Away! The Mountain!

How did this project start?

I love folk and acoustic music and the more I listened the more I wanted to write music in that style. I write indierock music under the name Lost Penguinos, and with some of those songs I'd tried doing acoustic versions which was really enjoyable and I think the songs came out well. So during a few months of creative inspiration I was writing a lot of music and I just separated the songs with folk potential from the songs that were more indierock in style.

These songs became the 'Now for the underdogs' album with the aim of it being a 'contemporary folk' style album. Musically it was heavily inspired by Seth Lakeman, Frank Turner, Mumford & Sons and Counting Crows - now obviously it didnt end up sounding much like any of those artists! But thats how it always is for me - there are little flashes of inspiration - a lyrical theme, a mood, a feel, then that gets changed and adapted and evolves into something very different by the end. Not having access to a professional studio, nor the technical skills to accurately copy another artist is actually a strength. It means I can write and recod quickly - not getting stuck on a detail, killing the ego and being open to songs turning out very differently to how they were at the moment of inception. Kiling the ego is key - it removes shame and protectiveness over a song, and it makes you more open to serving the song - making it as good as can be, and being open to it changing as it is recorded. This is probably the biggest lesson learned from making this album.

A second Away! the Mountain! album is currently in the works - inspired by different artists this time:  The Lumineers, Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeroes, Bob Dylan, Of Monsters & Men, and traditional English folk songs and shanties. Written in Oxfordshire from January to July in 2025 I wrote about 24-26 songs and have split them into two sets of 12-13 songs. I've been working on one set, trying to take that to completion, before turning to the second set - (these will be albums 2 and 3). From the experience of making the first album the vocals in these new songs are much stronger (the ego is well and truly dead!) and they follow a bit more of a conventional verse/chorus structure - lets see how they turn out...

As for the name? It doesnt mean anything - I tried countless combinations of '_____ folk band' and then added words from the song names 'Mountain Sound Folk Band', 'The Underdogs', 'The Underdog Folk Band' - and all of them were already taken  (I have learned that there are LOTS of regional folk and Old Time bands in the US with facebook pages). In the end I thought the name just needed to be something unique - so adding punctuation into the name would help - something about a mountain would give it a folky feel - and Away! The Mountain! ticked the boxes. The album name is really just a dedication to my friends who either feaure in the songs, or it was through conversations with them that song ideas and concepts grew - first and foremost its for them.

One day these songs might make it to a live performance somewhere, but until then, I hope you enjoy listening to them wherever you are.

Find the lyrics and stories behind the songs below: