating perspective on how some of the musicians in our town work together: the conversation throws up it's a veritable list of great players. Over and above that, there is the sweet story of how these two contrasting and brilliant people met and fell in love. There's a sample of Ruth's new album - an early demo mix - in the podcast, and if you want to follow up on things, know more, I have put links on the companion blog post: 'A Life in Music: Sid Peacock and Ruth Angell', which you can find on the Radio To Go Blog at radiotogo.com. A footnote: the intro and outro flourishes I'm using in this series of Lives in Music podcast come from Vo Fletcher who is featured in this series, along with Loz Kingsley, here. I asked him for a bit of live impro, and this was the result. The Lives in Music Podcast series has been running for about two years now. These are interviews with local musicians, looking at how music has shaped them throughout their lives. Series 3 also looks hard at how lockdown has had an impact. There are some lovely stories. To see all the artists, here's a link to every episode.