Spiers and Boden are an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

duo.

John Spiers John Spiers (born 1975) is an English diatonic button accordion, melodeon, concertina and bandoneon player. He is widely recognised as one of the leading English melodeon players of his generation. Career file:Purbeck_Valley_Folk_Festival_2 ...

plays

melodeon Melodeon may refer to: * Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion *Melodeon (organ), a type of 19th-century reed organ *Melodeon (Boston, Massachusetts), a concert hall in 19th-century Boston * Melodeon Records, a U.S. record label in the ...

and

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

, while

Jon Boden Jon Boden (born 17 March 1977) is a singer, composer and musician, best known as lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. His first instrument is the fiddle and he is a proponent of "English traditional fiddle style" and also of "fiddle si ...

sings and plays

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

while stamping the rhythm on a

stomp box A stomp box (or stompbox) is a percussion instrument consisting of a small box placed under the foot, which is tapped or stamped on rhythmically to produce a sound similar to that of a bass drum. A stomp box allows a performer such as a sing ...

Spiers Spiers is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Spiers (1807–1869), English lexicographer *Bob Spiers (1945–2008), British television director *Cyril Spiers (1902–1967), former English professional football ...

and Boden were founding members of the folk band

Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical style ...

Biography

They began playing together in 1999 and their first album as a duo was ''Through & Through'' (2001). In 2002 they were both

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s on

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and care ...

's album ''Anglicana'', and toured with her as part of her band The Ratcatchers. However it was their second album, ''Bellow'', in 2003 that drew significant attention. The tunes and songs were mostly traditional, grounded in the

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

tradition. In the same year they won the "Horizon Award" in the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

, followed by the "Best Duo" category in 2004. Together they play fiddle, guitar, assorted squeezebox instruments, a stomp box and they both sing – a combination which sounds like a two-man-one-man-band An album called simply ''

Tunes Tunes may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Tunes (Silves), a parish in Portugal * Tunes, Norway, a village in Norway * Tunes, Tunisia, now Tunis, eponymous capital city of Tunisia ** Tunes (see), a suppressed Latin Catholic titular bishopri ...

'' came out in summer 2005 and another, ''

Songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

'', followed in October of the same year. Their fifth album, ''

Vagabond Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

'', was released in 2008. '' The Works'' was released on 11 July 2011. It's an album of re-recorded tracks from their 5 albums made as a duo. The album features a number of special guests, including:

Fay Hield Fay Hield is a traditional English folk singer and a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the University of Sheffield. Career '' Looking Glass'', released September 2010, was Hield's debut solo album. The material consists mainly of traditio ...

, James Fagan,

Nancy Kerr Nancy Kerr (born 1975) is an English folk musician and songwriter, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is a Principal Lecturer in Folk Music at Leeds Conservatoire and Newcastle University. She was the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Folk ...

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

and

. In October 2013, they announced that their 2014 tour would be their last "for the foreseeable future". In August 2020, Spiers and Boden announced that they would be playing together as a duo again. They performed for the online Folk On Foot festival.

Discography

Spiers and Boden

*''Through & Through'' (2001) *''Bellow'' (2003) *''

'' (2005) *''

'' (2008) *'' The Works'' (2011) *''

Fallow Ground Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycle ...

'' (2021)

Bellowhead

*''

E.P.Onymous ''E.P.Onymous'' is the debut EP by Bellowhead. Track listing Personnel *Jon Boden – vocals, fiddle, bagpipes *John Spiers – melodeon, vocals *Benji Kirkpatrick – mandolin, bouzouki, guitar, banjo *Andy Mellon – ...

'' (2004) *''

Burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

'' (2006) *''

Matachin Matachines (Spanish singular ''matachín''; sword dancers dressed in ritual attire called bouffon) are a carnivalesque dance troupe that emerged in Spain in the early 17th century inspired by similar European traditions such as the moresca. Th ...

'' (2008) *''

Hedonism Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decr ...

'' (2010) *''

Broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

'' (2012) *'' Revival'' (2014)

Eliza Carthy and The Ratcatchers

*''Anglicana'' (2002) *''Rough Music'' (2005)

Ian Giles, John Spiers, Jon Boden and Graham Metcalfe

*''

Sea Shanties A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

'' (2002)

Jon Boden, Joey Oliver, John Spiers and Ian Giles

*''Old Irish Jigs and Reels'' (2007)

Ian Giles, John Spiers, Jon Boden and Giles Lewin

*''Wassail - A Country Christmas'' (also released as ''An English Folk Christmas'' (2003)

References

External links

Spiers and Boden websiteFellside Recordings
{{Authority control English folk musical groups English buskers