Cambridge Folk Festival 2017.
This annual event is held at Cherry Hinton Hall and attracts folk fans in their thousands every year. Tickets go on sale in December and are notoriously fast selling! The Festival is renowned for its unique atmosphere, an eclectic mix of music, and a wide definition of what might be considered folk.
The best traditional folk artists from the UK and Ireland rub shoulders with cutting-edge contemporary acts, the finest American country, blues & roots artists, acclaimed singer-songwriters, famous names, and world music stars.
In 2017 The festival saw an all-female line-up on Main Stages 1 and 2 on the Friday. These photos are of the artists appearing on Main Stage 1 that Friday.
Worry Dolls are a duo born out of the joint talents of multi-instrumentalists Zoe Nicol and Rosie Jones. Serendipity brought them together at an open mic night when they were 18, both studying music in Liverpool, both redheads with guitars on their chosen path of becoming solo singer-songwriters, and both falling under the spell of ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’.
Paired by their teachers for an opportunity to have their songwriting critiqued by Paul McCartney, they were inspired to start co-writing, and could now be described as an almost telepathically linked songwriting force.
Worry Dolls.
Amythyst Kiah is an American singer-songwriter. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and she currently lives in Johnson City.
Kiah has released two solo albums and one E.P. and also appeared on the 2019 collaborative album Songs of Our Native Daughters, along with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell, earning a 2020 Grammy Awards Best American Roots Song nomination for her song "Black Myself" which appeared on the album.
Amythyst Kiah.
Coven are a collective of three of the British folk scene's finest, most formidable, and forthright female acts. Combining the talents of the multi-award-winning O'Hooley & Tidow, Lady Maisery, and Grace Petrie they were brought together in 2014 to celebrate “International Women's Day”.
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. Their song "Gentleman Jack", from the album The Fragile, featured as the closing theme for the BBC/HBO television series Gentleman Jack.
Lady Maisery are an English folk vocal harmony trio composed of Hannah James, Hazel Askew and Rowan Rheingans. They sing traditional and contemporary folk songs as well as exploring the tradition of diddling or tune singing, which has nearly died out in England but is still prevalent in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.
Grace Petrie is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. Grace began performing in 2006 as a solo vocalist and acoustic guitarist and self-released an eponymous album that year, followed in 2007 by second album Feeling Better. In 2010, the advent of the Conservative-led coalition government following the general election influenced Petrie, who is a socialist, feminist, and lesbian, towards an increasing emphasis on politically focused songwriting, from a left-wing perspective.
Coven.
Lisa Hannigan is an Irish musician, singer, composer, and voice actress. Born in Dublin in February 1981 she grew up in Kilcloon, County Meath, Ireland. While studying French and Art History at Trinity College Dublin Hannigan met Damien Rice at a concert in early 2001. Rice enlisted Hannigan to sing on his 2002 album O and his later album "9". She toured with Rice as part of his band during that period, lending vocal support and occasionally playing guitar, bass, or drums.
In 2007 Hannigan returned to Dublin to begin a solo career and has since released three albums: Sea Sew (2008), Passenger (2011), and At Swim (2016).
Hannigan's music has received award nominations both in Ireland and the United States.
Lisa Hannigan.
Ward Thomas are an English modern country-pop duo, consisting of twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas. Born just two minutes apart they grew up on a farm in rural Hampshire, England. They were educated at Alton Convent, a local Roman Catholic day school, where they acquired the nicknames "Scruff 1" and "Scruff 2" because they were "so bad at being neat and tidy".
The band has been called "Britain's first country stars". Cartwheels, their second studio album, became the first album by a UK country act to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart and has since gone gold in the UK.
Ward Thomas.
Born July 1935 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
Born in Hastings, East Sussex, Shirley and her older sister Dolly grew up in a family which kept alive a great love of traditional song. Songs learnt from their grandfather and from their mother's sister, Grace Winborn, were to be important in the sisters' repertoire throughout their career.
Leaving school at the age of 17 Collins enrolled at a teachers' training college in Tooting, south London. In London she also involved herself in the early folk revival, making her first appearance on vinyl on the 1955 compilation Folk Song Today.
Shirley Collins.
Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are an American folk-rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia. They started performing with the name Indigo Girls as students at Emory University, Atlanta.
In 1985 they released their first recording, a seven-inch single, "Crazy Game", followed later that year by a six-track EP called simply "Indigo Girls". Then in 1987 they released a self-produced, full-length record album entitled Strange Fire.
From 1988 through 2006 their albums were released by Epic Records with Hollywood Records taking over for 2006-2007. After releasing nine albums with major record labels from 1987 through 2007, they have now resumed self-producing albums with their own IG Recordings company.
