My Cornish World: Folk duo Our Atlantic Roots

Tell us a bit about yourselves I’m Laura Johnston, and my husband Mac and I perform as Our Atlantic Roots, an indie-folk and alt-country duo. We’re based in Newquay, but I’m from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, and Mac is originally from North Carolina, USA. We’ve been married for eight years, singing together for 10 and releasing music officially for five.

How did you and Mac meet? In 2008, after high school, I went out to the USA for a gap year at a church in Asheboro, North Carolina. I had the time of my life and stayed for five years, travelling around the States and getting involved in lots of community projects: supporting homeless shelters, running youth groups, working in prisons alongside the chaplain. I met Mac four years in and had an immediate musical connection - we wrote songs together for hours on end, and the rest is history.

How did you wind up in Cornwall? My family and I visited Cornwall for our summer holiday every year from 1995 onwards. I’ve loved Cornwall for as long as I can remember, and it’s been a dream to call home. I brought Mac to visit as soon as he arrived in the UK, and he obviously saw the appeal! In 2017, we played Creation Fest in Wadebridge and made lots of good connections; six months later, we’d both been offered jobs in local charities, and moved here.

How has your music been received? We’ve played at hundreds of events and released music which has reached over two million streams worldwide. Not bad for independent musicians – we are essentially our own record label, booking agent and management. During festival season, people were singing our lyrics in other parts of the country and telling us how our songs have impacted them personally, so we must be doing something right.

How does Cornwall inspire you? Being in a place that reminds us we’re part of a bigger picture and story gets us thinking about deep thoughts, questions and ideas that are captured best in song. Our favourite place to go walking is from Crantock over to Polly Joke and Kelsey Head to Holywell Bay. The dramatic coastal scenery, calming farmland and rich history always inspire us creatively.

How does Cornwall compare with North Carolina? North Carolina is huge and has a diverse mix of places, but Mac’s home - near to the Outer Banks - has a similar pace of life to Cornwall: laid-back and slower than some states and metropolitan areas in the US. It’s very agricultural and about an hour from the coast. The beaches are very different aesthetically, with no giant cliffs and few hidden caves and coves; they are very long, sometimes stretching for miles, and the whole area is often flat, so no need to climb down steep staircases to get your toes in the sand. The beach houses are all brightly coloured and on stilts in preparation for flooding during hurricane season.

Mac became a British citizen in 2020 Yes, he had a citizenship ceremony in Truro and was basically accepted as an honorary Cornishman! He even received a special tin pin and the Cornish national anthem was played as he received his certificate. Describe your musical tastes Our first show together was as a metal band - nothing like the songs we write now! We take inspiration from several genres, and ultimately, we both love music that is laid upon the foundation of the acoustic or electric guitar - we’re huge fans of stringed instruments in general. Cinematic and orchestral music never fails to reach into our soul! Our repertoire is a mixture of our own material, music written by friends and lesser-known indie/folk covers. We love folk music because of the poetic lyrics and meaningful, everyday stories that are passed down through the generations, and we enjoy sharing these with the audience.

You’re releasing your third EP this autumn - what can we expect? There are four acoustic tracks, exploring themes such as time, friendship, mindfulness and being present - enjoying the simple, beautiful moments in life. We brought the tracks to life with lots of layers of instrumentation: mandolin, banjo, electric guitar, synth pads, piano, saxophone, viola and all kinds of other instruments.

You tour a lot - what gigs are coming up? You can catch us at The Chainlocker, Falmouth (October 15), Una St Ives (October 30), St Mawes Hotel (November 10), Redruth Drapery (November 19) and Polurrian On The Lizard (November 20). We’re constantly adding more dates – check our social media pages by searching @ouratlanticroots. l

Hold Every Moment, Our Atlantic Roots’ new EP, can be streamed and downloaded via all major music platforms from October 21.

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