Andy Cutting is an English folk musician and composer. He plays melodeon and is best known for writing and performing traditional English folk and his own original compositions which combine English and French traditions with wider influences. He is three times winner of the Folk Musician of the Year award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and has appeared on around 50 albums, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. He was born in Harrow, London and is married with three children.
Le Vent du Nord is a Canadian folk music group from Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu in Quebec. The band performs traditional Québécois music, as well as original numbers in this style, in French. In 2018 the group's membership consists of Simon Beaudry, Nicolas Boulerice, André Brunet, Réjean Brunet and Olivier Demers. Their first eight recordings have been nominated for multiple awards.
Coope Boyes and Simpson was an English vocal folk trio, formed around 1990. Their sound was rich and often had unusual vocal harmonies.
Seckou Keita is a kora player and drummer from Senegal. He is one of the few champions of the lesser-known kora repertoire from Casamance in southern Senegal.
The Unthanks are an English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres. Their debut album, Cruel Sister, was Mojo magazine's Folk Album of the Year in 2005. Of their subsequent albums, nine have received four or five-starred reviews in the British national press. Their album Mount the Air, released in 2015, won in the best album category in the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2017 they released two albums featuring the songs and poems of Molly Drake, mother of singer-songwriter and musician Nick Drake.
Ana Hina is an album by Belgian singer Natacha Atlas. It was released by World Village on 26 May 2008. The album primarily features acoustic cover versions of songs originally performed by Arabic singers Fairuz and Abdel Halim Hafez. It was also influenced by Scottish and Latin music. The song "He Hesitated" appeared in the 2009 film Amreeka.
The Bairns was the second album by Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, which then comprised Rachel Unthank, her younger sister Becky, pianist Belinda O'Hooley and fiddle player Niopha Keegan. Produced by Adrian McNally and released by Rabble Rouser on 20 August 2007, it was nominated for the Best Album award at the 2008 BBC Folk Awards and was also nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. It received a four-starred review in The Guardian.
Invisible System is the pseudonym for the UK & Africa producer Dan Harper whose music involves a fusion of Ethiopian, dub, reggae, techno, trance, drum and bass, jungle, acid, psychedelic, folk, post-punk, goth and rock.
Belinda O'Hooley is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Yorkshire, England. Formerly a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, she now records and performs as O'Hooley & Tidow with her wife Heidi Tidow.
O'Hooley & Tidow are an English folk music duo from Yorkshire. Singer-songwriter Heidi Tidow performs and records with her wife, singer-songwriter and pianist Belinda O'Hooley, who was formerly a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset. O'Hooley & Tidow were nominated for Best Duo at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their 2016 album Shadows was given a five-star review in The Guardian, and four of their other albums, including their 2017 release WinterFolk Volume 1, have received four-star reviews in the British national press. From 2019 to 2022, their song "Gentleman Jack", from the album The Fragile, featured as the closing theme for the BBC/HBO television series Gentleman Jack. Their album Cloudheads was released on 21 April 2023.
Lucy Victoria Ward is an English singer-songwriter from Derby, England. She performs, with a voice described as expressive and powerful, traditional English folk songs as well as her own material. Three of her albums, Adelphi Has to Fly, Single Flame and I Dreamt I Was a Bird, have been critically acclaimed and have each received four-starred reviews in the British national press.
Juldeh Camara is a griot, as well as an internationally followed blues musician and recording artist who has appeared on 21 albums. He is known for his instrumental virtuosity and for his collaborations with European, African, and other artists. His instrument is an African one-string fiddle, known as Nyanyero in his native Fula language or Riti in the Wolof language.
Jaune Toujours is a Belgian band originating from Brussels. Their style is best described as mestizo, a mix of salsa, Latin, ska, Balkan and punk.
Ewan McLennan is a Scottish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Although born in London, McLennan grew up in Edinburgh, and studied classical music on the piano. Later, he took up the guitar and as he had developed a strong interest in folk music, he started playing folk and acoustic music clubs in 2010. That year he was signed to Fellside Records and recorded his first album 'Rags & Robes', which cemented his reputation on the UK folk circuit, and led to him winning the 2011 Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label.
9Bach is an alternative folk group formed by Welsh singer-songwriter and pianist Lisa Jên and guitarist Martin Hoyland, a veteran of 1990s alt-rock band Pusherman. The group now includes Dan Swain, Esyllt Glyn Jones, Mirain Roberts (vocals) and Andy Gangadeen (drums). The sextet's name puns on "nain", the word for "grandmother" in north Wales; "bach" means "small" in Welsh.
Jane Harbour is a British violinist and composer. She is the main composer in the group Spiro, which she formed in 1993. Her composition work has also included writing for theatre, live film and TV, and for other ensembles including the experimental project The Small Mammal Mirror. Her orchestral work Kynde, a BBC Radio 3 commission, was performed live on Radio 3 by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers on 31 March 2017, conducted by Martin Yates.
Mokoomba is a Zimbabwean musical group, originally from Chinotimba township, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The group sings in a number of languages including English, Luvale, Tonga, Nyanja, Ndebele and Shona. Mokoomba takes its name from a Tonga word that connotes deep respect for the Zambezi river and the vibrant life along its banks.
The Gloaming is the debut studio album by the contemporary Irish/American music group The Gloaming. It was released on January 20, 2014 on Real World Records, and on Brassland Records in America, Justin Time Records in Canada, and Planet Records in Australia.
Rachel Newton is a Scottish singer and harpist. As well as playing both acoustic and electric harp she also plays viola, fiddle, piano and harmonium. She performs solo as well as in the bands The Shee, The Furrow Collective and Boreas and was formerly a member of the Emily Portman Trio. She was a member of the Lost Words Spell Songs project and is a co-founder of The Bit Collective, a group campaigning for equality in folk music.
