 |
Kellie While | |
|---|---|
 While in 2003 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1976 (age 45–46) |
| Origin | Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England |
| Genres | Folk music, country music, Americana, soul music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Acoustic guitar and Percussion |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Website | kelliewhile |
Kellie While is an English folk singer-songwriter.
Born in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, she is the daughter of singer-songwriter Chris While and pianist-songwriter Joe While. She began performing with her mother in local folk clubs while still a teenager and became lead singer with the Sefton Youth Jazz Big Band. She began to write her own songs and to learn to play the guitar while still at school and continued to perform in local clubs. [1]
In 1997, after the departure of her mother and Julie Matthews from the Albion Band she was asked to join by Ashley Hutchings at the age of only nineteen. Kellie took over guitar playing and vocal duties for the band for five years and contributed to two albums. On Happy Accident (1998) she was officially a guest vocalist on three tracks and gained a writing credit with Hutchings on 'Pear Tree'. She did not appear on the 1999 release Before us Stands Yesterday, but was a full member of the band for Christmas Album (1999) and Road Movies (2001), contributing guitars and vocals. She penned the song 'Home Straight' with Joe Broughton and was the sole composer of 'Pieces of Me'. One highlight was her vocal performance on the Broughton/Hutchings penned 'When my son is Grown'. After the official break-up of the Albion Band in 2002 Kellie continued to record and tour with the seasonal project The Albion Christmas Band, contributing to four albums of traditional and new seasonal music.
In January 2000, while still with the Albions, Kellie joined in the World/Folk band e2K formed out of the break-up of festival favourites Edward II. This resulted in two albums Shift (2001), and If Not Now (2003) on which Kellie took the main vocal duties and which were very well received in the folk and roots press. [2] The band toured for three years with this line-up.
In 2001 Kellie released her first solo album Tenacious, co-produced by Chris While's longtime musical collaborator Julie Matthews, who wrote the title track 'Tenacious Girl' for Kellie based on a description of her by her mother. The album contained a familiar mix of traditional and modern songs and was highly rated by the folk and roots press. [3]
In 2002 Kellie shared lead vocals with Thea Gilmore, beside musicians Maartin Allcock; John Kirkpatrick, Robbie McIntosh, Michael McGoldrick and Simon Swarbrick in the Reel and Soul Association. The project mixed American soul and British Folk music. The groups eponymously titled album gained considerable mainstream attention which resulted in numerous TV appearances and radio broadcasts including the BBC's Top of the Pops 2.
In 2004 Kellie collaborated with her mother to produce the album Chris and Kellie While in 2004, notable for its strong harmonies and emotional delivery of standards and some of Chris' best songs. Since then they have toured together regularly, producing a second album, Too Few Songs, in 2006, which showcased some of the best songwriting available from writers including David Francey, Ron Sexsmith and Mike Silver. The album received widespread critical acclaim, as the review in the Daily Telegraph put it 'each song remains a showcase for the delicate, complementary powers of expression of two expert vocalists, truly living up to the "more like sisters" description of one admirer, Ralph McTell'. [4]
Kellie has been a much sought-after contributor to other people's projects. These include contributions to albums by Helen Watson, Roy Bailey, Chris While and Julie Matthews, Kate Rusby and Martin Simpson. She has also been a backing vocalist for Eddi Reader and Beth Nielsen Chapman and has taken part in live collaborations with Pete Morton, Fairport Convention, Emily Slade and Mike Silver. [1] In July 2009 Kellie performed as part of the All-Star Fairport Convention concert at The Barbican. The concert featured surviving original Fairport members Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks, Iain Matthews and Judy Dyble as well as a host of guest vocalists including Chris While and Teddy Thompson.
As solo artist
The Albion Band
e2K
The Reel and Soul Association
Chris and Kellie While
The Albion Christmas Band
As guest vocalist
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater They started out heavily influenced by American folk rock, with a setlist dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, with Matthews later leaving during the recording of their third album.
Dave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk and rock groups including the Ian Campbell Folk Group and Jethro Tull.
Kate Anna Rusby 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.
Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of three noteworthy English folk-rock bands: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. Hutchings has overseen numerous other projects, including records and live theatre, and has collaborated on film and television projects.
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ created unique settings for Shirley's plain, austere singing style.
Rise Up Like the Sun is a British folk rock album released in 1978 by The Albion Band. The album is in part a collaboration between John Tams on vocals and melodeon and Ashley Hutchings on electric bass. This is not the first album on which the two worked together but it remains the most fulfilling for listeners. To build the sound Hutchings brought in two of his former compatriots from Fairport Convention, Dave Mattacks on drums and tambourine and Simon Nicol on vocals and electric and acoustic guitars. In addition another ex-member of Fairport, Richard Thompson, contributed songs and backing vocals. Having assembled the principal contributors and an ambiance that encouraged their friends to drop in, Hutchings gave Tams the freedom to act as the project's musical director. They were joined by Philip Pickett on shawms, bagpipes, curtals and trumpet, Pete Bullock on synthesiser, piano, clarinet, sax, and organ, Michael Gregory on percussion, Ric Sanders on violin and violectra and Graeme Taylor on electric and acoustic guitars. Kate McGarrigle, Julie Covington, Linda Thompson, Pat Donaldson, Martin Carthy, Andy Fairweather-Low and Dave Bristow make guest appearances.
Christopher Julian Leslie is a British folk rock musician. He joined Fairport Convention in 1997.
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the most important groupings in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
Unhalfbricking is the third album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and their second album released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences towards more traditional English folk songs that had begun on their previous album, What We Did on Our Holidays and reached its peak on the follow-up, Liege & Lief, released later the same year.
Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist, as well as the first to feature future long-serving personnel Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks on violin/mandolin and drums, respectively, as full band members. It is also the first Fairport album on which all songs are either adapted (freely) from traditional British and Celtic folk material, or else are original compositions written and performed in a similar style. Although Denny and founding bass player Ashley Hutchings quit the band before the album's release, Fairport Convention has continued to the present day to make music strongly based within the British folk rock idiom, and are still the band most prominently associated with it.
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band. He has also been involved with the Albion Band and a wide range of musical projects, both as a collaborator, producer and as a solo artist. He has received several awards for his work and career.
Kenneth Stephen Nicol is an English guitar player, vocalist and songwriter. He was a member of The Albion Band for many years, and for eight years (2002–2010) played in British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Fairport Convention is Fairport Convention's debut album. The band formed in 1967, with the original line-up consisting of Richard Thompson (guitar); Simon Nicol (guitar); Ashley “Tyger” Hutchings (bass); and Shaun Frater (drums), who was replaced after their first gig by Martin Lamble. They were joined by Judy Dyble (vocals), and Ian MacDonald after they made their major London stage debut in one of Brian Epstein’s Sunday concerts at the Saville Theatre.
The Guv'nor vol 1 is a compilation of recordings by English folk musician Ashley Hutchings.
Chris While is an English songwriter, singer and musician, known particularly for her vocals and live performances. She has worked as a solo artist, a songwriter and as a member of a number of duos and groups. Her music is often classified as English folk, but contains strong American influences.
Julie Matthews is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. She has been a member of some of the most influential 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.
Acousticity, released in 1993, was the first album in a new, stripped down format by the long-running folk rock outfit the Albion Band. It combines the song writing talents of the band members with traditional tunes and music from some of the best folk artists available at the time. It marked the beginning of a new lease of life for the long running and highly influential Albion Band, shaping the small group format that would be the basis of their line-up until their suspension in 2002.
Albion Heart, released in 1995, was the second album of the long running Albion Band's acoustic phase and the first to contain both Chris While and Julie Matthews, marking the beginning of their highly successful collaboration. It benefits from their song writing and instrumental talents, but is almost unique in the history of the band for its lack of traditional English instruments or tunes.
Ridgeriders is a 1999 studio album based on music from the TV series Ridge Riders. The album is a collaboration album between Phil Beer, Ashley Hutchings and Chris While. It also guest features The Albion Band and Julie Matthews.
Steve Frank Ashley is an English singer-songwriter, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, writer and graphic designer. Ashley is best known as a songwriter and first gained public recognition for his work with his debut solo album, Stroll On. Taking his inspiration from English traditional songs, Ashley has developed a songwriting style which is contemporary in content while reflecting traditional influences in his melodies, poetry and vocal delivery.
| General | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
