Artist description Male/female family duo with strong solo and harmony vocals and instrumentation.

Music Style Folk, celtic, acoustic, traditional, historical

Musical Influences Traditional folk music, folk-rock, pop, blues, easy-listening, country

Similar Artists June Tabor, Maddie Prior, Waterson-Carthy, Dave Webber & Annie Fentiman, Mary Black, Sandy Denny, Mark Knopfler

Artist History Ned & Den played in most musical genres, including pop and rock bands before coming to folk music three years ago.

Group Members Ned Couch on voice, guitars, bouzouki, banjo & mandolin & Den Couch, voice, accordian, piano, whistles, recorders & percussion. New additions to the line-up in 2003 Geoff Horne, vocals, guitar, double bass and Chris Wolfe, bouzouki, guitar, banjo.

Instruments Guitars, banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, accordian, piano, whistles, flute, percussion (+ double bass on Music of Time Album and at some gigs)

Albums How Well I Remember, Music of Time (2003)

Press Reviews Mad Rush - How Well Do I Remember A bit of a departure from Pay The Reckoning's normal focus on traditional (or nearly so!) Irish music is this collection of songs by Plymouth duo, Mad Rush, husband and wife team Den and Ned Couch. Of the 13 tracks on the album, all but 2 are original compositions. Given Pay The Reckoning's predilections, with which regular visitors will be familiar, it's hardly surprising that the traditional songs "Lisbon" and "The Trees They Do Grow High" were the first we listened to. Each is a delight. Den's voice is a revelation. Unforced and free of any artificiality, her delivery is spot-on. Hailing as they do from a town with a long historical association with the Navy, it's hardly surprising that much of the material on the album concerns matters martial. A great deal of the folk canon springs from such sources, and so it shouldn't be surprising to find modern songwriters turning their attention to material of this nature. And yet, to Pay The Reckoning's ears, songs such as Ned's "Young Boy No More", "Soldiers of Britain" and "The Bloody Eleventh" are a lttle startling since so few of the artists we listen to perform such work. The album contains a number of highlights. The traditional songs mentioned above are ones which Pay The Reckoning found itself returning to several times over the course of the past few days. We were very impressed with "The Day You Were Taken Away", a song for which the adjective "haunting" might have been invented. And we were captivated by "Lord Preserve Us" - a very clever song indeed. Like many a good story or film, too much detail would spoil the song for the new listener. So we'll give the (excellent) lyrics (by Pamela Trudie Hodge, a good friend of Mad Rush) a miss and applaud instead the deftly mesmerising guitar picking of Ned and Den's subtle vocals. However the stand-out track on the album is the last, "Fairisle". Some day soon - take our word for it - you are going to hear this track played by Mike Harding. It's destined to become an instant classic. And then to be covered by Kate Rusby, Cara Dillon, Dolores Keane, Cathy Jordan or Eleanor Shanley. Pay The Reckoning rarely allows itself a moment of smugness, but we'll indulge ourselves the first time we hear Fairisle sung in some far-flung session by someone who describes it as a song by one of the above. We'll reply that we remember when we first heard the original and how we still think it's far better!" We gather that Den and Ned are working up some new material. Let's hope they keep in touch. We want to hear it! Pay The Reckoning August 2001 www.geocities.com/paythereckoning REVIEW FROM WHAT'S AFOOT FOLK MAGAZINE HOW WELL I REMEMBER - MAD RUSH From the number of albums from local performers over the years, it is evident that there's no shortage of talent in Devon. Many deserve (and some achieve) a much wider audience. Into this category come Mad Rush with their debut CD. The group consists of Ned and Den (Denise) Couch, now resident singers and organisers at the Hyde Folk Club, Plymouth. Both bring to the album their common interest in folk music experience from quite different musical backgrounds. Ned as a former vocalist and lead guitarist in a rock band and Den as a professional singer since childhood. surprisingly perhaps, there is no evidence of a rock influence in Ned's sypathetic guitar accompaniments, while Den's voice has that clear, haunting quality ideally suited to the modal tunes in many of her songs. She alsoplays accordion, piano, keyboard, whistle and recorder on various songs, most of which are their own compositions. The first and last tracks are particularly effective; The day You were Taken away and Fairisle, while Den's presentation of the traditional The Trees They do Grow High, is as good as I've heard anywhere. A most promising debut on disc! By COLIN ANDREWS For info on Devon folk music, dance and song see www.bonnygreen.co.uk Welcome "Mad Rush" to the Celtic Ways roster. Listed as a duo, Ned and Den Couch their music is quite a family affair. When you see their pictures its hard to believe these fit handsome folks are the parents of 7 children some of whom get involved in the recordings along with Ned & Den's brothers, sisters, parents etc. Quite a wonderful gang! Some of you will already be very familiar with Den and her participation in the Mudcat Cafe online forums at http://www.mudcat.org/threads.cfm "Mad Rush" are based in Plymouth, Devon, UK - same place as our grassers, "The Blackfoot Brothers" http://celticways.com/blackfootbros so its great to have two artists from one city. "Mad Rush"s heart seems to be in Dartmoor, though and their CD has a nice Dartmoor photo - Haytor Rock? Folk who visit Britain from the USA should extend their Bath visits to go to Dartmoor and Exmoor. I find Exmoor the most enchanting but Dartmoor has its magic, its tales, its headless horsemen, goblin, gnome and pixie lucky charms - and you'll be singing Widdecombe Fair all the way back to London on the bus or on the train. Anyway, Mad Rush's music is not a travel brochure for Dartmoor, though maybe their follow up should be :-) Their first album largely explore the harsh challenges historically experienced in war and marriage. Ned is fascinated by historic war stories and Den seems to be fascinated by the dark side of rural folk life - and together this forms most of folk music history. For your downloading pleasure the following are now available "There I Must Lie" Here you'll right away recognize Den's voice as being a real English folk ladies voice so fans of June Tabor and Shirley Collins are in for a treat. This is a fascinating story song through the eyes of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's 2nd wife. What a great opener! "Lisbon" One of Mad Rush's war songs but the highlight is Den's singing here. It shows that girls don't have to sound like Connie Dover and Maire Brennan to be beautiful. Wonderful melody and so beautifully sung and phrased. Instruments are kept right in the back while Den lets it all out. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ..... "The Trees They Do Grow High" One of my favorites from their album. its a popular folk song in England. Martin Carthy made it fairly popular, but Den does a great job singing it here. "Soldiers Of Britain" is a showcase for the other half, Ned, who does a great job with this upbeat patriotic song. He does a kind of English Woodie Guthrie, Pete Seeger folk song. Should be popular. All of the above are from Mad Rush's album "How Well I Remember" and I would like to say a few words about tracks not available for download. "Fairisle" a fascinating song about how Fair Isle women knitted unique patterns for their men's sweaters so they would be identified if they were ever recovered from drowning after a fishing trip. In the chorus are a couple of the young Couch children. "When The Fire Died" about a couple who's dream is to live on Dartmoor. "Lonely In The Crowd" quite a touching Elvis Costello/Elton John style reflective song touchingly done by Den. ...... and there's a lot more. The Couch's sound as if they have been in folk music all of their lives but it appears this is new. Most of their musical past has been in rock and pop music. Was the name "Mad Rush" inspired by getting all 7 kids off to school in the morning each day ????

Additional Info 13 Tracks UK 14 Tracks UK version

Location Plymouth, Devon - United Kingdom

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