Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden 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 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 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'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 tradition. In the same year they won the "Horizon Award" in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, 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'', followed in October of the same year. Their fifth album, '' Vagabond'', 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,

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 and Eliza Carthy. 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) *'' Songs'' (2005) *'' Vagabond'' (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'' (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