Gravel Road Credits

Gravel Road

The first album of tracks were recorded in August 2021 at Sound & Motion Studio to serve as a record of the band Gravel Road’s work over the years.
Then in November 2023 the band once again went into the studio and recorded 10 tracks, this time with an expanded band that included Maddy Gin and John Bolton.
Gravel Road originally consisted of Nielen Prinsloo, Emma Rycroft, Rob Anderson and Ben Hetherington and was later joined by Neil Harvey, then by John Bolton and Maddy Gin.
The band has played regularly at the fantastic Aegir Brewery in Noordhoek in Cape Town at least once a week for the past seven years or so.
Occasionally the band is graced by the presence of musicians and friends passing through.
The instruments used are all acoustic and no amplification is used.
The band has occupied the front porch of the Brewery and plays to a regular crowd of friends and their dogs and children in an open-air environment underneath the impressive milkwood trees.
We love the relaxed atmosphere at the Aegir and are grateful to Rory and Carey Lancellas for providing such a great venue over the years.
Special thanks to the wonderful Aegir staff, who keep us well supplied with beer and food.

The Recording

We chose to record at the Cape Town venue of Sound & Motion Studios, where we’d had nothing but great experiences over the years with other recordings and other bands.
We wanted to reproduce as faithfully as possible our live sound, and we knew that with Simon Ratcliffe in charge we’d get what we wanted, and more.
The basic tracks were recorded sitting in a round and played live.
Simon took two or three takes of each song and we chose the best of the takes.
We added as few overdubs as necessary, and tried to restrict these to a minimum.
It is undoubtedly one of the toughest recording decision-making processes to avoid over production, especially when Simon makes it so easy to add layers.

The Tracks

At the initial 2021 sessions, we chose 25 songs that represented our weekly shows and recorded these over a five day period. In 2023, we recorded 10 additional tracks with the extended band.
We stuck to the formats we use on stage, with adjustments here and there where consensus was that we could improve the recordings.
There are small and mostly (hopefully) unnoticeable errors in some performances, but as the team responsible for recording and producing the Woodstock albums famously said, consider these the scars in fine leather – proof of the authenticity of the material and the process.

The first Album

We decided to release the first album on a limited edition of USB Flash Drives.
That way we can add some pictures and videos and CDs or DVDs can be created when needed.
We’d like to thank Justin Phillips for his photos (one of which is silkscreened onto the USB drives), the wonderful videos he filmed at the Glasshouse Session, and the Aegir video clips that answer the question: What happens if it rains?
Thanks also to Jens and Helen, who sorted out technical issues with the website.
The formal track videos from the 2021 sessions were filmed and produced by Jolene Cartmill at various locations at Veld and Sea on the Cape Peninsula.

The second Album

The 10 new tracks have been added to the website.

Band Members

Emma Rycroft – Vocals, Double Bass, Ukelele
Rob Anderson – Vocals, Mandolin, Guitar, Double Bass
Nielen Prinsloo – Vocals, Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar, Spoons
Neil Harvey – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica

Maddy Gin - Vocals, Guitar

John Bolton - Vocals, wind instruments, Ukelele

Thanks to Carl of Sound and Motion for adding brush snare to one of the tracks.
Special thanks to James Harvey for his wonderful French accordion and pedal organ on two tracks.

Thank You All

It’s a privilege for us to perform together, and receive such support from our families and friends, and we do not take any of it for granted.
It’s too precious, especially in these times.
There are far too many people to mention individually but know that we love you all and appreciate your encouragement over the years.
We couldn't have done it without you.