The Cecil Sharp Project was a multi-artist, residential commission to create new material based on the life and collections of the founding father of the English Folk Revival

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

. The residential took place in March 2011, immediately followed by concerts in Shrewsbury and London, with the artists also performing the results of the project at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in August 2011. The project was a joint commission between

Shrewsbury Folk Festival Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. It takes place over four days on and around the UK Late Summer bank holiday weekend (usually the ...

and

EFDSS The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

, the overall management of the project was the responsibility of

and was directed by Neil Pearson and Alan Surtees.

Artists

The eight musicians selected for the project were # Steve Knightley #

Jim Moray Jim Moray (born 1981) is an English folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Recording artist While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Moray released the home-recorded ''I Am Jim Moray'' EP. During ...

Jackie Oates Jackie Oates is an English folk singer and fiddle player. Life Oates was born in Congleton in Cheshire in 1983 but grew up in Staffordshire. At the age of 18, she moved to Devon to study English literature at Exeter University and was based in ...

Andy Cutting Andy Cutting (born 18 March 1969) is an English folk musician and composer. He plays melodeon and is best known for writing and performing traditional English folk and his own original compositions which combine English and French traditions w ...

# Patsy Reid #

Caroline Herring Caroline Herring (born 1969 in Canton, Mississippi) is an American folk and country singer, songwriter and musician. She started singing professionally when she was a graduate student at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the Uni ...

Kathryn Roberts Kathryn Roberts is an English folk singer, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Early career Roberts' first released recordings were on the album ''Intuition'', a collection of songs by various South Yorkshire folk artists which also included her ...

# Leonard Podolak

Dates

*March 18–25, 2011. Residential at Acton Scott, Shropshire *March 24, 2011. Performance at Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury *March 26, 2011. Performance at Cecil Sharp House, London *March 27, 2011. Performance at Cecil Sharp House, London *August 28, 2011. Performance at Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Shrewsbury

CD

The initial three performances were recorded for a CD release, with a release date 30 August 2011. As with the

's previous commission, the

Darwin Song Project ''Darwin Song Project'' is a compilation album, released on 7 September 2009. It features folk artists from the UK and North America, who were tasked with the creation of new songs that had a "resonance and relevance to Charles Darwin". The ar ...

, the CD was mixed by Stu Hanna,

References

Cecil Sharp Project – review , Music , The Guardian

BBC Radio 2 - Mike Harding, Steve Knightley Talks About the Cecil Sharp Project

What's on: The Cecil Sharp Project, Burnley, January 26 (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Review: Cecil Sharp Project @ Burnley Mechanics (From Lancashire Telegraph)

External links

The Cecil Sharp Project websiteShrewsbury Folk Festival websiteEFDSS website
{{Authority control Folk compilation albums 2011 compilation albums