The Gillies are an Americana influenced acoustic alternative folk duo, writing haunting songs of love, loss and twists of fate, the complications of tangled relationships. Susan Turner (vocals, tenor guitar), and Mark (Gilly) Evans (guitar, dobro) live in South East London. Their songs have influences of English,Celtic and American folk traditions. “Our songs seem to have a lull of sadness attached to them, the darkness of lonely bedsits and street lit nights, these memories haunt our songwriting, always going back to our Norfolk roots.” They capture the sounds of bleak landscapes. Their guitars create intricate picking patterns that fall, conflict and harmonize. “We have really worked on how the two guitars work together acoustically” This is a crucial element of the sound that they create, the cold brightness and lonesome feel of Susan’s Harmony tenor guitar, a kind of sadness in the strings contrasting with the dark, sweet-sound of Gilly’s Gibson. Susan’s Emmylou-tinged vocals lay above the intertwining picked guitars, creating understated melodies which pull you into the songs. In 2016 they finished a new album ‘Worries Fold Up Their Wings’ and played on Doug Welch BBC Radio Kent and West Norfolk Radio. In March 2016 they took part in a song challenge for Eltham Arts festival and their ‘Winter Song’ was included on their CD which was recorded by Phil Saatchi [http://www.philsaatchi.com/music.html]. In March 2017 they are recording a new EP and have been selected again to take part in this year Eltham Arts Festival and CD. They can be found playing throughout London, Kent and East Anglia “What I love about the Gillies is the poetry in the songs they write.” “Melodies are all original, but with a hint of musical ancestry, some of which may come from the past of a dark and weird America.” “The accompaniment is so good and understated – it really supports the songs. There's a quality in Susan’s singing that keeps the meaning of the song to the fore, which is all the more powerful for not being overdone.”