Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
In the summer of 2025, just after a rather disappointing industry knockback I received a beautifully timed, lovely email from well-respected songwriter Rev Hammer. We had only met once briefly at Ragged Bear Festival so I was very surprised to hear from him.
DMF were putting out an album which would feature Rev’s songs reimagined by other artists, including the likes of Seth Lakeman, various Levellers, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, Justin Sullivan, Maddy Prior and Nick Harper among many others.
He wanted me to do one of them too!
I couldn’t quite believe I was being asked to be on a record with so many (to me at least) ‘household names’. When I asked why he’d asked me, he said some very kind words about my musical output during lockdown, which I obviously took as a massive compliment, and I agreed to at least have a crack at it.
The song I was given was Down by the River ‘O’ which made it even more daunting as it was arguably Rev’s most famous song, having twice been recorded for Levellers albums, and regularly making it onto their setlists.
I was nervous, but was also feeling very flattered.
I reimagined it being written about a river in Nashville rather than in Hertfordshire and gave it a bit of a country twang.
Enlisting the help of band mates, Dave Little, Tom Granville, Shane Dixon, John Leonard and John Hare, my daughter Flo Parker Bombosch and mixer-extraordinaire Dave Draper we created and sent off our attempt.
Luckily Rev loved it and sent another uplifting message my way.
The album is now out and can be found here dmfmusic.tmstor.es/products/section/17389 or on all streaming platforms.
It has just been announced by Folk on Foot that the album has gone straight in to #4 in the Official Folk Albums Charts (08/09/2026)
As Rev had first heard of me during the weird year that was 2020 we thought it would be apt to film ourselves recording our parts in our own homes and make it into this video.
Thank you Rev!
PS I appreciate this won't appeal to many die-hard Rev/Levs fans, but I have it on good authority that the original recordings are still available for your listening pleasure.
In the summer of 2025, just after a rather disappointing industry knockback I received a beautifully timed, lovely email from well-respected songwriter Rev Hammer. We had only met once briefly at Ragged Bear Festival so I was very surprised to hear from him.
DMF were putting out an album which would feature Rev’s songs reimagined by other artists, including the likes of Seth Lakeman, various Levellers, Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, Justin Sullivan, Maddy Prior and Nick Harper among many others.
He wanted me to do one of them too!
I couldn’t quite believe I was being asked to be on a record with so many (to me at least) ‘household names’. When I asked why he’d asked me, he said some very kind words about my musical output during lockdown, which I obviously took as a massive compliment, and I agreed to at least have a crack at it.
The song I was given was Down by the River ‘O’ which made it even more daunting as it was arguably Rev’s most famous song, having twice been recorded for Levellers albums, and regularly making it onto their setlists.
I was nervous, but was also feeling very flattered.
I reimagined it being written about a river in Nashville rather than in Hertfordshire and gave it a bit of a country twang.
Enlisting the help of band mates, Dave Little, Tom Granville, Shane Dixon, John Leonard and John Hare, my daughter Flo Parker Bombosch and mixer-extraordinaire Dave Draper we created and sent off our attempt.
Luckily Rev loved it and sent another uplifting message my way.
The album is now out and can be found here dmfmusic.tmstor.es/products/section/17389 or on all streaming platforms.
It has just been announced by Folk on Foot that the album has gone straight in to #4 in the Official Folk Albums Charts (08/09/2026)
As Rev had first heard of me during the weird year that was 2020 we thought it would be apt to film ourselves recording our parts in our own homes and make it into this video.
Thank you Rev!
PS I appreciate this won't appeal to many die-hard Rev/Levs fans, but I have it on good authority that the original recordings are still available for your listening pleasure.
