Kathryn Roberts is an English

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

, from

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

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 friend

Kate Rusby Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English English folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, an ...

. Roberts went on to record the critically acclaimed album ''Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts'' with her in 1995, which was voted Album of the Year by ''

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occa ...

'' magazine.

Equation

Roberts and Rusby formed the band

Equation In mathematics, an equation is a formula that expresses the equality of two expressions, by connecting them with the equals sign . The word ''equation'' and its cognates in other languages may have subtly different meanings; for example, in ...

, along with Devon-based folk musicians the Lakeman Brothers (Sean, Sam and Seth). They recorded an EP CD in 1995, with Rusby and Roberts sharing lead vocals. This led to the group being signed to

Blanco y Negro Records Blanco y Negro Records ( Spanish: "White and Black"), a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involv ...

/ WEA by

Geoff Travis Geoff Travis (born 2 February 1952) is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1978. Biography Travis was ...

. Rusby left soon after, to be replaced with Irish singer

Cara Dillon Cara Elizabeth Dillon (born 21 July 1975, in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving t ...

. Dillon also left after one album, leaving Roberts as the sole lead singer. Equation made four albums and two EPs. They toured throughout the UK, Europe and extensively through the US as a "folk supergroup".

Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman

Around 2001, Roberts and

Sean Lakeman Sean Lakeman (born 29 January 1974) is an English folk musician and record producer. Early life Sean was born and brought up as the first of three boys in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon with his brothers, fellow folk musicians Se ...

toured British folk clubs in an attempt to return to their folk roots. They released two albums as a duo, titled ''1'' and ''2'', before taking time away from the road to start a family. The couple returned to touring in 2011 and recorded their third album ''Hidden People'' in 2012. In 2013 they were voted Best Duo at 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 ...

. Roberts' song "The Ballad Of Andy Jacobs" was also nominated as Best Original Song.

Other projects

Roberts appeared on

Seth Lakeman Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

's albums '' Kitty Jay'', ''

Freedom Fields ''Freedom Fields'' is an album by Seth Lakeman released twice in 2006. It is his third album as a principal performer. It is named after a park in Plymouth, England, where the Sabbath Day Fight during the Siege of Plymouth is commemorated. T ...

'' and ''

Poor Man's Heaven (Album) Seth Lakeman's fourth album, Poor Man's Heaven (not to be confused with the EP of the same name released in late 2007), was released on 30 June 2008, entering the UK Album Charts at number 8. Taking over 10 months to finalise, many of the tracks ...

''. She took part in the

Cecil Sharp Project 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. The residential took place in March 2011, immediately fol ...

in March 2011, a multi-artist residential project organised by the

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 th ...

to create new works based on the life, work and collecting of folklorist

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 ...

. In 2020, Roberts appeared as a guest on the song ''Lift Dickie Bird Where He Belongs'' by the Barnsley comedy band

The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican are a British comedy folk and parody band from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Formed in 2006, they claim to be the hardest working comedy band in the UK, having played over 1200 shows throughout the UK. They ...

, duetting with the band's lead singer Scott Doonican.

Personal life

Roberts is married to Sean Lakeman. They have twin daughters.

Discography

* ''Intuition'' (1993) * ''Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts'' (1995) *

– ''In Session E.P.'' (1995) * Equation – ''Return To Me'' (1996, released 2003) * Equation – ''Hazy Daze'' (1998) * Equation – ''The Lucky Few'' (1999) * Equation – ''Dark Ages E.P.'' (2001) * Equation – ''First Name Terms'' (2002) * Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – ''1'' (2003) * Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – ''2'' (2004) * Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – ''Hidden People'' (2012) * Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – ''Tomorrow Will Follow Today'' (2015) *

– ''Cecil Sharp Project 2011'' * Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – ''Personae'' (2018)

References

External links

Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman: Official website

Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman: Hidden People, Folk Radio UK review & interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Kathryn Living people English folk singers 1974 births Musicians from Barnsley 21st-century British singers Equation (band) members