Kate Rusby | |
---|---|
Born | Kate Anna Rusby 4 December 1973 Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 1992–present |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 |
Musical career | |
Genres | English folk music |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals, piano, fiddle |
Labels | Pure Records |
Formerly of | Equation, The Poozies |
Website | katerusby |
Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) [1] is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, and is one of the best known contemporary English folk singers. In 2001 The Guardian described her as "a superstar of the British acoustic scene." In 2007 the BBC website described her as "The first lady of young folkies". She is one of the few folk singers to have been nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Rusby was born into a family of musicians in 1973 in Penistone and grew up in Cawthorne, Barnsley. [2] After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle and the piano, as well as to sing, she played in many local folk festivals as a child and adolescent, before joining (and becoming the lead vocalist of) the all-female Celtic folk band the Poozies. 1995 saw the release of her breakthrough album, Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts, a collaboration with her friend and fellow Barnsley folk singer Kathryn Roberts. In 1997, with the help of her family, Rusby recorded and released her first solo album, Hourglass . Since then she has gone on to receive acclaim in her home country and abroad and her family continues to help her with all aspects of her professional career.
Rusby was also a member of the folk group Equation, later to be replaced by Cara Dillon. The early line-up also featured Rusby's erstwhile performing partner Kathryn Roberts and Mercury-nominated artist Seth Lakeman, and his brother, Sean Lakeman. Their first EP, In Session, had a small commercial release and led to them signing a major record deal with WEA.
The previously unreleased song "Wandering Soul" was Rusby's contribution to Billy Connolly's Musical Tour of New Zealand , the soundtrack to Billy Connolly's eight-part BBC One television documentary series World Tour of New Zealand, originally broadcast in November 2004.
A collaboration with Ronan Keating saw Rusby riding high in the UK Singles Chart; their duet "All Over Again" peaked at No. 6 in June 2006. She also made a vocal contribution to My Secret Is My Silence , the successful debut solo album of Roddy Woomble, the lead singer of Idlewild. In the same year her cover of The Kinks' "The Village Green Preservation Society" was used as the theme tune to the BBC One television sitcom Jam & Jerusalem . Rusby wrote several new songs for the series, and was credited as being responsible for the show's music.
Launched at the 2007 Cambridge Folk Festival, the album Awkward Annie was released on 3 September 2007 and reached No. 2 on the UK indie charts. "The Village Green Preservation Society" is included as a bonus track.
2008 saw the release of Sweet Bells , an album of traditional Christmas songs interpreted by Rusby. She has since released six [3] more Christmas albums: While Mortals Sleep (2011), The Frost Is All Over (2015), Angels & Men (2017), Holly Head (2019) and Light Years (2023). Each December, Rusby embarks on a Christmas tour across the United Kingdom.
In 2010, Rusby released the album Make the Light , a collection of self-penned songs. In 2014, she released the album Ghost , which featured traditional songs and three Rusby originals. Rusby's fourteenth solo album, Life in a Paper Boat, was released in 2016 with a fourth Christmas album Angels and Men, the following year. In May 2019, Rusby released another album entitled Philosophers, Poets & Kings , her fifth Christmas album followed six months later.
Heading into the new decade, Rusby released a cover album of popular songs including "Shake It Off" (Taylor Swift), "Everglow" (Coldplay) and "Friday I'm in Love" (The Cure) plus many more. The album was produced in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Rusby saying "It was always the plan to make this album this year, lock-down just made it more intimate".[ citation needed ] Her most recent work is called 30: Happy Returns and marks 30 years of being a professional musician. The songs are newly recorded versions of favourites from across her career. It was released in May 2022.
In 2001 The Guardian described her as "a superstar of the British acoustic scene." [4] In 2007 the BBC website described her as "The first lady of young folkies". She is one of the few folk singers to have been nominated for the Mercury Prize. [5] [6]
In August 2001, Rusby married Scottish fiddler and fellow band member John McCusker (formerly of the Battlefield Band), who produced most of her recordings up to The Girl Who Couldn't Fly . They divorced in 2006. [7] [8] In June 2010, she married Irish musician Damien O'Kane, with whom she has two children. [9] [10]
Cara Elizabeth Dillon is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving the group, she collaborated with Sam Lakeman under the name Polar Star. In 2001, she released her first solo album, Cara Dillon, which featured traditional songs and two original Dillon/Lakeman compositions. The album was an unexpected hit in the folk world, with Dillon receiving four nominations at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2.
John McCusker is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. He had a long association as a member of Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and producer for folk singer Kate Rusby. He has served as producer and arranger for various artists. He has also released several solo albums.
Seth Bernard Lakeman is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but also plays the viola and banjo. Nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, Lakeman has belonged to several musical ensembles, including one with his two brothers, fellow folk musicians Sam Lakeman and Sean Lakeman, but has most recently established himself as a solo act.
Kathryn Williams is an English singer-songwriter who to date has released 14 studio albums, written and arranged for a multitude of artists, and was nominated for the 2000 Mercury Music Prize.
Roddy Woomble is a Scottish singer, songwriter and writer. He is the lead vocalist of indie rock band Idlewild, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums. Celebrated for his poetic lyrics and warm, baritone voice, In 2006, Woomble released his folk-influenced debut solo album, My Secret Is My Silence, and has since released four subsequent studio albums: The Impossible Song & Other Songs (2011), Listen to Keep (2013), The Deluder (2017) and Lo! Soul (2021). In 2020 Woomble released the 'Everyday Sun' EP which featured largely spoken word pieces over minimal, ambient backing. He followed this sound and direction into 2021's 'Lo Soul' which he recorded at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kathryn Roberts is an English folk singer, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
My Secret Is My Silence is the debut studio album by Idlewild lead vocalist Roddy Woomble, released 24 July 2006 on Pure Records.
The Lakeman Brothers were an English folk music trio, consisting of Sean Lakeman, Sam Lakeman and Seth Lakeman. They released one album, Three Piece Suite, in 1994 before forming the band Equation with Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts.
Sleepless is an album by the English folk musician Kate Rusby, released in 1999. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize the same year. It won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award 2000 for best album.
Jim Causley is an English folk singer, songwriter, and musician from Devon who specializes in the traditional songs and music of the West Country. Journalist Colin Irwin has called him "the finest singer of his generation".
Ian Carr is an English guitarist and record producer from Cumbria, who has performed with Swåp and The Kate Rusby Band.
Kris Drever is a Scottish contemporary folk musician and songwriter who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, Black Water. Drever is the vocalist and guitarist of the folk trio Lau with Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke. He has worked with other British folk contemporaries, including Kate Rusby, John McCusker, Ian Carr, Eddi Reader and Julie Fowlis.
Julie Matthews is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. She has been a member of British folk duos and groups and is acknowledged internationally as a major songwriter, with her work being covered by a wide range of artists and groups. Her music is often classified as English folk, but contains strong American influences.
Kellie While is an English folk singer-songwriter.
The discography of Kate Rusby, an English folk singer, consists of twenty solo albums, four albums as part of a duo or group, four extended plays (EPs), two video albums, fourteen singles, and seven music videos. Rusby's debut was Intuition, an album recorded in collaboration with five other female singers from Yorkshire, which was released on a small label in 1993. Her breakthrough came with an eponymous album recorded with Kathryn Roberts, another of the singers featured on Intuition. This album, which was named as the best of the year by Folk Roots magazine, was the first release on Pure Records, a label set up by Rusby's father on which all her subsequent solo recordings have been released. Rusby and Roberts also formed the band the Equation in conjunction with the Lakeman Brothers, but Rusby left the group after their debut EP. In 1996 she joined the all-female folk group the Poozies, with whom she released one EP and one full-length album.
Samuel Charles Lakeman is an English musician, songwriter, and producer and co-owner of Charcoal Records.
Sean Lakeman is an English folk musician and record producer.
Dave Burland is an English folk singer and guitarist. A former policeman, he has been performing in English folk clubs since 1968 and has been described by The Guardian as having a "uniquely relaxed singing style".
Philosophers, Poets & Kings is the sixteenth studio album by English folk singer Kate Rusby. It features traditional folk music, original songs and covers of Fairport Convention and Oasis. The album was released by Pure Records, including on CD and on vinyl, on 17 May 2019. It garnered positive critical reception that praised the production and instrumentation. The final song, "Halt the Wagons", commemorates the death of 26 children in the Huskar Pit mining disaster.