Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

) is a multi-instrumental

English folk music The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

ian.

Career

Sweeney was introduced to

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

as a child via his parents' record collection and taught himself to play traditional pieces by ear. He started playing the

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 ...

at age six, and first performed as a soloist at folk festivals in 2001. From 2002 to 2010, he was part of the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

-based folk band

Kerfuffle Kerfuffle were a four-piece English folk band, originally formed in 2001 around the East Midlands and South Yorkshire regions of the UK, initially comprising Hannah James (accordion, piano, vocals, step dancing), Sam Sweeney (fiddle, percus ...

, playing fiddle,

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

, and cajon, and singing. When Kerfuffle disbanded, Sweeney continued playing with accordion player and singer Hannah James as the duo

Hannah James and Sam Sweeney Hannah James and Sam Sweeney were an English folk duo, comprising Hannah James ( piano accordion, vocals, clogs) and Sam Sweeney (violin, viola, octave viola, English bagpipes, nyckelharpa, Hardanger fiddle). History Hannah James and Sam Sw ...

. From 2008 to 2016, he became a member of the award-winning eleven-piece 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 ...

, playing fiddle and English bagpipes, as a replacement for former member

Giles Lewin Giles Lewin is a British violinist and bagpiper. Currently a member of The Carnival Band, he was also a founding member of the folk band, Bellowhead. Biography He was born in Essex in 1960 or slightly earlier. At age nine, he sang the female ...

. Sweeney played with Bellowhead until their final gig in May 2016 at Oxford Town Hall. He has toured with

Jon Boden Jon Boden (born 17 March 1977) is a singer, composer and musician, best known as lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. His first instrument is the fiddle and he is a proponent of "English traditional fiddle style" and also of "fiddle ...

and the Remnant Kings, playing both drums and fiddle, sometimes simultaneously. He is also a member of

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 ...

's band, originally named the Fay Hield Trio but as of 2012 called Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party, and took part in The Full English album and tour in 2013. Together with

Andy Cutting Andy Cutting (born 18 March 1969) is an English folk musician and composer. He plays melodeon and is best known for writing and performing traditional English folk and his own original compositions which combine English and French traditions w ...

and Rob Harbron, he formed English folk supergroup Leveret in 2015. Sweeney helped set up the UK's National Youth Folk Ensemble, an

EFDSS The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

programme that introduces young people to folk music through schools, community settings and residential courses. He was appointed inaugural Artistic Director of the Ensemble in 2015. In 2018, he started his solo career with the album ''The Unfinished Violin''. Two years later in 2020, he followed it with his second album ''Unearth Repeat''. Then, he released an album called ''Escape That'' in 2022. That album was used as support to Bellowhead reuniting for a November 2022 tour for the tenth anniversary of the band's album Broadside. He also played alongside his Bellowhead bandmates during the tour. The band decided to reunite after doing a virtual concert during the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Awards

Sweeney has won a number of awards including the 'In The Tradition' award and the 'Wiltshire Folk Association Young Folk Award', which he won for two years in succession. He was also a nominated in the 2004 BBC Young Folk Awards. In 2007 he won one of five BBC Performing Arts Fund bursaries to help him start his musical career. Sweeney was nominated for the 'Musician of the Year' award at the 2013

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 ...

and won this award at the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. His album ''Unearth Repeat'' was voted "Album of the Year" for 2020 by Bright Young Folk readers with almost the 36% of the votes.

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Sam Living people 1989 births English folk musicians People from Nottingham People educated at Loughborough Grammar School Bellowhead members The Full English members