After four albums in six years, English folk duo Ninebarrow’s latest release is something a little bit different: it’s a book. Not a songbook or even a book about music in general, either. Ninebarrow’s Dorset is a collection of ten scenic walks around the pair’s native lands of the Isle of Purbeck and the surrounding areas.
It may seem like a bit of a departure, but for Ninebarrow – Jon Whitley and Jay LeBouchardiere – it came naturally…and was a long time coming. “The link between the Dorset landscape and our music is one that’s been there right from the start of Ninebarrow,” says Whitley, “And to be honest, we were walking together long before we started making music together!”
Ninebarrow’s Dorset isn’t just a set of stories and evocative descriptions. Each of the ten walks is fully mapped-out and each is indelibly linked to a song from the duo’s back catalogue. As you stroll over the hills and along the coastlines, not only is there a ready-made soundtrack for your walk, but you can learn the meaning of the songs and their connections to the land upon which you stand.
The duo’s own connection to the land is evident right in their name, which they borrow from the beautiful Nine Barrow Down near Swanage. They certainly wouldn’t have chosen anywhere else to write about. “I think Dorset has a magic that is gentler than some of the other beautiful places on a walker’s radar,” says LeBouchardiere, “It might lack the sheer grandeur of the Lake District’s mountains or the rugged drama of the Cornish coast, but you never have to climb too far to get glorious views over the hills and the surrounding water.”