Geoff Heslop
For the last 30+ years this Geoff's name has graced some of the most beautifully crafted folk albums you will hear.
His career began in the early 70’s – inspired by the work of Bill Leader, he produced albums with artists such as
Hedgehog Pie,
Dave Burland,
Mike Harding (
Hit Single - ‘The Rochdale Cowboy’ )
Five Hand Reel,
Bob Fox and
Stu Luckley (
Folk Album of the Year, Melody Maker) and
Allan Taylor (
Silver Rose of Montreux for ‘The Traveller’).
By the ‘80’s he was working with
Rab Noakes,
Alan Hull,
Bert Jansch,
Dick Gaughan and
Rory McLeod as well as interesting himself in the traditional music of his native Northumberland.
Geoff documented the music of many generations of Northumbrian players, from
Joe Hutton,
Willy Taylor and
Will Atkinson to
Alistair Anderson,
Tom Gilfellon and
Johnny Handle, and culminating with his long association with
Kathryn Tickell, producing 4 of her albums and putting together the Coquetdale Music Publishing catalogue which contains most of the main compositions of the last 50 years in the county.
Wherever he has been he has always helped on every level he could, and many musicians, poets, etc. both amateur and professional knocked on the door of his studio and were all treated with equal care.
One of those was songwriter Brenda Johnson (now Brenda Heslop), and it is to arranging, recording and performing her songs that Geoff has devoted the last ten years. As well as getting married, they have produced 5 albums under the name
Ribbon Road, of which ‘
Golden Bells’ is the latest. During this time he has also built up a body of work in painting and sculptures, and his work can be seen on the CD inlays.
Never one for self-promotion, he has always been a believer in the importance of functional music, music with a purpose beyond entertainment, and has backed this up in his work. He has also run live music venues in Northumberland and Scotland for many years.
Today (or any day) he can be found behind the mixing desk of his Northumberland studio working on the next album.
Related articles from our archives
Want to view more articles from our archive?
Click here to try our advanced search.