2012
Twenty-seven year old BA (Hons) Popular Music Journalism student|, Ian Easton has graced the sacred grounds of Glastonbury for ten years running. Ian performs under the guise of The Widowmaker, producing an acoustic blend of folk and blues with a hint of satiric influences.
Watch an interview with The Widowmaker below.
Being asked to perform at Glastonbury was just
the reward Ian needed for his hard work over the past six years. “The hard work put into touring, writing and recording the album, coupled with getting signed, and then this, really gave me a sense of great accomplishment and pride.”
Taking on such a mighty task would be difficult for any band or artist to take on but Ian took everything in his stride, not letting the enormity of performing at Glastonbury overwhelm him. “I approached the event like I would any other. Dan Parkinson, my record producer and friend, plays live with me and we pride ourselves on our grass-roots approach to touring, gigging and rehearsing. We didn’t change a thing; we kept to the same strict schedule of rehearsing and just enjoyed the ride”, he explained.
Ian took to the Glade stage on the final day of the festival at 11.45am and like many artists, he had only ever dreamed about the experience, so how did it feel when he stepped onto that stage?
”All your gear is set up for you, big stage, big speakers, your face on the big screens, loads of people dancing and singing the words. It’s not really something you can describe in words.”
“I was deeply surprised and humbled to see that a lot of people there had The Widowmaker t-shirts on, which was an incredible feeling, especially when I saw them singing back the words to my songs, we all had a good old folk-hoedown barn dance! It really was foot stomping stuff.”
Having visited the festival for the past ten years, Glastonbury has become a special tradition for Ian and it has been firmly placed on his list of the best gigs he’s ever played. Talking about the high points of his set, Ian said, “My voice had a nice gravelly quality to it which came from getting up early and four days of sleeping rough. High points were the last two tracks, Black Monday and Mother Maybelline, which are my biggest songs. People were pouring into the area to dance and be merry, which was certainly a sight and a feeling that cannot be replicated.”
For a true veteran of Glastonbury festival this really was a dream come true for Ian, and with it being the 40th anniversary, everything was extra special. After his performance was complete and the dream lived, how did Ian sum up the experience?
“Glastonbury Festival is something of a magical place to me, I’ve been there through high and low points in my life, and it always brings me a sense of joy and happiness that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world, and I’ve been to a lot of places!
"So to play at my favourite place in the world was an honour. After coming for so many years as a punter, it was an exquisite feeling to be involved in the professional side of things there. I’ve been coming to the Glade stage and seeing acts for years, thinking ‘wow, I’d love to play’, but these things always felt like dreams.”