Music of Northumbria
Encyclopedia
Here Northumbria
is taken to mean Northumberland
, the northernmost county of England
, and County Durham
. The region possesses a distinctive style of folk music
with a strong and continuing tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipe (a form of bagpipe unique to north-east England) and also a strong fiddle
tradition in the region that was already well-established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions, particularly southern Scotland
and other parts of the north of England. Irish
tunes are also much played in the region, as they are elsewhere. There has been a continuous tradition of traditional and distinctive Northumbrian styles since the 18th century - there have also been 'revivals' in the late nineteenth century and again in the mid-twentieth. More recently, Northumbrian folk music, and particularly the use of the Northumbrian pipes, has become one of the liveliest and most widely known forms of folk music in Britain.
s, such as 'The Ballad of Chevy Chase
'. It is also known for local dances, including the rapper dancing
and Northumbrian clog dancing. Many dances from the region have the characteristic rant step .
Although many tunes are shared with other regions of England or other nations, there is often a distinct difference between a Northumbrian version of a tune and versions from elsewhere. For instance a simple Irish tune, 'The Chorus Jig', with three strains, appears in the Northumbrian tradition as 'Holey Ha'penny', an ornate five-strain variation set. A Scottish strathspey, 'Struan Robertson's Rant' appears, stripped of the Scotch snap, as a smallpipe tune, 'Cuckold come out of the Amrey', a long variation set. Tunes in hornpipe rhythm are much appreciated in the region, both for playing and for dancing, particularly clog dancing. One rhythm characteristic of the region is the rant, used for figure dances such as The Morpeth Rant with a characteristic step; musically it is similar to a reel, though somewhat slower, and with more of a lilt.
From 1770-2 William Vickers
made a manuscript collection of local dance
tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes, many of which are from Scotland, southern England, Ireland and even France
, revealing the very extensive and varied repertoire of local musicians at that time.
In the later medieval period pipe music appears to have been characterized by the use of the Northumbrian ‘war pipe’, which may have been the ancestor of the Great highland bagpipe
, but no example has survived. It appears to have been replaced in the region by the eighteenth century by a variety of pipes, ranging from the conical bore, open-ended border pipes
, to the cylindrically bored smallpipes; the closed-ended form with its single octave
compass and closed fingering
is known to have existed since the seventeenth century, and open-ended forms were also known. The Union or Pastoral pipes
, the precursor of the Irish Uillean pipes, are also known to have been played in the region. The earliest known bagpipe manuscript from the UK is a tunebook by William Dixon of Stamfordham in Northumberland, dated 1733. This includes forty tunes with extensive sets of variations
. Some of the tunes correspond to later versions of known smallpipe tunes; others, with a nine-note compass, must have been played either on Border pipes or on an open-ended smallpipe, like the Scottish smallpipe.
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In the early nineteenth century, makers such as John Dunn and Robert
and James Reid added keys
to the closed-ended smallpipe, extending its range to almost two octaves. With its greater flexibility, the instrument became more fashionable at this time. On the other hand, the Border pipes seem not to have been found in Northumberland much after the middle of the century, though they were revived as the 'half-long pipes' in the 1920s and more successfully in the 1970s and 80s.
Many families have been associated with traditional Northumbrian piping. Willy Allan and his son James were noted pipers in the eighteenth century: James played on several occasions for the Countess of Northumberland
. In 1756 Joseph Turnbull was appointed piper to the Countess. The Percy family have continued to maintain a piper to this day. Contrary to popular tradition, the Duke's current piper, Richard Butler, has written that "there is no record in the Percy Archives (Alnwick Castle) recording that James Allan was Piper to the Duchess or Duke". Turnbull's pupil, John Peacock
was probably the first Northumbrian piper to play a keyed chanter. Most notably, the Clough family of Newsham produced six generations of pipers, including Tom Clough
, who made an important early recording in 1929, and taught many pipers, including Billy Pigg
.
from Northumberland is Henry Atkinson's
tunebook from the 1690s. This includes tunes current in both the southern English and Scottish music of the time. A later source, unfortunately lost, was John Smith's tunebook from 1750. Some tunes from this were copied out by John Stokoe in the nineteenth century: these include an extended set of variations on the song The Keel Row for fiddle (the earliest known version), pipe tunes with variations such as Bold Wilkinson, and a version of Jacky Layton with variations for fiddle. It is clear that as in Scotland, the playing of extended variation sets on the fiddle was current in Northumberland at the time. A slightly later source, the William Vickers manuscript
, from 1770, and also for fiddle, contains 580 simple dance tunes, but few variation sets.
In the nineteenth century the most notable feature of the region's music was the popularity of the hornpipe
in 4/4 time
, and in particular the very influential playing of the publican, fiddler and composer James Hill. His compositions include 'The High Level Bridge', 'The Great Exhibition', 'The Beeswing', 'The Hawk' and many others. Many other fine tunes have been attributed to him, but these include some he cannot possibly have written.
In the early- and mid-twentieth century, influential fiddlers included Ned Pearson, Jim Rutherford, Adam Gray, George Hepple and Jake Hutton, father of the noted piper Joe Hutton. John Armstrong of Carrick played with the piper Billy Pigg
. In the later part of the century, Willy Taylor was perhaps the most highly respected of the many fiddlers in the region.
Free reed instruments have been of growing importance since their development in the nineteenth century. In particular the mouth organ or "moothie" was played notably by Will Atkinson
. As elsewhere in England the melodeon has been used for dance music.
John Bell collected many tunes and songs from the region in the early nineteenth century . Later on, in the middle of the century the Ancient Melodies Committee of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries
attempted a more comprehensive collection, based largely on manuscript and printed sources; this was later edited for publication by John Collingwood Bruce and John Stokoe.
The Northumbrian small pipes society was founded in Newcastle in 1893; although it was short-lived, it ran a series of competitions, won by Henry Clough
and Richard Mowat
. The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded in 1928, and are generally credited with helping to keep the distinctive tradition alive.. The first recordings of the Northumbrian smallpipes
were made in the late 1920's, including the HMV recording of Tom Clough
.
Border ballads were a major part of those collected by Francis James Child
and make up most of the sixth volume of his ten volume collection of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
(1882-98).
The second folk revival saw a number of acts drawing on this work, and enjoying some success. Probably the most influential piper from the region was Billy Pigg
, but other important pipers in the mid-twentieth century include G. G. Armstrong, George Atkinson, Jack Armstrong, and Joe Hutton
. Figures such Louis Killen, The High Level Ranters and Bob Davenport brought Northumbrian folk to national and international audiences.
The most successful folk group from the region in the 1970s were Lindisfarne
, who played progressive folk music with some local stylings. Much more concerned with traditional music from the region were the group that splintered from them in 1973 Jack the Lad
, and another group from which they gained some members Hedgehog Pie
, who, for a time, provided a regional answer to the electric folk
of bands like Fairport Convention
and Steeleye Span
. These groups have been seen as continuing an exploration of regional identity through folk music. Between their demise and revival in the 1990s, the local scene continued through groups like the more traditional Doonan family, which contained some of the finest folk flute players in the region. These groups have been seen as continuing an exploration of regional identity through folk music.
Colin Ross
, has been influential not only as a player and teacher of the Northumbrian pipes, but has also been an important pipemaker. Distinctive local sounds were much more marked in the next generation of traditional Northumbrian folk musicians such as Ed Pickford and Jez Lowe, who have reinvigorated the local scene and artists like fiddler Nancy Kerr
and piper Kathryn Tickell
have gained international reputations, appearing on records with artists including Kate Rusby
, Eliza Carthy
and even Sting. In 2003 June Tabor
stimulated interest in the Border ballads with her highly regarded album An Echo of Hooves
.
Thanks to the efforts of musicians like these in 2001 Newcastle University was the first to offer a performance-based degree programme in folk and traditional music in England and Wales. Currently the region has over thirty active folk clubs and hosts several major folk festivals, including the Traditional Music Festival at Rothbury
.
such as the Lighthouse Family
, the Futureheads and Maxïmo Park
, as well as musicians and singers that were born and raised in the region such as Dave Stewart
, Mark Knopfler
, Brian Ferry, Cheryl Cole
, Sting, Andy Taylor
of Duran Duran
, Chris Rea
, AC/DC's Brian Johnson
and Moloko's Mark Brydon
.
Hip-hop act the Text Offenders
come from Cramlington.
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
is taken to mean Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, the northernmost county of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. The region possesses a distinctive style of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
with a strong and continuing tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipe (a form of bagpipe unique to north-east England) and also a strong fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
tradition in the region that was already well-established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions, particularly southern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and other parts of the north of England. Irish
Music of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
tunes are also much played in the region, as they are elsewhere. There has been a continuous tradition of traditional and distinctive Northumbrian styles since the 18th century - there have also been 'revivals' in the late nineteenth century and again in the mid-twentieth. More recently, Northumbrian folk music, and particularly the use of the Northumbrian pipes, has become one of the liveliest and most widely known forms of folk music in Britain.
Local musical forms and styles
Northumbria shares with southern Scotland the long history of border balladBorder ballad
The English/Scottish border has a long and bloody history of conquest and reconquest, raid and counter-raid . It also has a stellar tradition of balladry, such that a whole group of songs exists that are often called "border ballads", because they were collected in that region.Border ballads, like...
s, such as 'The Ballad of Chevy Chase
The Ballad of Chevy Chase
There are two extant English ballads known as The Ballad of Chevy Chase, both of which narrate the same story. As ballads existed within oral tradition before being written down, other versions of this once popular song may also have existed....
'. It is also known for local dances, including the rapper dancing
Rapper sword
Rapper sword is a kind of sword dance associated with the North-East of England.-History:The rapper sword tradition was traditionally performed in the mining villages of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield in North East England, especially in Tyneside...
and Northumbrian clog dancing. Many dances from the region have the characteristic rant step .
Although many tunes are shared with other regions of England or other nations, there is often a distinct difference between a Northumbrian version of a tune and versions from elsewhere. For instance a simple Irish tune, 'The Chorus Jig', with three strains, appears in the Northumbrian tradition as 'Holey Ha'penny', an ornate five-strain variation set. A Scottish strathspey, 'Struan Robertson's Rant' appears, stripped of the Scotch snap, as a smallpipe tune, 'Cuckold come out of the Amrey', a long variation set. Tunes in hornpipe rhythm are much appreciated in the region, both for playing and for dancing, particularly clog dancing. One rhythm characteristic of the region is the rant, used for figure dances such as The Morpeth Rant with a characteristic step; musically it is similar to a reel, though somewhat slower, and with more of a lilt.
From 1770-2 William Vickers
William Vickers manuscript
From 1770-2 a man called William Vickers made a manuscript collection of dance tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes. The manuscript is incomplete - 31 pages have not survived, though their contents are listed at the beginning of the book...
made a manuscript collection of local dance
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes, many of which are from Scotland, southern England, Ireland and even France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, revealing the very extensive and varied repertoire of local musicians at that time.
Bagpipe music
In the later medieval period pipe music appears to have been characterized by the use of the Northumbrian ‘war pipe’, which may have been the ancestor of the Great highland bagpipe
Great Highland Bagpipe
The Great Highland Bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has achieved widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world. It is closely related to the Great Irish Warpipes....
, but no example has survived. It appears to have been replaced in the region by the eighteenth century by a variety of pipes, ranging from the conical bore, open-ended border pipes
Border pipes
The border pipes are a type of bagpipe related to the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe. It is perhaps confusable with the Scottish smallpipe, although it is a quite different and much older instrument...
, to the cylindrically bored smallpipes; the closed-ended form with its single octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
compass and closed fingering
Fingering
In music, fingering is the choice of which fingers and hand positions to use when playing certain musical instruments. Fingering typically changes throughout a piece; the challenge of choosing good fingering for a piece is to make the hand movements as comfortable as possible without changing hand...
is known to have existed since the seventeenth century, and open-ended forms were also known. The Union or Pastoral pipes
Pastoral pipes
The Pastoral Pipe was a bellows-blown bagpipe, widely recognised as the forerunner and ancestor of the 19th-century Union pipes, which became the Uilleann Pipes of today...
, the precursor of the Irish Uillean pipes, are also known to have been played in the region. The earliest known bagpipe manuscript from the UK is a tunebook by William Dixon of Stamfordham in Northumberland, dated 1733. This includes forty tunes with extensive sets of variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
. Some of the tunes correspond to later versions of known smallpipe tunes; others, with a nine-note compass, must have been played either on Border pipes or on an open-ended smallpipe, like the Scottish smallpipe.
Robert Reid (pipemaker)
Robert Reid is widely acknowledged as the creator of the modern form of the Northumbrian Smallpipes. He lived and worked at first in Newcastle upon Tyne, but moved later to the nearby town of North Shields at the mouth of the Tyne, probably in 1802. North Shields was a busy port at this time...
and James Reid added keys
Key (instrument)
A key is a specific part of a musical instrument. The purpose and function of the part in question depends on the instrument.On instruments equipped with tuning machines, violins and guitars, for example, a key is part of a tuning machine. It is a worm gear with a key shaped end used to turn a cog,...
to the closed-ended smallpipe, extending its range to almost two octaves. With its greater flexibility, the instrument became more fashionable at this time. On the other hand, the Border pipes seem not to have been found in Northumberland much after the middle of the century, though they were revived as the 'half-long pipes' in the 1920s and more successfully in the 1970s and 80s.
Many families have been associated with traditional Northumbrian piping. Willy Allan and his son James were noted pipers in the eighteenth century: James played on several occasions for the Countess of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....
. In 1756 Joseph Turnbull was appointed piper to the Countess. The Percy family have continued to maintain a piper to this day. Contrary to popular tradition, the Duke's current piper, Richard Butler, has written that "there is no record in the Percy Archives (Alnwick Castle) recording that James Allan was Piper to the Duchess or Duke". Turnbull's pupil, John Peacock
John Peacock (piper)
John Peacock was one of the finest Northumbrian smallpipers of his age, and probably a fiddler also, and the last of the Newcastle Waits. He was born in Morpeth about 1756, and died in Newcastle, 'in distress'...
was probably the first Northumbrian piper to play a keyed chanter. Most notably, the Clough family of Newsham produced six generations of pipers, including Tom Clough
Tom Clough
Tom Clough , known as 'The Prince of Pipers', was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He had studied the instrument with the noted piper Thomas Todd, and from his own father Henry Clough...
, who made an important early recording in 1929, and taught many pipers, including Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a Vice-President and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.-Life and music:...
.
Fiddle music
The earliest source of music for fiddleFiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
from Northumberland is Henry Atkinson's
Henry Atkinson manuscript
The Henry Atkinson manuscript is an early violin tunebook written in Northumberland. The title page carries the inscription, in a fine hand, Henry Atkinson, his book, 1694. 1694 is presumably the date the book was begun. A small 5 is apparently written below the 4, suggesting that the book was...
tunebook from the 1690s. This includes tunes current in both the southern English and Scottish music of the time. A later source, unfortunately lost, was John Smith's tunebook from 1750. Some tunes from this were copied out by John Stokoe in the nineteenth century: these include an extended set of variations on the song The Keel Row for fiddle (the earliest known version), pipe tunes with variations such as Bold Wilkinson, and a version of Jacky Layton with variations for fiddle. It is clear that as in Scotland, the playing of extended variation sets on the fiddle was current in Northumberland at the time. A slightly later source, the William Vickers manuscript
William Vickers manuscript
From 1770-2 a man called William Vickers made a manuscript collection of dance tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes. The manuscript is incomplete - 31 pages have not survived, though their contents are listed at the beginning of the book...
, from 1770, and also for fiddle, contains 580 simple dance tunes, but few variation sets.
In the nineteenth century the most notable feature of the region's music was the popularity of the hornpipe
Hornpipe
The term hornpipe refers to any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and elsewhere from the late 17th century until the present day. It is said that hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English sailing vessels...
in 4/4 time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, and in particular the very influential playing of the publican, fiddler and composer James Hill. His compositions include 'The High Level Bridge', 'The Great Exhibition', 'The Beeswing', 'The Hawk' and many others. Many other fine tunes have been attributed to him, but these include some he cannot possibly have written.
In the early- and mid-twentieth century, influential fiddlers included Ned Pearson, Jim Rutherford, Adam Gray, George Hepple and Jake Hutton, father of the noted piper Joe Hutton. John Armstrong of Carrick played with the piper Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a Vice-President and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.-Life and music:...
. In the later part of the century, Willy Taylor was perhaps the most highly respected of the many fiddlers in the region.
Other instruments
Other musical instruments which have been used in the region include the flute and piccolo. Some nineteenth-century manuscripts contain tunes which are in keys and registers appropriate to the flute. Billy Ballantine was a piccolo player from the west of the region, who played for dances in the mid-twentieth century. The style of his playing was very distinctive, mixing staccato notes for rhythmic emphasis with more ornate passages. He made recordings of tunes like the Kielder Schottische and The Gilsland Hornpipe for the BBC. Billy Conroy made some recordings on home-made whistles.Free reed instruments have been of growing importance since their development in the nineteenth century. In particular the mouth organ or "moothie" was played notably by Will Atkinson
Will Atkinson (musician)
Will Atkinson started off as a player of the English diatonic accordion, but became a harmonica player and a contributor to the Music of Northumbria...
. As elsewhere in England the melodeon has been used for dance music.
Folk revivals
The first folk revival in the region tended to circulate around folk dance, the collection of border ballads and, from the later 1870s, the revival of interest in pipe music.John Bell collected many tunes and songs from the region in the early nineteenth century . Later on, in the middle of the century the Ancient Melodies Committee of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813..It has had a long interest in the archaeology of the north-east of England, particularly of Hadrian's Wall, but also covering prehistoric and mediaeval periods, as well as...
attempted a more comprehensive collection, based largely on manuscript and printed sources; this was later edited for publication by John Collingwood Bruce and John Stokoe.
The Northumbrian small pipes society was founded in Newcastle in 1893; although it was short-lived, it ran a series of competitions, won by Henry Clough
Henry Clough
Henry Clough , was a player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a miner, living in Newsham, in south-eastern Northumberland. He was the father of Tom Clough, 'The Prince of Pipers'. Several previous generations of the family had also been pipers, Henry's father, 'Old Tom'...
and Richard Mowat
Richard Mowat
Richard Mowat or Mowatt was a renowned and award-winning player of the Northumbrian smallpipes.-Biography:A miner, born in Backworth in 1865, Mowat won the Northumbrian Smallpipes Society's piping competitions for three successive years 1894-6, and was subsequently barred from competitions. That...
. The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded in 1928, and are generally credited with helping to keep the distinctive tradition alive.. The first recordings of the Northumbrian smallpipes
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
were made in the late 1920's, including the HMV recording of Tom Clough
Tom Clough
Tom Clough , known as 'The Prince of Pipers', was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He had studied the instrument with the noted piper Thomas Todd, and from his own father Henry Clough...
.
Border ballads were a major part of those collected by Francis James Child
Francis James Child
Francis James Child was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry...
and make up most of the sixth volume of his ten volume collection of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
(1882-98).
The second folk revival saw a number of acts drawing on this work, and enjoying some success. Probably the most influential piper from the region was Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a Vice-President and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.-Life and music:...
, but other important pipers in the mid-twentieth century include G. G. Armstrong, George Atkinson, Jack Armstrong, and Joe Hutton
Joe Hutton (piper)
Joe Hutton was born in Halton Lea Gate, near Haltwhistle in the west of Northumberland. Like his father, Jake, he was a shepherd, and a musician - he started on the fiddle, but took up the Northumbrian smallpipes after hearing P.J. Liddell and G.G. Armstrong playing at a concert in 1936. He...
. Figures such Louis Killen, The High Level Ranters and Bob Davenport brought Northumbrian folk to national and international audiences.
The most successful folk group from the region in the 1970s were Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne (band)
Lindisfarne were a British folk/rock group from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1970 and fronted by singer/songwriter Alan Hull. Their music combined a strong sense of yearning with an even stronger sense of fun...
, who played progressive folk music with some local stylings. Much more concerned with traditional music from the region were the group that splintered from them in 1973 Jack the Lad
Jack The Lad
Jack the Lad was a folk rock or electric folk group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into much more traditional territory and were in the...
, and another group from which they gained some members Hedgehog Pie
Hedgehog Pie
Hedgehog Pie were an electric folk group from the north-east of England, formed in 1971. Despite frequent line-up changes, they build up a considerable regional and national following and produced three highly regarded albums...
, who, for a time, provided a regional answer to the electric folk
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
of bands like Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
and Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
. These groups have been seen as continuing an exploration of regional identity through folk music. Between their demise and revival in the 1990s, the local scene continued through groups like the more traditional Doonan family, which contained some of the finest folk flute players in the region. These groups have been seen as continuing an exploration of regional identity through folk music.
Colin Ross
Colin Ross (pipemaker)
Colin Ross is an English folk musician, playing fiddle and Northumbrian smallpipes, and a noted maker of Northumbrian smallpipes, Border pipes and Scottish smallpipes, and one of the inventors of the modern Scottish smallpipes. Ross is also a fiddler, and played both Northumbrian smallpipes and...
, has been influential not only as a player and teacher of the Northumbrian pipes, but has also been an important pipemaker. Distinctive local sounds were much more marked in the next generation of traditional Northumbrian folk musicians such as Ed Pickford and Jez Lowe, who have reinvigorated the local scene and artists like fiddler Nancy Kerr
Nancy Kerr
Nancy Kerr is an English folk musician, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is the daughter of London-born singer-songwriter Sandra Kerr and Northumbrian piper Ron Elliott....
and piper Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell is an English player of the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. She has recorded over a dozen albums, and toured widely.-Life and career:...
have gained international reputations, appearing on records with artists including Kate Rusby
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
, Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy
Eliza Carthy is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.-Life and career:...
and even Sting. In 2003 June Tabor
June Tabor
June Tabor is an English folk singer.- Early years :June Tabor was inspired to sing by hearing Anne Briggs' EP Hazards of Love in 1965. "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...
stimulated interest in the Border ballads with her highly regarded album An Echo of Hooves
An Echo of Hooves
An Echo of Hooves is a 2003 album by folk singer June Tabor.There were many albums consisting entirely of Child ballads in the 60s and 70s. By the 90s, such albums became rare. This is an outstanding example from the 21st century...
.
Thanks to the efforts of musicians like these in 2001 Newcastle University was the first to offer a performance-based degree programme in folk and traditional music in England and Wales. Currently the region has over thirty active folk clubs and hosts several major folk festivals, including the Traditional Music Festival at Rothbury
Rothbury
Rothbury is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is located on the River Coquet, northwest of Morpeth and north-northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne...
.
Contemporary music in Northumbria
There are many artists and acts that have formed in the North eastNorth East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
such as the Lighthouse Family
Lighthouse Family
Lighthouse Family are a British musical duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and remained active until the early 2000s. Vocalist Tunde Baiyewu and keyboardist Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK after meeting while studying at university...
, the Futureheads and Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park are a British alternative rock band, formed in 2000. They are signed to Warp Records. The band consists of Paul Smith , Duncan Lloyd , Archis Tiku , Lukas Wooller and Tom English...
, as well as musicians and singers that were born and raised in the region such as Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
, Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
, Brian Ferry, Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
, Sting, Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor (guitarist)
Andy Taylor is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station....
of Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, Chris Rea
Chris Rea
Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
, AC/DC's Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....
and Moloko's Mark Brydon
Mark Brydon
Mark Errington Brydon is an English bassist, guitarist, composer, arranger, recording engineer, remix artist and producer best known as a member of the group Moloko.-Previous work:...
.
Hip-hop act the Text Offenders
Text Offenders
Text Offenders are a UK hip hop group from the North East that formed in the 1990s by members Subliminal, Eleph Iron and D-Lete.They have released a number of compilations and single tracks via digital formats as well as Spit Hop Volume 1 LP which was released in February 2008 on their own label...
come from Cramlington.
Selected Recordings
- Ranting and Reeling TSCD 669
- Bonny North Tyne: Northumbrian Country Music (Topic 12TS239)
- Holey Ha'penny 12T283
- Wild Hills o'Wannie - The small pipes of Northumbria 12TS227