To mark 125 years since her distant cousin, Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail on the Discovery with Captain Scott, acclaimed Norwich based violinist and songwriter Georgia Shackleton presents her new album From the Floorboards, alongside a live tour celebrating history, endurance, and our living seas.
At the heart of the album is the Shackleton Violin, crafted by conservationist and luthier Steve Burnett from the floorboards of Shackleton’s former Edinburgh home. Built as a time capsule in honour of polar explorers and as a voice for our struggling seas, its resonant tones became the seed for this project. The album also features The Il Mare Violin and The Orca Viola, crafted from the same piece of driftwood, creating a family of instruments that share a singular story and voice.
All music was composed during two residencies in Scotland with these instruments, inspired by the sea, tide-soaked shores, and coastal landscapes. Recorded on location aboard the historic RRS Discovery by Aaren Bennett, and in the studio by Sam Kelly, the album was produced collaboratively by Georgia Shackleton, Sam Kelly and Aaren Bennett.
From the Floorboards blends Georgia’s unmistakably inventive and expressive songwriting with songs written by Shackleton and his crewmates aboard the relief vessel The Morning, after the Discovery became trapped in Antarctic ice. Her distinctive compositional voice sits naturally alongside this historic material, creating a seamless dialogue between past and present.
Listeners are invited to traverse icy seas, tidal shores, and hidden rockpools, encountering whales, seahorses, and the subtle dramas of the natural world. The music captures both the grandeur of human exploration and the fragile beauty of the world we inhabit today.
For further details please visit https://georgiashackleton.co.uk/
