Sarah Hayes is a British

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musician and multi-instrumentalist. She is a member of the indie folk band

Admiral Fallow Admiral Fallow are a Scottish musical group formed in 2007 by singer-songwriter Louis Abbott and based in Glasgow. They were originally named Brother Louis Collective. The band's first album, '' Boots Met My Face'', was released worldwide in 20 ...

and also a solo artist. Hayes was a finalist in

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 ...

for three years in a row (2000–2002) and was nominated for the 2015 Composer of the Year in the

Scots Trad Music Awards The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and ...

Early life

Hayes was born on

The Wirral Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee, Wales, River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the Ri ...

, but moved at the age of two and a half to the village of Warkworth in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. She learnt recorder, piano and the flute. Folk singer

Sandra Kerr Sandra Kerr (born 14 February 1942, Plaistow, Essex) is an English folk singer. Kerr sings and plays English concertina, guitar, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp. She was a member of The Critics Group from 1963–1972. With John Faulkner, she ...

lived nearby and encouraged Hayes to listen to folk music. Kerr's encouragement was crucial, since there was no interest in the music from Hayes's peer group.

"Nobody at my school likes folk", sighs 14 year old Northumbrian, Sarah Hayes, a song finalist in this year's Radio 2 Young Folk Awards. "But I love the music, it's funny being part of this big folk thing that my friends know nothing about. But it makes me sad there's nobody of my age here to sing with me".

Hayes also attended

Folkworks {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Folkworks is a non-profit organisation based at The Sage Gateshead and a part of the North Music Trust. It runs many workshops, summer schools and festivals to promote and encourage the furtherance of folk music. ...

summer schools and workshops in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. After being a finalist in the

for three years in a row (20002002), she attended the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

in 2005. There she was awarded a Masters in Music Performance (with distinction).

Musical career

In 2007 Hayes became a founding member of Brother Louis Collective, forerunner to

, after meeting fellow band members in college. Hayes also plays in three classical chamber ensembles, two other folk groups, and has taught at summer schools for Folkworks Junior School, Tinto School, and at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

. Hayes was nominated in the Composer of The Year category for the

in 2015.

Recordings

''Mainspring''

Hayes released her debut solo EP ''Mainspring'' in 2013.

''Wildings''

With Jennifer Austin (piano) and Fiona MacAskill (fiddle), ''Wildings'' was released on 29 July 2015.

''Woven''

''Woven'' began as a commission for New Voices, a series designed to produce new work from artists on the Scottish traditional music scene, at the

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

festival in 2014. It consists of fragments of traditional folk songs set to music composed by Hayes. It was released on 20 November 2015. Reviews of the album were positive, with ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' describing Hayes as "a boldly emerging new talent". ''

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 ...

'' described ''Woven'' as an "inventive concept work" and "a fresh, emotional collection that shows her skills as a composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer."

''You Tell Me''

As You Tell Me, a duo with

Peter Brewis Peter Brewis is a composer and instrumentalist who has been active in several spheres of music from ballet and modern dance to music theatre and rock music. Although he was classically trained, studying under the famous French music educator Na ...

, she released '' You Tell Me'' in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Sarah 1980s births English folk singers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland People from Warkworth, Northumberland Musicians from Northumberland