The Gillies

The Gillies are an Americana, Folk singer/songwriter duo from SE London. Their music tells of love, loss, bittersweet and harsh realities, the distinctive sound of their acoustic guitars create an intense lonesome dark musical style. Susan Turner sings and plays her tenor guitar from Half Way, Minnosta and very occasionally tenor banjo and has been co-writing with Mark (Gilly) Evans, J45 and Dobro for 10 years. Divide and Conquer explains “The two combine their bare bones guitar work to paint these sprawling landscapes of emotion, experience and nostalgia” ……… “The stories they tell are raw, no editing, no glorifying, just everything that memory can provide” Masonry Nails, their third album has eleven orginal songs produced by award winning Phil Dearing and recorded at LSound London. As there was no gigs in 2020 to promote their new album , they did The Eleven a virtual One Take Tour on Youtube. This Album takes on a different feel to their other acoustic albums, having a full band sound on some of the tracks. Mark adding Dobro and Lap steel and slidy things Susan piano on Dirt Rain, Zac Turner from the MSBand playing piano and co writing on some songs. Mr Dearing adding his touches of Hammond and electric guitar. The album hangs on the ideas of masonry nails, whats left behind when things fall apart and what holds them together. Always the idea of a journey, slipping back to long time friendships in their home town and the need to escape from something wherever they are. For their new album they decided to design and make up their cd covers from eco craft card getting them printed at a local printers, trying to use as little plastic as possible. The design based on an original 1960s masonry nails box. Since the release of No Hiding Place in 2018/9 they have played and supported artists like Gordon Giltrap, Jill Jackson, Billy Kemp (Nashville) Matt Woods and the Natural Disasters(America) Played various radio stations from West Norfolk Radio to Radio stations in Kent and Resonance Radio London. Past Festivals include; The Hope Festival, Leigh Folk Festival, Folk East, Deepdale Festival. 2019 took them on a mini tour in Belguim and Germany playing at the acclaimed Cafe Korb with Doc Dooley and Friends. They were both born in Norfolk and went to Yarmouth Art College, moving to London then went to Chelsea Art College studying Fine Art Textiles and Illustration. They played in different bands in Norfolk and then re met in London and started Co writing and eventually playing in folk clubs and at singer songwriting nights in SE London, where they are still based. Graham Steel GSMC "If you like Gillian Welch and Gretchen Peters you’ll love this." “Bittersweet and bewitching songs that capture the elusiveness of a life we yearn for.” House Concert organiser Hilary Waterfield "Loved those songs - the arrangements had so much space! Like a late night drive through the American mid-west." - John Hocking,Twickfolk London “There’s a refreshing honesty and unpretentious approach to everything that they do, music-making with clever wordplay and harmonies of the sweetest kind. Get yourself a whole heap of outstanding songwriting.” DJ Ritu - Radio Presenter at Resonance 104.4fm ​“The songs are tightly constructed. Words aren't ever overused, and the stories within each one are memorable. Melodies are all original, but with a hint of musical ancestry, some of which may come from the past of a dark and weird America. They both sing in voices that are clearly their own, and ones that both acknowledge and respect their British roots, and place them in a contemporary setting.” - Norman Druker DJ Radio London I've been listening to it again and - for what thats' worth! - I just wanted to re-iterate how much I like it. And not just the songs themselves, also the overall kind of sound, which IMO suits the music perfectly - how can I say, a kind of minimalist but not at all self-effacing sound, which is just my kind of thing, so well done to the sound engineers & production team too.- Gianfranco Novarino - Musician - Reseacher National History Museum