Ask almost any active band member in Oxford, and you’ll find out there’s something unanimously wonderful about playing music with others. Collaborating with fellow musicians is one of the many thrills to be experienced as a songwriter and performer, but when the person you’re collaborating with is also your life partner, the process becomes even more special. Thame-based couple Kerraleigh and Martin Child comprise The August List, a low-fi alternative folk duo that emerged when previous creative aspirations fell by the wayside, and love prevailed. “Martin was trying to make a terrible film and I was trying to be an Oscar-winning actress,” explains Kerraleigh. “Neither worked out, but we got together!”
Musical chemistry wasn’t established straight away – the twosome only began playing together a couple of years after meeting one another. Marrying in 2010 among the Great Smokey Mountains of North Carolina, USA, their shared love of American folk music eventually culminated in their multi-instrumental talents fusing to form a band. Guitars, percussion, harmonicas, a stylophone, a banjo and two sets of lungs are the main ingredients on The August List, as each ditty comes together through an inconsistent but effective writing process.
“We never seem to approach our songs in the same way,” explains Kerraleigh. “Some come together very quickly, either individually or collaboratively. Others can take months of hearing a piece of melody going over and over in our heads before evolving into a song. We spend a lot of time working on the lyrics, getting the imagery right for each song.”
The couple are true advocates of the local music scene, having stuck it out weekends ago at Charlbury’s rather rainy Riverside Festival to support their friends in fellow bands Flights of Helios and Empty White Circles. Next on their to-do list is an exciting headline slot at PinDrop Performances’ outdoor extravaganza in the Yard at Modern Art Oxford, this Saturday. Kerraleigh seems as excited to check out the other bands as she is to be playing top of the bill.
“There are two great bands playing with us: The Yarns and Bright Works (formerly Nairobi), as well as a set of guerrilla theatre performances from Awkward Actors.”
Tickets cost £5 from modernartoxford.org.uk
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