The Red Dirt Skinners are an Anglo-Canadian multi-genre duo, who formed in 2011. The duo consists of Rob and Sarah Skinner, both multi-instrumentalists originating from

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...

and now residing in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada.

History

In 2012, the couple's home was the subject of a burglary. ''Home Sweet Home'' is a collection of songs written about the events of the weekend of the burglary. . In 2013, the Red Dirt Skinners became the first band in history to succeed at both the

British Blues Awards The British Blues Awards were inaugurated in 2010. The prize was awarded in various categories, such as 'Male vocals', 'Female vocals', 'Guitarist', 'Bass player' and 'Keyboard player', 'Blues band', 'Young artist', 'Blues album', 'Blues festival' a ...

(Winner Instrumentalist of the Year 2014, Runner-up 2013)) and the British Country Music Awards (Horizon Act of the year and People's Choice). Since then they have been nominated at the International Acoustic Music Awards. The Red Dirt Skinners released ''Sinking The Mary Rose'' in 2013 and subsequently ''Live in Aberdeen'' in 2014. In 2014, Sarah Skinner became the first female artist to be endorsed by Trevor James Saxophones. Sarah remained with Trevor James for 7 years before progressing to a solid copper Rampone and Cazzani soprano in early 2022. Their fifth album, ''Behind The Wheel'', was voted in several polls as Folk/Roots album of the Year in 2016. ''Behind The Wheel'' was released on 24 March 2016. In 2017 Rob and Sarah Skinner were deemed to be "performers of a world class level" and were invited by Canadian immigration to become permanent residents of Canada. Their sixth album, ''Under Utopian Skies'', was voted in several polls as Alternative album of the year in 2018. In 2020, Rob Skinner became endorsed by

Breedlove Guitars Breedlove Guitars is an American acoustic instrument company based in Bend, Oregon. Breedlove produces acoustic guitars, acoustic bass guitars, and ukuleles. History and background Breedlove Guitars was established In 1990 by California luthie ...

. Their seventh album, ''Bear With Us'' was released on October 22 2021 to high acclaim

Influences

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Roger Hodgson Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born 21 March 1950) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the former co-frontman and founding member of progressive rock band Supertramp. Hodgson composed and sang the majority of the band’ ...

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David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams (singer), Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White h ...

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

Instrumentation

*Rob Skinner – Lead vocalist, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion, keyboards *Sarah Skinner – Backing vocalist, saxophone (mainly

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

), harmonica, keyboards

Discography

*2011 ''Grass Roots'' *2012 ''Home Sweet Home'' *2013 ''Sinking The Mary Rose'' *2014 ''Live in Aberdeen'' *2016 ''Behind The Wheel'' *2018 ''Under Utopian Skies'' *2021 ''Bear With Us''

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Red Dirt Skinners website
{{Authority control English folk musical groups English singer-songwriters Musical groups established in 2011 2011 establishments in the United Kingdom Folk music duos Male–female musical duos Married couples Musical groups from South East England Musical groups from Ontario