Known for her powerful and clear vocals, Rosie Hood’s captivating performances combine her poetic writing with dynamic and honest interpretations of traditional songs.
A former BBC Performing Arts Fellow and Horizon Folk Award nominee, Rosie was born in Wiltshire but has now called Sheffield home for ten years, from where she has toured extensively both solo and in many collaborations.
In her classy 4-piece band, Rosie is joined by long-term collaborator fiddle-player Nicola Beazley (Alex Cumming & Nicola Beazley), melodeon-player & percussionist Robyn Wallace (Bellamira) and fiddle-player Rosie Butler-Hall (The English Fiddle Ensemble)
The instrumentalists bring a great dynamic lift and drive – informed particularly by their experience of traditional dancing and of playing for ceilidhs. With this band Rosie expands her vision of re-working traditional English songs, as well as writing and arranging original material, touching on nature, human struggle, women’s voices and unheard stories. Nicola, Rosie and Robyn’s sensitive playing combines perfectly with Rosie’s voice, skilfully and empathetically lifting each song.
‘To me, the story is always the most important thing, that’s the ‘seed of gold’ within a song’, explains Rosie.
In November 2023 the Band released their debut album, aptly entitled A Seed Of Gold, and drawing inspiration from Rosie’s native Wiltshire including the story of Lyddie Shears, a shape-shifting Wiltshire witch, and Marrow Seeds, a re-writing of the traditional song The Seeds of Love following the modern-day migration of people and plants from Syria.
The Rosie Hood Band formed in 2022 to develop the sound and writing that Rosie had begun to explore in her 2017 release The Beautiful & The Actual. Along with long-term collaborator and skilled arranger Rochdale-born Nicola Beazley, Rosie turned to the folk scene of her adopted hometown. Melodeon-player and percussionist Robyn Wallace, also originally from Rochdale, and fellow Wiltshire native fiddle-player Rosie Butler-Hall completed the line-up.
Nicola Beazley is a graduate of the Newcastle Folk Degree and known for her work with accordion player Alex Cumming and her Folk/Brass project. One quarter of The English Fiddle Ensemble, Rosie Butler-Hall plays with European, Irish and Scottish musical influences and roots in music for ceilidhs and social dances. Melodeon-player Robyn Wallace has played for dance teams across the country as well as the Bellamira Ceilidh Band. Bringing outstanding musicianship and a deep understanding of tradition, Nicola, Rosie and Robyn’s sensitive playing combines perfectly with Rosie’s voice, skilfully lifting each song.
‘Their music is sincere, sensitive and drenched in tradition’ (4/5) Spiral Earth
March – July Live Dates as follows:
2 March | Sheffield
7 March | Kent
8 March | Hove
9 March | London
15 March | Wolverhampton
21 March | Bristol & Online*
22 March | Wiltshire
28 March | Shropshire
1 April | Rugby
4 April | Barton upon Humber
16 May | Bolton
8 July | Surbiton
Festivals
2 May | Todmorden Folk Festival
20 June | Teignmouth Folk Festival, Devon
5 July | Gate To Southwell, Nottinghamshire
*Included in the tour is an online concert, streamed live from Downend Folk & Roots in Bristol, and available to view for 3 days after the concert.
For further details please visit: www.rosiehood.co.uk
