Alan Davidson, aka the Kitchen Cynics, is probably one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets. The unassuming art teacher only took up the guitar in his late twenties, but since the late 1980s, he has released a veritable deluge of albums, many via his own Les Enfants du Paradiddle micro-label. Deeply rooted in and inspired by his native Aberdeen and influenced by traditional folk tales and ballads, songwriters like Nick Drake and Bridget St John and the folk psychedelia of the Incredible String Band and Pearls Before Swine, Alan seemingly effortlessly creates beautifully crafted vignettes referencing local people, places and history. Despite his prodigious output – his compulsive songwriting disorder, to borrow the title of one of his albums – Alan’s writing continues to go from strength to strength, with 2008’s Cornkisters described by Terrascope as “the finest Kitchen Cynics album to date”.
Alan has a host of admirers including Tom Rapp (Pearls Before Swine), Josephine Foster, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance), Mary Hampton, Thomas Truax, Pamela Wyn Shannon, Jesse Poe and PG Six, many of whom have shared a stage with him, appeared on his albums or co-written songs with him.
Here at Folk Police Recordings, we are dedicated Kitchen Cynics fans and are proud to announce that Alan has agreed to let us make some of his extensive catalogue of albums available to us to release via our download store. We believe that these undiscovered gems deserve a wider audience. Once you’ve listened, we’re confident you will agree.
Kitchen Cynics at the Folk Police Download Store
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