Rory McLeod | |
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 McLeod performing in Nimbin, Australia, February 2020 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Rory McLeod London, England |
| Genres | Folk |
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| Years active | 1975–present |
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| Website | www |
Rory McLeod (born 1955) is a British folk singer-songwriter from London. [1] He grew up in Camberwell before moving to South Ruislip and later West Kilburn. [2] His career has included being a fire eater and circus clown [3] and his performances include storytelling in the tradition of the traveling minstrel or troubadour, and playing a wide range of instruments including guitar, harmonica, trombone and his personally-made stomp box. WoMAD have said: "With Rory McLeod, you get the music of the world in one suitcase.[...] You can hear flamenco, calypso, blues and Celtic influences in his music, all wrapped together in an inimitable style". [4] He has recorded and toured with (then) fellow Cooking Vinyl artist Michelle Shocked. [4] [5]
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He also performed on Puddle Dive , the 1993 album by fellow singer-songwriter, Ani DiFranco. In 1996, McLeod's song Invoking the Spirits, which was inspired by time he spent in Zimbabwe, was a BBC Radio 4 "pick of the week". [5] McLeod played the theme tune for the TV animation series, Creature Comforts . [6] Martin Newell has described McLeod as "a feral folk musician of enormous talent", [7] and writing in The Guardian Robin Denselow called him a "rousing harmonica player and guitarist". [8]
In 2002, McLeod was the winner of the Best Live Act title at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. [9]
McLeod played harmonica on Nizlopi's 2008 album, Make It Happen. [10]
