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The Poozies | |
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Genres | Traditional, folk |
Years active | 1990–present |
Labels | Hypertension, Compass, Greentrax |
Members | |
Past members | |
Website | www |
The Poozies are a British all-female traditional folk band formed in 1990. They were at the forefront of a wave that revolutionised traditional Scottish and Gaelic music in the 1990s. Throughout the years they have toured worldwide, attracting recognition and appreciation for their eclectic choice of material, unusual and exciting arrangements, and notable vocal harmonies.
The Poozies formed in 1990. Mary Macmaster (harp) and Patsy Seddon (harp) were performing together as the duo Sileas and worked with Sally Barker (guitar and vocals) on her solo album. [1] Together they decided that an all-women folk group was a good idea, and when Barker met Karen Tweed in Hong Kong she agreed to join the group. Fiddler Jenny Gardner was the fifth member but left before the band recorded their first album Chantoozies, on which she appears as a guest on the track "Foggy Mountain Top". [1]
After the releases of Chantoozies (1993) and Dansoozies (1995), whose titles were derived from phonetic spellings of the French words for female singer (chanteuse) and female dancer (danseuse), Barker left the group in 1996 to start a family. Kate Rusby joined the band as lead vocalist, and this line-up released one EP, Come Raise Your Head (1997), and a full-length album, Infinite Blue (1998). However, as Rusby's solo career took off, she was replaced by Eilidh Shaw, an accomplished fiddler. [2] This line-up released Changed Days Same Roots in 2003.
A quieter period followed; Patsy Seddon's husband, folk singer Davy Steele, fell ill with a terminal brain tumour and Eilidh Shaw started a family. In 2006 Barker rejoined the group to make it a five-piece again, and they toured with this lineup until December 2007. Tweed left the band in December 2007. [3] She was replaced by piano accordionist Mairearad Green from the band the Unusual Suspects, and they released Yellow Like Sunshine in 2009. Patsy Seddon left in April 2012; the band continue to tour as four-piece, [4] releasing one album in 2015: Into the Well.
In 2016 Barker left to pursue a solo career on the back of her success in the reality TV show The Voice . Green also left at this time. The band took a short break and re-emerged in 2017 with an all-Scottish lineup with two new members: Sarah McFadyen (voice, fiddle, banjo) and Tia Files (voice, guitar). The first album from this line-up, Punch was produced by Inge Thomson and had a mix of traditional and composed music, songs and instrumentals. [5]
Tony McManus is a guitarist from Paisley, Scotland, who plays finger-style acoustic guitar arrangements of tunes from Celtic music, classical music, and other genres. He emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 2003.
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.
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Karen Tweed is a piano accordionist from London, England.
Patsy Seddon is a Scottish harpist, violinist, and traditional singer in Scots and Gaelic.
Mary Macmaster is a Scottish harpist and singer. She performs on the clàrsach and the Camac electroharp, and she sings in English and Gaelic. She has worked with Sting, Kathryn Tickell, Norma Waterson, Donald Hay, the Poozies, and in the duo Sìleas with Patsy Seddon. In 2013, she and Seddon were inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
Eilidh Shaw is a Scottish fiddle player and singer. She has performed with The Poozies, Harem Scarem and recorded a solo album, Heepirumbo, in 1997. Her brother Donald Shaw was a founding member of Capercaillie. She and The Poozies performed at 2008's Fèis an Eilein in the Isle of Skye. She joined Shooglenifty in 2018 to replace fiddler Angus R. Grant, who died in 2016.
Harem Scarem is a Scottish folk band.
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