Before the Ruin

Before the Ruin is a collaborative studio album by Scottish folk musicians Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble, released on 15 September 2008 through Navigator Records. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #156^[1] and the Scottish Albums chart at #45.^[2] The album was originally scheduled for a May release, but was delayed due to McCusker touring with Mark Knopfler.

Before the Ruin
Studio album by Kris Drever, Roddy Woomble and John McCusker
Released	15 September 2008
Recorded	2007 (2007)
Genre	Folk
Label	Navigator
Producer	John McCusker Andy Seward
Roddy Woomble chronology
My Secret Is My Silence (2006) Before the Ruin (2008) The Impossible Song & Other Songs (2011)
Kris Drever chronology
Honk Toot Suite (2007) Before the Ruin (2008) Mark the Hard Earth (2010)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Line of Best Fit	(69%) link
Playlouder	link
The Skinny	link
God is in the TV	link

The album features appearances from Radiohead drummer Phil Selway, and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake.^[3]

"Silver and Gold" was released as a single on 1 September 2008.^[4]

Speaking of the album, McCusker notes that their "paths had all crossed in various ways over the past few years - working with Kate Rusby, and on Kris and Roddy's solo albums - and our starting-point was basically just that we all really liked each other's stuff."^[5] Woomble notes that: "Kris and John each have such a different take on things like melody and lyrics, but we’re all working equally on the songs together, so the whole thing feels totally new. And it’s great getting to make another ‘first’ album at our age."^[3]

Artwork

The album cover is by Orcadian painter Charles Shearer, and is said to "describe the physical, and metaphorical pull of the ocean, which is also a main theme of the record."^[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble

1. "Silver and Gold" – 4:37
2. "Into the Blue" – 4:27
3. "All Along the Way" – 4:41
4. "Before the Ruin" – 4:08
5. "Hope to See" – 5:05
6. "Rest on the Rock" – 3:38
7. "Out of Light" – 4:09
8. "The Poorest Company" – 4:40
9. "Moments Last Forever" – 4:35
10. "Stuck in Time" – 5:00

Personnel

• Kris Drever - electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
• John McCusker - fiddle, cittern, tenor guitar, wurlitzer ("Stuck in Time"), producer
• Roddy Woomble - vocals
• Andy Seward - bass (1, 3, 4 & 10), producer, engineer, mixing
• Francis MacDonald - drums (1, 2, 3, 4, 9 & 10)
• Ewen Vernal - bass (2, 5, 6, 7 & 9)
• Michael McGoldrick - whistle ("Silver and Gold", "Out of Light"), pipes ("Before the Ruin"), flute ("Hope to See")
• Donald Shaw - harmonium and wurlitzer (2, 6, 7, 9 & 10)
• Heidi Talbot - vocals (2, 3, 4, 6, 8 & 9)
• Norman Blake - vocals (2, 5 & 8)
• Phil Selway - drums ("Rest on the Rock", "Out of Light")
• Ian Carr - dobro (5, 10), electric guitar (2, 9) tenor ukulele (10)
• Andy Cutting - diatonic accordion ("Hope to See", "The Poorest Company")
• Phil Cunningham - accordion ("Hope to See", "The Poorest Company")
• Keith Angel - percussion (1, 2, 4, 6 & 7)
• Raymond McGinley - additional engineering
• Iain Hutchison - additional engineering
• Calum Malcolm - mastering
• Charles Shearer - artwork
• David Gillanders - photographs

References

1. "Official Album Chart for the week ending 27 September 2008". ChartsPlus (370). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 5–8.
2. "The Official Scottish Album Chart for the week ending 27 September 2008". ChartsPlus (370). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 5–8.
3. "Navigator Records". Navigator Records. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
4. "Before the Ruin Album Page - Kris Drever John McCusker Roddy Woomble". Drevermccuskerwoomble.com. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
5. "Press Page - Kris Drever John McCusker Roddy Woomble - Before the Ruin". Drevermccuskerwoomble.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
6. "Latest News". Roddy Woomble. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.

External links

• Drever McCusker Woomble Official Website
• Small article about the album's release at Drowned in Sound Archived 2008-09-12 at the Wayback Machine