INTERVIEW: Sam Slatcher

Image: Sam Slatcher & participants by Rob Irish

This year sees the people of Darlington and Stockton, as well as railway and history enthusiasts around the world, get onboard with the bi-centenary celebrations of the world’s oldest passenger railway. And what would a celebration be without music? This is where folk singer Sam Slatcher comes in, with his brand new album Passengers & Pioneers – which looks at how this historic railway line changed the shape of the region, the country and the world.

In true folk style, Sam informs me that this isn’t his first project inspired by the past. “Yes, it’s always been from a place of curiosity. Who lived here, when was this built, who dreamt in this space, who walked these streets? I’ve managed to weave everything from the lives of the northern saints in the 7th and 8th century to the roots of socialist Britain and community organising in the late 19th century into the music, somehow!”

On the album, Sam sees his songs complemented by poems from Lizzie Lovejoy, Carmen Marcus, Rowan McCabe and Harry Gallagher. I ask how that collaboration came to be. “Lizzie and Carmen’s collaboration came about through Tees Women Poets as I was really keen we’d have some representation of local Teesside-based poets. I’ve shared gigs with Harry and Rowan before and really like their attention to human stories, so I ended approaching them… they added so much colour, and at times, humour, which I think adds nicely to the more reflective folk songs.”

I’ve managed to weave everything from the lives of the northern saints in the 7th and 8th century to the roots of socialist Britain and community organising in the late 19th century into the music, somehow!

In 2023 the artists on the album gathered inspiration by travelling the line from Bishop Auckland to Saltburn and talking to passengers and turning what they heard into music or poetry, but there was also a great deal of historical research that went into the album, as Sam explains. “We spent a lot of time talking to members of the Friends Of The Stockton & Darlington Railway, a preservation group made up of historians, archivists and archaeologists who have been uncovering stories of the origins of the line for well over a decade.”

Despite the old influences, the songs and production on Passengers & Pioneers have a more contemporary sound, reminiscent of artists such as Nic Armstrong, Badly Drawn Boy and Fleet Foxes. They draw inspiration from a boy’s letter, news reports, and workers’ testimonies from the time, as well as passengers’ journeys and experiences. It takes you on a smooth and mesmeric journey filled with intriguing soundscapes and stories from the haunting, spacious track Pioneers to the rhythmic Set The World On Track with its gleaming Americana guitar sounds and light harmonious chorus, to the tender piano-led reminisce of Take Me Home featuring the waltzing poetic flow of Lizzie Lovejoy.

Sam has utilised his creative license at times to bring the album to life. “They’re all based on real characters, although some of them have been fictionalised. So for example a song like Sleepers is probably the most testimonial, almost oral history-like in its presentation. The lyrics are very closely based on an interview with an amazing 95 year old woman called Margaret who used to work as a station clerk at Heighington station in the 1960s. Probably my favourite story of all the songs! Then, there are pieces like Stranger on a Train and Passengers (Dreaming in September) that reflect stories I’d heard but were composites of a few characters.”

Passengers & Pioneers is released on Friday 14th March with a unique performance at The Common Room as part of the Community Rail Network’s national awards ceremony with Railway200. A summer tour is also set to be announced.