Born and raised in Yorkshire, folk artist and academic Fay Hield seemed destined to carve a career in traditional folk music. Growing up in the famous Bacca Pipes Folk Club in Keighley, Fay formed a bond of community and tradition that would go on to inspire.

Whilst at university in Newcastle studying for a Bachelor of Music in folk and traditional music, she formed the acappella folk quartet the Witches of Elswick in 2001 with fellow housemates. The quartet disbanded after six years together, and Fay took time out of performing for a few years which she studied for a PhD. In 2009, after a move to the fringes of Sheffield Fay returned as part of a trio with Leveret’s Rob Harbron and Sam Sweeney, playing obscure and rarely performed traditional folk songs.

Now, returning back to the live stage after a few years out, Fay Hield is to team up once again,  with Sam and Rob to tour her latest album, Wrackline.

Exploring ideas of the space between, Wrackline looks to ghosts, fairies, spirits and talking animals to understand what it is about the unknown that entrances us. Working with traditional materials and ideas, Fay explores the feelings they evoke and how they relate to her experience in the contemporary world. Universal ideas of death, love, motherhood echo through time and space. Playing with these difficult ideas through the eyes of an unobtainable other, whether that be the spirit of a dearly departed, a fairy from another realm, or the thoughts animals have, gives us space to work through very real social problems.

Shifting between light hearted stories about drunks sitting with pigs, to darker questions about infanticide, Fay breaths life and meaning into old stories presenting them with a fresh twist and consummate musicianship from Sweeney and Harbron including fiddle, concertina, guitar and banjo.

Our own Simon Jones gave the album four of our most prized stars, reviewing the album, saying:

“Hield rises above and beyond comparison to continue her singular journey and deliver what is bound to be one of the most anticipated trad releases of the year.” Spiral Earth ★★★★  

(Read the full review here:https://spiralearth.co.uk/wrackline-fay-hield/

You can expect to be enveloped in music, woven through magical stories and teased into thinking about your relationship with the world around you.

Tour Dates are as follows:

WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER
Preston, UK
The Willows Folk Club – Wrea Green Institute Tickets

THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
Chipping Norton, UK  Tickets