June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer.

Early years

"I went and locked myself in the bathroom for a fortnight and drove my mother mad. I learned the songs on that EP note for note, twiddle for twiddle. That's how I started singing. If I hadn't heard her I'd have probably done something entirely different."

"I have no musical education whatsoever...I just learned the songs and copied the phrasing by playing those records ad nauseam, trying out both [Anne Briggs and Belle Stewart] singers' styles. Then I tried putting the two together, and missing a few bits out - and that's approximately what I've been doing ever since. It's also why I don't do singing workshops, because that's about as much as I can tell anyone."

Her earliest public performances were at the Heart of England Folk Club, in the Fox and Vivian pub in Leamington Spa in the mid 1960s.

She attended St Hugh's College, Oxford University and appeared on ''University Challenge'' in 1968, as captain of the college team. She joined the Heritage Society at Oxford University and sang with a group called Mistral. An appearance at Sidmouth Folk Festival led to folk club bookings and she contributed to various records. One of her earliest recordings was in 1972 on an anthology called ''Stagfolk Live''. She also featured on Rosie Hardman's Firebird (1972) and The First Folk Review Record (1974). At the time she was singing purely traditional unaccompanied material but in 1976 she collaborated with Maddy Prior on the ''Silly Sisters'' album and tour, with a full band that included Nic Jones. It provided the launching pad that same year (1976) for her first album in her own right, ''Airs and Graces''. She later joined again with Prior, this time using the name Silly Sisters for their duo. Starting in 1977 Martin Simpson joined her in the recording studio for three albums before he moved to America in 1987. (Simpson has returned from America to be a guest guitarist on albums in the 2000s.) After his departure, she started working closely with pianist Huw Warren.

Tabor stopped performing professionally for a time after working for decades as a singer, although she made some guest appearances with Fairport Convention during this period. During this time, she worked as a librarian and, with her then-husband David Taylor, ran a restaurant called "Passepartout" in Penrith, Cumbria, England before returning to music professionally in the 1990s.

Solo work

In 1983 the BBC TV series "Spyship" was broadcast, with Tabor singing the title song. In 1997 she appeared on Ken Russell's "In Search of English Folk Song" broadcast of Channel 4. Tim Winton, author of the 2001 novel "Dirt Music" which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, made a selection of music to echo the themes of the novel. The CD "Dirt Music" (2001) includes "He Fades Away" by Tabor, a painful tale of the slow death of a miner. (The song originally appeared on her 1994 CD "Against the Streams.") In 2002 the "Passchendale Peace Concert" in Flanders had Tabor sharing the stage with Coope Boyes and Simpson. On 30th June 2006 BBC Radio 3 broadcast "Night Waves" to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. It was broadcast live, with World War I songs sung by Tabor, and a discussion with Michael Morpurgo and Kate Adie.

Over the years she has worked in various genres including jazz and art song, but generally with a sparse and sombre tone to it. Her 2003 album ''An Echo of Hooves'' marked a return to the traditional ballad form after concentrating on other styles for several years, and was highly acclaimed. ''Allmusic'' said of this album "A stunning jewel in a remarkable career, and one of the best things Tabor’s ever released." ''Always'' (2005) is a boxed set of four CDs, spanning her whole career and containing rare recordings.

Collaborations and recent developments

The lighter side of her character can be seen in her work with Les Barker's The Mrs Ackroyd Band which performs his comic work. So far Tabor has performed on three of their albums, the 1990 ''Oranges and Lemmings'' (singing "The Trains of Waterloo", a parody of the folk song "The Plains of Waterloo" in a duet with Martin Carthy), the 1994 ''Gnus and Roses'' (singing "The January June", a send up of her perceived sombre character) and the 2003 ''Yelp!'' (singing "There's a Hole in my Bodhran", to the tune of "There's a Hole in my Bucket"). She sang two songs on ''Beat The Retreat'', a tribute to Richard Thompson.

Discography

Solo albums

Collaborations with The Oyster Band

Collaboration with Flowers and Frolics

Collaboration with Fairport Convention (Live Album guest appearances)

Collaborations with The Mrs Ackroyd Band

Anthologies

Awards

References

External links

Category:1947 births Category:English female singers Category:English folk singers Category:Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Category:Living people Category:People from Warwick Category:University Challenge contestants

June ( ) is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. Ovid provides two etymologies for June's name in his poem concerning the months entitled the ''Fasti''. The first is that the month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera, the second is that the name comes from the Latin word ''iuniores'', meaning "younger ones," as opposed to ''maiores'' ("elders") for which the preceding month May may be named (''Fasti'' VI.1–88). See: Months in various calendars also called the season of the unicorn.

In both common and leap years, no other month begins on the same day of the week as June. This month and May are the only two months that have this property. June ends on the same day of the week as March every year.

June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.

June in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to December in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.

In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological summer is 1 June. In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological winter is 1 June.

At the start of June, the sun rises in the constellation of Taurus; at the end of June, the sun rises in the constellation of Gemini. However, due to the precession of the equinoxes, June begins with the sun in the astrological sign of Gemini, and ends with the sun in the astrological sign of Cancer.

June is known for the large number of marriages that occur over the course of the month. According to one etymology, June is named after Juno (Hera). Juno was the goddess of marriage and a married couple's household, so some consider it good luck to be married in this month.

In Iceland, folklore says that if you bathe naked in the morning dew on the morning of June 24, you are supposed to keep aging at bay for longer.

Events in June

June symbols

References

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Martin Stewart Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.

Biography

In 1976 he recorded his first solo album ''Golden Vanity''. In the same year he opened for Steeleye Span on their UK tour. Martin also toured and performed with folk singer June Tabor, who did not play an instrument herself. They would later record three albums together.

In 1985 he moved to Bloomington, Indiana and married American singer Jessica Radcliffe, and shortly afterwards they relocated to Ithaca, New York. During the decade he continued recording a mix of traditional and more contemporary material, including several entirely instrumental albums.

Notable work in the 1990s included work with Chinese pipa play Wu Man, with whom Simpson recorded a duet ''Music of the Motherless Child'', a blend of European and Chinese traditions. In a similar vein was ''Kambara Music in Native Tongues'' with David Hidalgo from "Los Lobos" and violinist Viji Krishnan, a mix of Hindu and contemporary songs.

Not until 1999 did he record several of his own compositions on ''Bootleg USA''. It was then, along with Jessica Racliffe, that he co-founded a record label called "High Bohemia". Perhaps suffering from homesickness, he visited the UK in 1994, recording ''Martin Simpson Live'' in Oxford. In 1999 he was a session musician for an album by Welsh singer Julie Murphy. ''The Bramble Briar'' (2001) was a turn to basics, a collection of English traditional folk songs.

2003 saw the release of ''Righteousness and Humidity'', a set focusing almost exclusively on music from the Deep South, played on a variety of instruments and featuring Steeleye Span's Rick Kemp. This recording was a nominee for BBC folk awards album of the year in 2004. Simpson won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2004 in the category of Best Musician. This was followed in 2005 by ''Kind Letters'' in which he mines once again the rich seams of English folk music which proved so fruitful for ''The Bramble Briar''.

In 2007 Simpson released ''Prodigal Son''. The 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards voted it as best album. The ''fRoots'' critics poll voted it as the 7th best new album of 2007. It is a mixture of traditional songs and Simpson originals, the highlights of which possess a distinctly southern American flavor. Jackson Browne, Kate Rusby and Kellie While guest star here. In December 2007 he performed on ''Later... with Jools Holland''.

Simpson has written guitar instruction books and recorded DVD guitar tutorials. His career came full circle in 2003 when he teamed up with June Tabor again. In 2004 he surprised everyone by performing at a gig in Nettlebed, Oxford, where he played banjo all evening, without touching a guitar. A readers' poll of the magazine ''Acoustic Guitar'' voted him as number 12 in the world in 2005. Martin is now married to Kit Bailey, the daughter of the singer Roy Bailey, with whom Martin occasionally performs. Martin and Kit now live in Sheffield and have a young daughter, Molly. Along with Martin Taylor, Simon Mayor, Doyle Dykes, Gordon Giltrap and Julie Ellison, he writes for the magazine ''Acoustic''.

Performances of note to the general public include a 2007 appearance on Jools Holland's BBC show and a half hour set at The Proms on 20 July 2008 broadcast on BBC4.

Awards and Recognition

Martin Simpson is regarded by many as one of the most skilled folk guitarists currently playing on the British and American folk scene.

Discography

Solo albums

Live

Collaborations

Martin Simpson and Wu Man

Martin Simpson, David Hidalgo and Viji Krishnan

Martin Simpson, Jessica Radcliffe and Lisa Ekstrom.

Other compilations

Martin Simpson as session musician

Role in the Albion Band

DVDs

Book

References

Career

In 1989 Cutting formed a partnership with Chris Wood, whom he had met two years earlier at Sidmouth Folk Festival. They tour extensively over several years reuniting in August 2010 for the Towersey Village Festival and have made five albums together. Wood introduced Cutting to a wealth of Québécois music and shared his love of English and French dance music. Wood & Cutting, together with Karen Tweed and Ian Carr, make up the Two Duos Quartet, who have made one album ''Half as happy as we''.

Tweed & Cutting have also worked as a duo; they have made one album together and contributed to a live CD, ''"Across the Waters"'', recorded at Cork University in 1994.

Cutting is in great demand as a session musician and has worked with artists as diverse as Sting, June Tabor and Chumbawamba. He has been a member of several bands, including Fernhill and Tanteeka. As well as the Wood & Cutting duo, he is part of the trio 1651 (with Mark Emerson and Tim Harries), the John McCusker Band, the Kate Rusby Trio and the Kate Rusby Band. He is also a popular workshop tutor and has taught at summer schools for Folkworks.

In March 2011, Andy is part of the Cecil Sharp Project, a joint commission between Shrewsbury Folk Festival and EFDSS that sees Andy and 7 other modern folk musicians take part in a week long residential project to create new works related to life and works of folk collector Cecil Sharp.

Compositions

Partial discography

Books

References

External links

Madeleine E. "Maddy" Prior (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.

Early life

Maddy's father

Singing career

Prior married bassist Rick Kemp, though they have since divorced. The singer Rose Kemp is their daughter.

Prior has recorded session work, albums of her own songs and eclectic styles from medieval, through electric folk — Steeleye Span and Maddie Prior appeared on television with a regular programme ''Electric Folk'' — prog-rock and traditional songs, including session work on Mike Oldfield's ''Incantations''. She left Steeleye Span in 1997 but returned in 2002. The 1999 album ''The Journey'' was recorded in 1995, when Maddy was still in the band but not released until four years later. She was also one half of the duo Silly Sisters, which helped to boost June Tabor's career.

Since 2003, Prior has run and hosted an Arts Centre called Stones Barn in Cumbria. Working with fellow singers and performers like Abbie Lathe and daughter Rose Kemp, Maddy has offered residential courses focusing on singing, meditation, cookery and performance. Other events, hosted by other teachers, include classical Indian dances, painting and drumming. Maddy campaigns on behalf of the charity Cancer Research UK.

Recent tours and albums

In December 2007 the album ''Ringing The Changes'' was issued. It is a collection of songs written by the band. In 2008 Prior appeared at the BBC's "Electric Proms". Steeleye Span toured the Eastern US, Australia and the UK beginning in 2009.

A short tour with The Carnival Band in November and December, featuring carols and seasonal music, has become a regular fixture for Prior in recent years.

Awards

Discography

With Steeleye Span

Solo albums

Compilation

Tim Hart and Maddy Prior

Maddy Prior and June Tabor

Maddy Prior, John Kirkpatrick and Sydney Carter

Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band

Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy

Maddy Prior singles

DVDs

As a session or guest singer

Television

References

External links

Category:English female singers Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Blackpool Category:Steeleye Span members Category:Electric folk musicians Category:English folk singers Category:British folk rock musicians