Megan Henwood (born 29 October 1987) is an English singer-songwriter from

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

Early life

Born Megan Rosemary Henwood in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

, England, Henwood grew up in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, Oxfordshire. Her first public performance was at the age of 9 at the Henley Youth Festival. As a teenager she performed both as a solo artist and with her band on the local live circuit. At the age of 18, she travelled around Europe,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

– returning to the latter twice to record and perform with some of the country's musicians. She has since supported the London-based Child Action Nepal charity by donating profit from record sales.

Career

Henwood has contributed to

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music th ...

sessions and in 2010 she was awarded a

Sue Ryder Care Sue Ryder is a British palliative, neurological and bereavement support charity based in the United Kingdom. Formed as The Sue Ryder Foundation in 1953 by World War II Special Operations Executive volunteer Sue Ryder, the organisation provides c ...

"Woman of Achievement" award as Performer of the Year. In 2009, Henwood – along with her saxophonist brother Joe – won the

BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award The BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award is an annual competition for young folk musicians in the United Kingdom. It was first awarded in 1988 as the Young Tradition Award, taking its present name in 1998. Recent winners of the award include Brighde C ...

. She has performed at events such as the

Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix of ...

, and

Fairport's Cropredy Convention Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of folk and rock music, headed by British folk-rock band Fairport Convention and held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. The festiv ...

, and performed at

Glastonbury Festival 2010 The 2010 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place in Pilton, Somerset, England in June 2010. The festival was headlined by Gorillaz, Muse, and Stevie Wonder. U2 were initially announced as headliners, but withdrew on 2 ...

. Her first album, '' Making Waves'', was released on 4 July 2011 on

Dharma Records Dharma Records is a British independent record label. Dharma Records was established in 2002 to run alongside its sister company Instant Karma. Dharma's first release was the top 5 hit single, "Mundian To Bach Ke", by Bhangra artist Panjabi MC. ...

, ahead of various festival appearances including Larmer Tree,

and

Secret Garden Party The Secret Garden Party, often colloquially shortened to the SGP, is an independent arts and music festival which takes place in Abbots Ripton near Huntingdon in England. This location is on part of the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse and has its ...

. The album features musicians such as Peter Knight, Andy Crowdy, Joe Brown, Sam Brown, Mollie Marriott,

Barriemore Barlow Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow (born 10 September 1949, Birmingham) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist for the rock band Jethro Tull, from May 1971 to June 1980. Christened Barrie, 'Barriemore' was an affectation ...

and

Nick Fyffe Nick Fyffe (born 14 October 1972) is an English bassist, known for being an ex-bassist of English funk group Jamiroquai. He replaced Stuart Zender in 1999 with the release of the album ''Synkronized''. He was in the process of applying to a J ...

. Her second album "Head Heart Hand" was released in July 2015. The album was produced by Tom Excell and featured Pete Thomas, Matthew Holborn, Matthew Forbes, Rich Milner,

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 ...

, Tom Sibley, Sam Wilkinson, Tom Michell and Steve Jones. Singles from the album were featured on various

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

shows and Henwood performed a live session on The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe. The video for Love/Loathe, the first single from the album, was premiered on

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

in May 2015. Henwood's third album, "River" was released in the Autumn of 2017. Working again with producer Tom Excell, she experimented with a more electronic sound, contrasting from her last two acoustic releases. The album was praised by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' who described it as 'a worldly, mature work'. She has written with/for a number of artists including Brother Strut and has been commissioned as a songwriter for

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

and

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preserva ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Making Waves'' (2011) * ''Head Heart Hand'' (2015) * ''River'' (2017)

EPs

* ''Wings'' (2016) – with

* ''Unplugged EP'' (2017) * ''The Story Song Scientists EP'' (2019) – with

Findlay Napier Findlay Napier (born November 1978) is a Scottish singer songwriter and teaching artist. He was a member of Scottish folk group Back of the Moon and runs music writing courses. Biography Napier was born in Glasgow, Scotland in November 1978 ...

Featured artist

* "Blind Eye" (Track 4) on the album ''First Strut Is The Deepest'' (2013) by Brother Strut

References

External links

* 1987 births Living people English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers People from Henley-on-Thames {{UK-musician-stub