The Rails

Background

Kami Thompson is the daughter of British folk rock singers Richard Thompson and Linda Thompson and her brother is the alternative rock musician Teddy Thompson. Kami Thompson had been in her mother's band as a backing singer and had worked with Sean Lennon and Bonnie "Prince" Billy before issuing solo album Love Lies in 2001.

James Walbourne is from Muswell Hill in London and has been in various bands, including Peter Bruntnell's band, the Pernice Brothers, Son Volt and The Pretenders, before releasing solo album The Hill in 2010. He has also been a touring member of Ray Davies's band and has played with Uncle Tupelo, Edwyn Collins and The Pogues.

Formation (2011–2013)

Linda Thompson was recording her solo album Versatile Heart in 1997 which featured Kami Thompson alongside Teddy Thompson. Walbourne appeared on the album after being recommended by the author Nick Hornby and first met Kami Thompson at the session, but the relationship was not developed any further at this time.

They met again by chance in 2011 at the 50th anniversary show for McCabe's Guitar Shop in Los Angeles, this time forming a professional and personal relationship, eventually marrying in October 2012. In the same year they also formed folk rock duo Dead Flamingos and released the Habit EP.

Soon after the band was renamed The Rails and in January 2014 they signed a recording contract with Island Records.

Kami Thompson has been quoted as stating "our long-term goal is to make the perfect divorce album, obviously." This is a humorous reference to the album Shoot Out the Lights, recorded by Richard and Linda Thompson at the end of their relationship, whilst Linda was pregnant with Kami, and considered by many to be a notable break-up album.

Fair Warning (2014–2015)

On 5 May 2014 The Rails released their debut album Fair Warning which peaked at number 95 on the UK Album Chart. Martin Kelly, the manager of the band, convinced Island Records to resurrect its pink label design for the release of the album. The pink label imprint had previously been used in the 1960s and 1970s on records by prominent folk rock artists such as John Martyn, Nick Drake and Thompson's father's original band Fairport Convention.

The album was co-produced by the band, Scottish musician Edwyn Collins (best known for his work in the band Orange Juice) and Sebastian Lewsley. Many of the songs feature English folk musician Eliza Carthy, herself a member of another large musical family (the Carthy's and the Watersons), playing the fiddle.

All but two of the songs on the album, including three re-recorded tracks from the Dead Flamingos Habit EP, are written by Thompson and Walbourne. The other two songs, "Bonnie Portmore" and "William Taylor", are traditional ballads retrieved by the band from the folk archive at Cecil Sharp House.

The Guardian gave the album 4 out of 5 stars in their review and wrote that The Rails are "a duo to watch". Mojo also gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing that the album "rings with the joy of a golden history while also pointing to an exciting future". Folk Radio UK gave the album a positive review stating that "Richard and Linda Thompson established themselves as enduring British folk rock legends...daughter and son-in-law seem highly likely to follow in their footsteps".

Mojo named Fair Warning as their 2014 Folk Album of the Year and it was a runner-up in the fRoots 2014 New Album of the Year list.

In 2015 The Rails performed at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and were presented with the Horizon Award, which is given to the best emerging artist of that year.

Both Thompson and Walbourne appear on the album Family (2014) by Thompson (the band being named for all the Thompsons that appear) having written two songs for the project. The album was produced by Teddy Thompson and features Richard and Linda Thompson as well as other related musicians, including Walbourne's brother and Richard Thompson's son from his second marriage. Kami Thompson commented on the project: "The whole album is like a family songwriting competition—it's a bloody nightmare. I mean, what could possibly go wrong"?

Influences and musical style

The Rails have been called folk, folk rock and folk pop by music writers.

AllMusic write about The Rail's "classic folk-rock pageantry" and feel that their music "blends bits of Celtic, soul, blues, and folk so agelessly that it could belong in 1974 or 2014". Similarly, Mojo write that "anyone else debuting in 2014 with an album of early '70s-style folk should likely get short thrift from people" but feel the band have the "proper pedigree", going so far as to state that Walbourne's guitar "is as immaculately understated as, well, his father-in-law". Walbourne has been described by the author Nick Hornby as "an unearthly cross between James Burton, Peter Green, and Richard Thompson", describing guitar solos that "drop the jaw, stop the heart, and smack the gob, all at the same time".

The band aspire for a simple sound with "no tricks" where "you can hear everything", adding that "it's hard to convince people to make a record like that now but the sound is fantastic, it's so direct." Walbourne grew up with "a fascination for early rock 'n' roll and roots Americana and was exposed to the music of Frank Sinatra and Bo Diddley by his father. Regarding the legacy of her parent's music, Thompson admits that folk music was formative for her and states that "at the time folk was a box I didn't want to be in, and I did my best to avoid it". The Rails decided that "it made more sense to embrace tradition than fight it" acknowledging that comparisons would be made to Richard and Linda Thompson by making a folk-rock record and releasing it on Island Records.

Members

Guest musicians

Discography

Album

Singles & EPs

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

Mojo