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Pre
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Sean
Lakeman (Guitar)
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Sam Lakeman (Piano/Keyboards)
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Seth
Lakeman (Violin)
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| These 3 brothers
from the western edge of Dartmoor, Devon all played music from an
early age with their parents in 'The Lakeman Family Band'. |
| They branched
out as The Lakeman Brothers in the early `90`s and built a solid reputation
as some of the most promising talents on the UK folk and acoustic
music scene. 1994 saw the release of the trio's album 3 Piece Suite
(self penned with trad. based instrumentals and 2 songs sung by their
good friend Kathryn Roberts). |
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| Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals/Piano/Woodwind) |
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Kate Rusby (Vocals/Guitar/Piano) |
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| These two
girls from Barnsley, South Yorkshire had known each other since childhood. |
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They started playing
folk clubs and festivals throughout the early nineties and their
partnership culminated in the recording of their self-titled album
of traditional songs which was voted the U.K`s Folk Album of the
Year, 1995. Kathryn was also the first ever vocalist to win the
prestigious BBC Radio Young Tradition Award. When asked to
play a tour of Portugal in September 1994, Kate and Kathryn asked
the Lakeman Brothers to accompany them as a backing band. Billed
as 'Blackadder', the tour proved a groundbreaking success.
On their return to the UK the five agreed to form a permanent band
and in November changed their name to 'The Equation', (KR2+SL3=42).
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1
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(September
1994 - July 1995)
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Kate
Rusby (Vocals/Violin)
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Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals/Keyboards/Woodwind)
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Sean
Lakeman (Guitar)
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Sam Lakeman
(Keyboards)
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Seth
Lakeman (Violin)
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| Rehearsals
quickly followed and in February 1995 they released their first group
recording, a 3 track E.P. entitled 'Equation In Session'. At
their first ever gig at the Weavers in London, Rough Trade Records
supremo Geoff Travis spotted the band and courted them to sign to
his Warner Music label Blanco y Negro. Much touring and festival work
followed through the summer although Kate became more and more uncomfortable
with the band's plan to sign to a major record label. |
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| The 5 founding
members of Equation played their last gig together at a sold out St.
George's Hall, Exeter in July 1995 after which Kate Rusby left the
group. A new replacement
singer was immediately found. As far as the band were concerned there
was only one name on their hit list, that of Cara Dillon, an angelic
young vocalist from Dungiven, Northern Ireland. She was singing at
the time with a young band called Oige but had also played
with the legendary Irish traditional group De Dannan (whose
previous singers included Mary Black and Delores Keane). She had also
won the all-Ireland singing championship. She agreed to join Equation
once she had fulfilled her own commitments with Oige. |
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| 2
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(July
1995 - September 1995)
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| Kathryn
Roberts(Vocals/Woodwind) |
| Sean Lakeman
(Guitar) |
| Sam Lakeman
(Keyboards) |
| Seth Lakeman
(Violin) |
| Luke Daniels
(Accordion) |
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Luke Daniels joined
the band on accordion to temporarily cover for Cara Dillon. Already
a good friend of the band, Luke was also a rising star on the UK
folk scene. Like Cara he had also played with De Dannan, a jazz-trad-fusion
group called Scarp as well as with Sean in the BBC Young
Tradition Band. Equation played mainly festival gigs with this
line-up including Glastonbury, Tonder in Denmark and Dranouter,
Belgium in front of 60,000. The band were also a hit at the Cambridge
Folk Festival where Cara joined the band on stage for the first
time.Equation signed to Blanco y Negro/WEA in July 1995.
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| 3
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(Sept
1995 - Nov 1995)
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Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals/Woodwind)
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Cara
Dillon (Vocals/Violin)
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Sean
Lakeman (Guitar)
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Sam Lakeman
(Keyboards)
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Seth
Lakeman (Violin)
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Luke
Daniels (Accordion)
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Darren
Altman (Drums)
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| Cara
joined the band full time and Equation decided to beef up their sound
. They recruited young London based drummer Darren Altman.
Sean knew Darren from his days at Leeds College of Music where the
two had studied for a degree in music together. |
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Although his roots lay in the big band jazz style, Darren proved to
be a versatile player and swiftly brought a new dimension to the sound
of the group. Equation played two UK tours with this line-up during
which there were signs that the direction of the music was really
changing. They moved gradually from the pure folk tradition and started
including self-penned songs such as 'Sad The Girl' and 'Let
Him Cry'. |
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| 4
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(November
1995 - January 1996)
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| Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals/Woodwind) |
| Cara
Dillon (Vocals/Violin) |
| Sean
Lakeman (Guitar) |
| Sam
Lakeman (Keyboards) |
| Seth
Lakeman (Violin) |
| Darren
Altman (Drums) |
| Darren
Edwards (Bass) |
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Darren Edwards
soon joined on bass guitar, replacing Luke Daniels.
Darren Edwards, like Darren Altman, was an acquaintance of Sean's
from music college and slotted right in alongside a drummer he knew
very well. Sessions for Equation's debut recording lasted from November
1995 through to February 1996 at Real World recording complex with
producer David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Tool,
Remy Zero). During this time Darren Altman's hard-hitting style
gradually became too overbearing in the studio and he amicably left
in January. The record, called 'Return to Me' was completed
in London in March 1996.
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| 5 |
(March
1996-September 1996)
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Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals/Woodwind)
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Cara
Dillon (Vocals/Violin)
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Sean
Lakeman (Guitar)
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Sam Lakeman
(Keyboards)
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Seth
Lakeman (Violin)
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Darren
Edwards (Bass)
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Iain
Goodall (Drums)
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| Darren
Edwards' long time rhythm section partner joined Equation on drums,
and fitted like a glove. Iain Goodall, a Scotsman with a passion
for `west-coast cool,` related to the sensitive folk roots of Equation
but also had an eagerness to develop their music further. |
| This
line up toured Portugal and gigged the UK and Europe throughout the
summer, however they seemed, unwittingly, to get the backs up of certain
members of the UK folk fraternity. Blanco y Negro released the single
He Loves Me from the forthcoming debut in May 1996, yet days
before the album release Warner decided to shelve Return To Me
citing a lack of hit singles. At the record company`s request the
band experimented with Real World programmer Russ Kearney (Peter Gabriel/Bjork)
to try for a more 'commercial sound'.. |
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Ten days of painfully difficult sessions clearly split the band into
two camps. Futile meetings with the boss of Warner proved the last
straw and in September Sam Lakeman and Cara Dillon left to pursue
their own musical direction. |
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| 6
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(September
1996-January 1998)
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| Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals/Woodwind) |
| Sean
Lakeman (Guitar) |
| Seth
Lakeman (Violin/Vocals) |
| Darren
Edwards (Bass) |
| Iain
Goodall (Drums) |
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After this blow, the
remaining five members felt they should not dwell and that it was
time to move on. Demos had already been cut of the songs that were
to form the basis of the next album.'Hazy Daze' was recorded
during the spring of 1997 at the bands own Dartmoor recording facility
with Dublin based producer Paul Barrett (U2/Sinead O'Connor/Carole
King/Hothouse Flowers).
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The
project brought the band together more than it had ever been and this
is apparent in the intimate sound of the record and the personal lyrics
of the 11 songs. Hazy Daze was released in February 1998, to
critical acclaim and the great relief of the band. However, lack of
record company support and promotion left UK sales lower than was
hoped for. Equation happily left Warner in the summer of 1998. |
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| 7
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(January
1998-March 2001)
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Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals)
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Sean
Lakeman (Guitar)
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Seth
Lakeman (Violin/Vocals)
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Darren
Edwards (Bass)
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Iain
Goodall (Drums)
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James
Crocker (Electric guitar)
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| Local
Devon guitar star James Crocker was brought in during January
1998 to boost the bands growing live sound. Equation gigged extensively
throughout 1998, during which time new songs were steadily demoed
up. By the end of the summer more than an album`s worth had been compiled
and during September sessions began in Devon which heralded the first
tracks of a new album. |
The band
asked young London music maverick James Brown, (The Genies/Neil
Finn) to co-produce the sessions (he had worked with Equation previously
when he engineered tracks for their debut album Return To Me).
A strong rapport was quickly established and a similar musical approach
was discovered.
At Geoff Travis's suggestion the band agreed to work on further material
with veteran folk-rock guru John Wood (Fairport Convention/Nick Drake/John
Martyn/Pink Floyd).
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| Sessions
took place at Chipping Norton studios during January 1999. Many good
basic tracks emerged but Equation felt they had a better working relationship
with James Brown and they retreated to Devon to continue the album.
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'The
Lucky Few' was completed in London during May 1999 and was released
in October on Geoff Travis's hip new independent label `Blackburst`.The
albums artwork was put solely into the hands of award winning artist
David Hughes, who had worked on the stunning design of Hazy
Daze. By now he had become a staunch supporter and good friend
of the band. |
| Equation
toured North America for the first time during August 1999 to support
the release of Hazy Daze in that territory. The band soon realized
there seemed to be an exciting bond between their music and American
audiences. Hazy Daze sold increasingly well and soon Equation
were becoming 'hot property' stateside. In 2000/01 Equation have spent
more time in the US than at home (although they did tour the UK for
a month in May). |
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Their second
release in America was in July 2000, when The Lucky Few cemented
the bands growing reputation. Their subsequent 3 month summer tour
won Equation an army of new fans. Playing prestigious shows like Musikfest,
The Strawberry Festival, Golden Gate Park, The Rock and Roll Hall
Of Fame, and The Newport Folk Festival has helped to catapult the
band to the wider audience that they always hoped for. |
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| 8
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(March
2001 - ………)
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| Kathryn
Roberts (Vocals) |
| Sean Lakeman
(Guitar) |
| Darren
Edwards (Bass) |
| Iain Goodall
(Drums) |
| James Crocker
(Electric guitar) |
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Violinist,
songwriter and vocalist Seth Lakeman decided to leave the group after
6 years to explore other musical avenues. He`s currently concentrating
on his songwriting and, together with his other brother Sam, is accompanying
Cara Dillon, who releases her first self titled album on July 9th
2001.
His decision was taken after a long period of consideration and although
the group was surprised and disappointed there`s no bad feeling between
them.
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Equation
have continued to tour successfully in the US as a folk-rocking
five piece, and have recorded a 5 track E.P. of traditional folk
songs, 'The Dark Ages E.P.' and an original full-length album
'First Name Terms'.
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