Blackmore's Night

What an unexpected joy it is to be able to regain paradise lost--to go back in time, to a simpler more rustic life, when achieving an idyllic existence through hard work and good times seemed infinitely more possible than it does today in our current culturally complicated world.

            Such is the magic conjured by the singular musical entity known as Blackmore's Night, a group that effortlessly transports listeners back to the merry world of Medieval life with their festive, celebratory sound. Led by otherworldly vocal sorceress Candice Night and guitar deity—and former Deep Purple and Rainbow leader—Ritchie Blackmore, the group vividly recreates the charm and good cheer of Renaissance times by combining their reverent passion for a bygone era with the extraordinary musical skill and proficiency gained from years working as rock-and-roll troubadours. The result, as evidenced on their astonishing new album, THE VILLAGE LANTERNE, is music that sounds both soothingly timeless and refreshingly modern.

            "When we started this project," says Blackmore, "people would say, 'You must be crazy. Why would you want to get involved in Medieval Renaissance music?' But we did it because it was a labor of love. To me, it was time just to play something that I felt was 100% honest. It was just something I had to do. It was in my blood.  I'd always listened to Renaissance music, and this was the first time that I could actually get involved in playing it. And Candice's voice lends itself to those particular melodies. It all seemed so right. It was very natural."

            It is a documented fact that the music of Medieval times is extremely difficult to recreate. Many of the songs that were created half a millennium ago were improvised by bards that traveled from town to town, by farm laborers needing to pass the time in the fields, and by musicians accompanying the many impromptu dances and festivals of the day. It was music created to elevate the quotidian moments of everyday life. As such, many of the songs of that time have passed away with the men and women who created them.

            The evanescence of much of the Medieval musical heritage is all the more reason to be thankful for the existence of Blackmore's Night. Like the most fervently inquisitive scholars, Night and Blackmore have for years immersed themselves in the study of the customs, mores and culture of the Middle Ages. Not happy to just dutifully perform the already existing songs that their research uncovered, they decided to channel their interest into creating an entirely new repertoire that has enabled them to bring their love of this music to brand-new audiences all around the world.

Stepping forth as the undeniable spiritual catalyst of this heady brew, the dulcet-voiced Night--part Medieval princess, part Stevie Nicks—rouses each song to breathless musical heights with her undeniable talent and zeal. And lending the music an uncanny verisimilitude is the use of various Renaissance instruments--such as shawms, chanters, rauchpfiefe, and hurdy-gurdy--that Night has ambitiously learned to play. "I now have quite a collection!" she says proudly. "The sounds are incredible—they've added a whole new dimension to the music."  The uncommon blending of Blackmore's virtuosic guitar-playing with the earthy sounds of instruments from several centuries past turns every track on Lanterne into a sprightly, sumptuous reverie. 

Take one listen to original Night/Blackmore compositions like "25 Years," based on an old Balkan folks song, and "Village Lanterne," inspired by the legend of Siegfried (the basis of Wagner's Ring cycle), and behold Night at the peak of her abilities,  expertly melding vocal technique with heartfelt emotional gravity.  And in the singer's adept hands, the Joan Osborne hit "St. Theresa," powered by Blackmore's insistent, exhilarating axe work, becomes a rock tour-de-force, creating a whole new genre of music in the process. "Renaissance-and-roll"? Perhaps. But maybe "Now Age" sums it up better, encompassing as it does the primordial feeling of a past age with the drama of contemporary life. 

Spiced with lovely instrumentals like "The Messenger " and "Village Dance" that showcase Blackmore's more acoustic side, THE VILLAGE LANERTNE also features a beautifully reworked version of the Rainbow classic "Street of Dreams"--which Night, against all odds, makes completely her own. "Ritchie often calls this track the best commercial track he ever wrote," Night writes in the liner notes to LANTERNE. "With such fond memories of this song, it seems a shame to let it collect dust. So, it's back!" Listeners looking for other echoes of Blackmore's music legacy will be thrilled to hear the guitarist's valiant new rendering of his Deep Purple standard, "Mond Tanz/Child in Time." Peopled with the everyday laborers, dauntless heroes, and ethereal faeries of Medieval times, the story songs on LANTERNE give listeners a gorgeous history lesson about life in a more enchanting time. "Olde Mill Inn," another Night/Blackmore original, gives us a sense of the raucous and simple joys that were often had by villagers as they drank, laughed, and danced at the local tavern. "World of Stone" tells the dramatic story of an ordinary citizen who musters the courage to rise up against the injustice of an encroaching enemy. And in "Faerie Queen," Night sings a solemn prayer to the royal Faerie who practices her pagan magic amidst the shadows of the forest.

Founded in the mid-nineties by Blackmore and Night, who bonded soon after they met over their mutual love of Renaissance music, the group quickly and overwhelmingly discovered a worldwide following for their very unique undertaking: there were actually hundreds of thousands of people around the globe who were eager to share their abiding passion for the romance and chivalry of Medieval times.  "When we started doing this around the house," explains Night, "our friends started requesting the music that we were writing more than the old standards or the stuff that they were used to hearing so often, so we thought that it would be a good idea to put it out there for the rest of the world to hear also. And we got such an incredible response." And though Blackmore was used to playing to sold-out arenas on tours for Deep Purple and Rainbow, he too was surprised at the success of his new band. "We were happy just to play to 100 people," he says. "I would have never been too happy to play to 100 people had I been playing rock and roll. But this worked, and then we found that because we were being so almost anti-commercial, it seemed to attract a lot more people."