The Lady Aurora is the first solo album by Stephen Clark, which it is hoped will appeal to acoustic guitar and roots music enthusiasts.

The record includes blues-based grooves, Appalachian mountain tunes and a traditional Moorish melody based on a maqam. Eleven of the Lady Aurora’s thirteen tracks are instrumental, eight are original, three are new arrangements of traditional tunes and two are interpretations of well-known numbers by J J Cale and Simon Jeffes (Penguin Cafe Orchestra).

The Lady Aurora was recorded at Jim Guynan’s 7 Sounds Studio in February 2020. The objective was to achieve a close miked ‘live’ feel (capturing a sense of being in the room) as well as continuity and flow between tracks. Many of the tunes are inspired by aspects of nature. The album reflects Stephen’s years of absorbing different styles of music, with major influences as diverse as John Martyn, Nick Drake, Chance McCoy, Juan Martin, Slim Harpo, John Fahey, Johnny Cash, Levon Helm and Alabama 3 as well as J J Cale and PCO.

Stephen loves playing acoustic guitars (which are left strategically placed around the house in different alternate and open tunings). This album features a mahogany Martin 00-15M, a spruce topped electro-acoustic Schertler SM and a 1979 vintage cedar and rosewood Fylde Caliban.

He also plays guitar and mandolin in a duo with Jeff Porter, called One Man Down. One Man Down play mainly in south-west London. Their repertoire reflects wide influences, including jigs and reels from Ireland, Scotland and America, Gaelic songs, country music, Greek and Russian folk dance, as well as their own material. Jeff can be heard on three of the album’s tracks.

It was decided to record The Lady Aurora after the original compositions were played in live settings (sometimes crowded noisy bars) and people asked, ‘who wrote that?’. It was time to put the music down on record!

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