Four piece folk rockers Mumford & Sons are currently riding the crest of a musical wave, where are they from and are they here to stay?
2007 The four piece group are formed in West London when four friends come together to play impromptu performances to Marcus Mumford’s early attempts at song writing. The four had a common love of Folk, Bluegrass and Country music and their infectious enthusiasm soon found them a following around the London circuit.
Their love of playing was such that they would often support other musicians and even play outside venues while waiting to go on. They booked their first rehearsals in October that year and Mumford & Sons came into being. During these first sessions the band came up with Awake My Soul and White Blank Page, two songs that would appear on their debut album.
The group went on the road as soon as possible after these sessions and much of the following year was spent touring.
2008 As mentioned this year was a year virtually spent entirely on the road. A myriad of tours were undertaken, including a barge tour with other bands, island hopping around Scotland, a performance at Glastonbury and a sell out concert at London’s Luminaire. In November the group released the EP Love Your Ground on Chess Club Records.
2009 Their debut album Sigh No More is recorded and released this year. The group recorded the album with producer Markus Dravs at the legendary Eastcote Studios. Dravs made them buy high quality instruments and encouraged them to work more impulsively building on their already strong group identity. The self-financed Sigh No More is released in October and peaks at number two in the album chart. Little Lion Man was the Grammy nominated lead single from the album, a track they played on the Letterman show the following year. This year also marks an appearance on the BBC’s sound of 2009 shortlist along with the band supporting Laura Marling on her tour. This collaboration would continue into the following year when the band would be contributing musicians on Marling’s I Speak Because I Canalbum.
2010 This year saw the band consolidate their success with more live shows, a highlight being their performance in the John Peel tent at Glastonbury. The band are also nominated for two Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Rock Song, for Little Lion Man, they don’t win but the reviews were positive and the sales for Sigh No More were given a welcome boost. Also this year Ray Davies announced he would be working with the group on his new collaborations’ album.
2011 Although the band failed to win a Grammy in 2010 the increase in interest for their album Sigh No More led to a Brit Award this year, for Best New Album. The group also played at the awards show, also making an appearance at the Grammys playing The Cave. Once again the band will be playing Glastonbury, this time they have moved up to play on the second stage before Primal Scream go on as headliners.
Mumford & Sons are Marcus Mumford (vocals, guitar, drums, mandolin), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums), Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo, dobro) and Ted Dwane (vocals, string bass, drums, guitar).
