He went to The Grange School, and sang in the school choir, but says he was "more of a receiver, an engager" than a participant in the arts. The first of his family to go to university, he won 1st Class Honours in English Language and Literature at Birmingham University. It was there he went to his first "proper" concert, conducted by Simon Rattle: "I'd never heard a professional orchestra before, so I was just bowled over and went every week in the two-quid seats,"
He revisited the experience in a recent blog post: "I'll never forget my first orchestral concert, the noise like nothing else, and its effect on me. It made me, steeped in pop music, see what classical music was and could be. I delved and discovered, and it added to the things that gave my life depth. And still does, the effect of orchestral sounds on my psyche and emotions not anything less than the effect of seeing Canadian genius Tony Dekker and his band the Great Lake Swimmers in a small venue in Shepherd's Bush. They are both excellent, life-affirming and life-questioning forms of musical art."
Here's a sample of the Great Lake Swimmers - a tad R.E.M like for my taste.
Post-Birmingham, he went to Merton College, Oxford, picking up an M Phil. for work on an edition of the shorter Gautreks Saga in Icelandic. He then joined the Civil Service, and was sent back up north to be secretary to Cleveland child abuse inquiry. Eventually he ended up in the Department of National Heritage, later DCMS, and thence to the Arts Council England.
Now he likes modern dance, Spurs FC, and "emerging folk/roots music from the UK and Canada." He's been spotted in luvvy hangouts like 2 Brydges Place, and is chums with BBC and Olympic arts advisor Ruth McKenzie. He may not be a singer or a player, but apparently can spot a Joni Mitchell guitar tuning at some distance. Gr8, as he's prone to say on Twitter, under the monicker @armslengthal.
Beautiful night with @samleesong @ QEH. Fabulous soundscape brings exquisite depth to trad songs of life and beyond. Fab shirt he wore too.
— Alan Davey (@armslengthal) May 29, 2014
Here at bbc folk awards. So is Jarvis Cocker. Fab line up. So excited!
— Alan Davey (@armslengthal) February 19, 2014
Great stuff from Tony Hall on arts @ bbc. Feeling of new era and bbc making the most of its resources as cultural enabler. Exciting ....
— Alan Davey (@armslengthal) March 25, 2014
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