Talis Kimberley

"Lady MacBeth said to Helen of Troy,
When they'd finished the Wine they'd been drinking
'I'm all for regicide, once in a while, but -
Helen, dear, What were you thinking?'"

Talis has been performing steadily since starting out solo many years ago at events in and around her home town of Bristol. Soon she was travelling widely and delighting a variety of audiences including festivals (Glastonbury, Ashton Court), Arts Centres, and literary events. She has performed in a mens' prison, in a graveyard, with poets, authors and storytellers.

With the Mythical Beasts behind her (John Jones and Kieran Taaffe were the original Beasts, but the lineup has grown increasingly international and varied - depending on which country she's in, really) and an ambitious but realistic set of goals, Talis developed her current eclectic and contemporary sound (which defies simple pigeonholing; she's open to suggestions as to what to call her style. Answers on a postcard, please), gigging solo and with the Beasts. Her engaging and intimate performance style has won her admirers in Germany, America and Canada, each of which she visited on the 'Archetype Cafe' tour.

Talis considers her speciality to be cunning, literate lyrics which tell stories and weave images, turning phrases that will catch and linger in your memory. Classical, rock and roots backgrounds are knitted together in Talis's arrangements, where bassoon and harp offset acoustic guitar, bass and subtle drums.

Talis adds: 'I balance an international rock-chick persona with a domesticated creature who loves baking and moving all the furniture around. I like chocolate; I drink a great deal of tea. I like being five foot tall, really. I use henna on my hair and I don't care who knows it. I enjoy occasional bouts of arabic dancing, archery, and horse riding. I learned to ride side-saddle to arrive on a white horse at my wedding to Simon Fairbourn, who plays more instruments than I do and can pun for England. I am involved in a mediaeval re-enactment group and hold occasional storytelling evenings for local and far-flung friends.

'My influences are many and varied. At its best, I write songs because I can't not. I have written songs about: love, chocolate, the optical illusions of M.C. Escher, mediaeval tapestries, werewolves, zebras, shopping malls, poison, infatuation, seduction, and revenge. I used to want to write books until I began songwriting; anyway, my fictional characters always used to run away with the plot. In half a dozen verses (maximum) there is not so far for them to run, ha!

'I make very good flapjacks, and unbelievable tiramisu. I wear velvet a lot. I have small feet and too many boots. I boss my team about a lot, but they seem to thrive on it, for which I remain ever grateful. I sometimes cry when I'm happy, and I sneeze very loudly.

This is a representative piece for the 2007 Pegasus Awards. Note that the song itself is not nominated, Talis is.

Blackthorn Winter

Words and music Copyright ©2006 Talis Kimberley

In a blackthorn winter there was frost on the ground
And she gathered her aprons and picked up her baskets and she scattered seeds around
And the shape of her honour was a simple case of pride
Ooh, ooh

In a blackthorn winter there was trouble overseas
She put food on the table and wood on the fire and she raked in all the leaves
And the shape of her longing was a thing she kept inside
Ooh, ooh

In a blackthorn winter she was mute, she was spent
And she gave back the courage, the strength and the passion she'd borrowed or been lent
And the shape of her grieving was a thing she'd held too long
Ooh, ooh

And there were hands on the spade
In the garden that she made she hoped the
Ghosts would all stay laid to rest
And there were hands on the spade
And in the music that they made
Was the gentleness she craved so much

And the blackthorn blossomed at a word, at her touch

In a blackthorn winter she opened up the earth
And she kissed out the candle she'd lit for pale Bridget and she waited for the birth
And the shape of her praying was the silence and the song
Ooh, ooh