Graeme Miles (1935 – 29 March 2013) was an English folk singer and songwriter based in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. Born in
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, London, he grew up in
Teesside
Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
and studied at
West Hartlepool Art School. He became enamored with folk music and with the Teesside area in his teens, and upon realizing there was little to no folk music about Teesside itself, he set out to create it. He worked at the Middlesbrough Museum for a time, but gave up that comfortable job to work in the foundries and factories in order to better understand his community and what he was writing about. His mission was to find the beauty in the traditionally "ugly" and overlooked Northeast of England. His famous songs included "Sea Coal", "Jack Ironside," "Blue Sunset," and "Ring of Iron".
During late 1982 and early 1983, Teesside Folk Group
The Wilson Family
The Wilson Family is an English folk music group from Billingham, County Durham, North East England. They have been singing and performing a cappella folk songs since 1974. They consist of sister Pat and five brothers: Tom, Chris, Steve, Ken ...
, of
Billingham
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...
, collaborated with Miles to produce their debut album, "Horumarye", the first album dedicated solely to Miles' works.
Miles' "A Great Northern River" was included on
The Unthanks
The Unthanks (until 2009 called Rachel Unthank and the Winterset) are an English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres."They may call ...
' 2012 album ''
Songs from the Shipyards
''Songs from the Shipyards'', the seventh album by English folk group The Unthanks, was released on 5 November 2012. The album is designated Vol. 3 in The Unthanks' ''Diversions'' series and follows on from Vol. 1 ('' The Songs of Robert Wyat ...
''. They also performed his song "Sad February" on their 2007 album ''
Here's the Tender Coming
''Here's the Tender Coming'', the third album by English folk group the Unthanks, and the first under The Unthanks moniker, was released in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2009 and in North America on 23 March 2010. It was Folk Album of t ...
''.
The English folk group
The Young'uns
The Young'uns are an English folk group from Stockton, County Durham, England, who won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Best Group" award in 2015 and 2016 and “Best Album” for ''Strangers'' in 2018. They specialise in singing unaccompanied, an ...
champion the folk music of Northeast, with a special interest in reviving the music of Graeme Miles. They have recorded several of his songs, such as "The Running Fox" and "Jack Ironside."
The Graeme Miles Bursary, established in his memory, is open to artists and groups between the ages of 18 and 25 who are based in the Northeast of England. Funded by the proceeds of concerts organised by The Unthanks, it is administered by the
English Folk Dance and Song Society
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 Rachel Hamer Band received a bursary in 2016.
References
External links
*
Ailsa MacKenzie: Obituary – Graeme Miles, ''The Living Tradition'', issue 96, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Graeme
1935 births
2013 deaths
English male songwriters
People from the Royal Borough of Greenwich
Musicians from Middlesbrough