Samuel Charles Lakeman (born 6 November 1975) is an English musician, songwriter, and producer and co-owner of Charcoal Records.
Lakeman was brought up in the village of
Buckland Monachorum
Buckland Monachorum is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England, situated on the River Tavy, about 10 miles north of Plymouth.
In 2006 the neighbourhood had an estimated 1,511 residents and 654 dwellings. The elect ...
, near
Yelverton, Devon,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, with his brothers, fellow musicians
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 ...
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 Seth ...
. He currently lives in
Frome
Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...
, Somerset, UK, with his wife, the award-winning 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 ...
, and their three children.
Career
Sam began playing music with his parents and two brothers
Seth
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. A ...
and
Sean
Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...
at an early age.
As a family band they started playing at festivals, and small concerts. Lakeman and his siblings formed
The Lakeman Brothers
The Lakeman Brothers were an English folk music trio, consisting of Sean Lakeman, Sam Lakeman and Seth Lakeman. They released one album, ''Three Piece Suite'', in 1994 before forming the band Equation with Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts.
Seth h ...
in the early 1990s – with Sam on piano/keyboards,
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 ...
on fiddle, 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 Seth ...
on guitar. The brothers toured throughout the UK and Europe during weekends and school holidays, performing at festivals and venues winning critical acclaim for their musical abilities, compositions and fresh arrangements of traditional tunes. The trio wrote and produced the album 'Three Piece Suite' (1994).
In the late part of 1994 they were invited by two Yorkshire based singers
Kathryn Roberts
Kathryn Roberts is an English folk singer, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
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 ...
and
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 ...
to join them as a backing group on a tour of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. After the tour the five musicians became a permanent group and called themselves
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 ...
.
![Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman (26446061720)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Cara_Dillon_and_Sam_Lakeman_%2826446061720%29.jpg)
Shortly after
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 ...
replaced Kate Rusby in the summer of 1995, the group signed a major record deal with
Blanco y Negro (part of
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
) and recorded an album at
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
's
Realworld Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real W ...
in winter 1995–'96. The album, entitled ''Return to Me'', was produced by
David Bottrill
David Bottrill is a Canadian record producer. He has won three Grammys. Formerly, he owned Rattlebox Studios in Toronto, Ontario with producer Brian Moncarz. Moneen, Basia Lyjak, and The Getaway Plan are among the artists to have recorded at th ...
. There was a single release, "He Loves Me", with an accompanying promotional video.
The band performed on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and
VH1, but weeks before the release of the album the record label shelved it. It was not released in 1996, but in 2003 it saw a release under
Rough Trade after
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 wa ...
(the band's A+R) bought its rights.
Lakeman left
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 Dillon and the duo was known as Polar Star. During this time Lakeman formed a strong musical partnership with Dillon. They recorded several albums with top songwriters and producers in the UK and San Francisco, but none of this work was released. By 2000, Lakeman and Dillon had decided that they would never be able to give the label what they wanted. Circa summer 2000, Dillon and Lakeman ended their five-year relationship with
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
and signed to
Indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
label
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...
under the guidance of their then manager
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 wa ...
. On
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...
Sam produced, co-wrote and recorded all three of Cara's albums and toured with her to promote all the releases.
Lakeman has produced, co-wrote, arranged and recorded all seven of Dillon's solo albums to date as well as featuring on piano, acoustic guitar, hammond organ, harmonium and percussion. He was co-producer and musical director on
The Redcastle Sessions
''The Redcastle Sessions'' is a DVD featuring live performances by folk artist Cara Dillon of songs from her first three solo albums, as well as previously unreleased songs and songs for inclusion on her fourth solo studio album. The DVD was fil ...
(DVD) and was executive producer and musical director for the DVD "Cara Dillon – Live at the Grand Opera House", he has performed, produced and mixed for a variety of artists including
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 ...
,
Ian Anderson, and Disney. He has toured the world performing at festivals or in concert halls in Europe, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the US and Canada.
After completing their record contract with
Rough Trade, Lakeman and Dillon formed Charcoal Records in 2008 and released Cara's fourth album ''
Hill of Thieves
''Hill of Thieves'' is the fourth solo album by Irish folk singer Cara Dillon. It is her first full-length release on Charcoal Records, the label formed in 2008 with her musical partner and husband Sam Lakeman. The album was recorded and produc ...
'' in January 2009. In February 2010 It won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for "Album of the Year". Charcoal has gone on to release, "Upon A Winter's Night" in 2016 and "Wanderer" in 2017
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakeman, Sam
English folk musicians
English folk singers
Living people
People from Buckland Monachorum
1975 births
English male singer-songwriters
English record producers
People from Frome
Musicians from Devon
21st-century British singers
The Lakeman Brothers members
Equation (band) members