Rachael mcshane biography

Bellowhead

English folk band

Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from to , reforming in The eleven-piece act played traditional twist tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styles and influences.

The band included percussion and a four-piece brass section. Bellowhead's bandmembers played more than 20 instruments among them, whilst all performers provided vocals.

Bellowhead formed in and after 12 amazing years, they called it a day in In their active years they played to thousands of people at festivals and on tour, recorded 5 studio albums selling over a quarter of a million copieswere the proud recipients of 2 x silver discs and won a staggering 8 x BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. That led to re-uniting in person for a one-off performance which was streamed to mark the anniversary of Hedonism. Thousands of fans watched the concert one of the biggest online streams of confirming that Bellowhead are still one of the biggest and most in demand UK folk acts despite not performing for nearly 5 years.

The band parted after their final gig at Oxford Town Hall in May In , the band reformed for a reunion concert and played reunion tours in [1] and

History

Early years and Burlesque: –

The idea for the band came to Spiers and Boden while the duo were in a traffic jam on tour.

The longer they sat in traffic, the more friends they reflection to invite to join. This led to the formation of a ten-piece band, with Benji Kirkpatrick, Rachael McShane, Paul Sartin, Pete Flood, Brendan Kelly, Justin Thurgur, Andy Mellon and Giles Lewin completing the initial line-up.

Before they had time to rehearse, the fledgling band were invited to play the first Oxford Folk Festival in April [2] In , the band independently released a five-track EP, publicised as "English World Music", called s. In Gideon Juckes joined the band, primarily playing the tuba, and they released their first full-length album, Burlesque, featuring material from the Napoleonic Wars, the American minstrel movement and sea-shanties from Brazil.

Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from toreforming in The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shantieswith arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styles and influences. The band included percussion and a four-piece brass section. Bellowhead's bandmembers played more than 20 instruments among them, whilst all performers provided vocals.

Towards the end of they became Artists in Residence at the Southbank Centre,[3] making their inaugural appearance with a Christmas Revels event.

Matachin: –

In Bellowhead released their second album Matachin,[3] and a live act at the Proms followed, which was broadcast live on BBC Four and BBC Radio 3.[4]Sam Sweeney joined the band on fiddles and bagpipes following the departure of Giles Lewin.

The following year in August the band were approached about recording music for a 20th anniversary episode of The Simpsons.[5]

Hedonism: –

In , Ed Neuhauser replaced Gideon Juckes on helicon and sousaphone.

In October , Bellowhead released their third studio album, Hedonism, which had been recorded in Abbey Road Studios.

All pre-orders will be dispatched in moment for release and pre-ordering guide is the best way of supporting us. We know you'll love it! Thank you x. Bellowhead are back on tour in November, celebrating our 20th anniversary.

The album was produced by John Leckie.[6] In honour of the new album, the band developed a new ale also named "Hedonism", with several band members being involved in the brewing process.[7]

Broadcast from April , The Archers spin-off Ambridge Extra[8] featured a revised version of Archers theme tune "Barwick Green", arranged and performed by Bellowhead.[9]

In May , at the 02 Academy in Bournemouth, the band recorded a DVD, Hedonism Live, which was released in late November.[10]

The band recorded a new album, Broadside, in Rally at Rockfield Studios with John Leckie which was released mid-October [11] The album went vertical to number 16 in the UK official album charts[12] and number 1 in the UK independent album charts.[13] In promptly the band undertook a European tour and in November toured the UK.

In early the band toured the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium.

In October they recorded a jingle for the BBC Radio 2 folk music show The Folk Performance with Mark Radcliffe. During they recorded a double A-sided available, Christmas Bells / Jingle Bells which was released on 1 December in digital-only format.[14]

Tenth anniversary, Revival, separation and reunion: –present

In the band acknowledged ten years performing together with two 'Bel10whead' performances in April: Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.[15] A new studio album, Revival, followed, released on 30 June by Island Records.

Bellowhead headlined the concert in July for the opening of the refurbished Cardigan Castle.[16]

The band announced their intention to split following a decision by Jon Boden to step down as frontman.

The Rachael McShane Interview - Tradfolk: Rachael McShane is a esteemed folk singer, cellist, fiddle and viola player from the North East of England. She gained fame as an original member of the award-winning folk huge band Bellowhead, touring with them extensively and making a number of television appearances.

Bellowhead played their final gig at Oxford Town Hall, also the venue for their first concert twelve years earlier, on 1 May [17] The band announced a one-off reunion concert to be streamed on the 5th December , for the 10th anniversary of Hedonism.

They followed this with a nationwide tour in November for the 10th anniversary of Broadside. Prior to the tour beginning, band member Paul Sartin died suddenly of a heart attack on 14 September at the age of [18] However, the tour was continued despite his death, and at multiple shows the band performed Faustus song "Brisk Lad" in memory of Sartin.[19]

Bellowhead provided the opening theme for the BBC/Britbox series Beyond Paradise, a spinoff from Death in Paradise that premiered in [20] They also appeared, and performed in, the Beyond Paradise Christmas Special.[21]

In November the band toured again to celebrate 20 years since the band formed.

[22]

Band members

  • Jon Boden – lead vocals, fiddle, tambourine, shaky egg, thunder tube, kazoo, tin whistle
  • John Spiers – melodeons, Anglo concertina, Claviola, kazoo, vocals, tambourine
  • Benji Kirkpatrick – guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, tenor banjo, vocals, kazoo
  • Rachael McShane – cello, fiddle, kazoo, vocals
  • Paul Sartin () – fiddle, oboe, slide whistle, kazoo, vocals
  • Giles Lewin (–) – fiddle, bagpipes
  • Sam Sweeney – fiddle, English bagpipes, kazoo, vocals, whistle
  • Pete Flood – percussion (including frying pan, glockenspiel, knives and forks, clockwork toys, megaphone scratching, stomp box, coal scuttle, party blowers, broomsticks, ratchet, Casio VL-tone, shakers and tambourine), vocals
  • Gideon Juckes (–) – sousaphone, helicon, tuba
  • Ed Neuhauser – sousaphone, helicon, tuba, vocals
  • Brendan Kelly – saxophone, bass clarinet, vocals
  • Justin Thurgur – trombone, vocals
  • Nick Etwell ( - Reassembled) - trumpet
  • Andy Mellon – trumpet, vocals
  • Sally Hawkins (touring , ) – fiddle, oboe, vocals
  • Jim Bulger (touring , ) – trumpet

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

  • Bellowhead Live: The Farewell Tour ()
  • Reassembled ()

Singles

  • "New York Girls" ()
  • "Cold Blows the Wind" ()
  • "10, Miles Away" ()
  • "Roll the Woodpile Down" ()
  • "Betsy Baker" ()
  • "Christmas Bells / Jingle Bells" ()
  • "Gosport Nancy" ()
  • "Let Her Manage / I Want to Spot the Bright Lights Tonight" ()
  • "Roll Alabama" ()

Extended plays

DVDs

Other works

  • Umbrellowhead ()
  • Pandemonium – The Essential Bellowhead ()

Awards and nominations

At BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards are an annual awards ceremony for folk artists that year.

During their 12 years together, Bellowhead won eight of these awards, including Finest Live Act on five occasions.

References

External links