Waterson:Carthy were an English folk group originally comprising

Norma Waterson Norma Christine Waterson (15 August 1939 – 30 January 2022) was an English singer and songwriter, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a celebrated English traditional folk group. Other members of the group included h ...

on vocals, her husband

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...

on guitar and vocals and their daughter

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and ca ...

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 ...

and vocals. They have a repertoire of predominantly British traditional songs and tunes but also occasionally perform contemporary songs from various sources. Their instrumentation is based largely around Martin Carthy's guitar, Eliza Carthy's fiddle and the melodeons of Saul Rose (1996–2000 and 2007-date) and Tim Van Eyken (2000–2007) with other instruments regularly augmenting their recordings. The group also continue the strong unaccompanied vocal tradition established by Norma and Martin's previous family group

The Watersons The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous fam ...

, from whom they are widely considered to have evolved. The group's first album ''Waterson:Carthy'' (1994) was performed largely as a trio, with notable contributions from Eliza's musical partner

Nancy Kerr Nancy Kerr (born 1975) is an English folk musician and songwriter, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is a Principal Lecturer in Folk Music at Leeds Conservatoire and Newcastle University. She was the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Folk ...

. Their second album ''Common Tongue'' (1996) featured a more diverse selection of guest musicians with significant contributions from melodeon player

Saul Rose Saul Rose (born 1973) is an English folk melodeon player and singer. Biography Born in Harrow, he first picked up the melodeon after breaking his leg at the age of eleven and was taught his first tunes by his father. After entering the BBC ...

. Although at this stage Rose was not credited as a full group member he soon became a permanent member of the touring group and was credited as a full group member on the release of their third album ''Broken Ground'' (1999). Rose left shortly thereafter to take up a career in the pharmaceutical industry and was replaced by

Tim van Eyken Tim van Eyken (born 7 March 1978) is an English guitarist and melodeon player of Belgian descent. Career Van Eyken first started playing penny whistle after seeing James Galway on television. He graduated to playing for his mother, then a memb ...

in 2000. This line-up went on to release the albums ''A Dark Light'' (2002) and ''Fishes & Fine Yellow Sand'' (2004) and to consolidate the group's reputation as an outstanding live band. ''

Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man ''Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man'' is an album by Waterson–Carthy. There is more instrumental accompaniment on this collection than on any previous Waterson–Carthy album. Tracks 13 and 16 could even be mistaken for the work of Brass Mon ...

'' (2006), an album of seasonal songs on which they were joined by vocal trio

The Devil's Interval ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(

Jim Causley Jim Causley is an English Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and musician from Devon who specializes in the Folk Music of England, traditional songs and music of the West Country. Journalist Colin Irwin (journalist), Colin Irwin has called him ...

, Lauren McCormick &

Emily Portman Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song ...

) was widely considered both a belated follow-up and an addendum to

' ''Frost & Fire'' (1965). The group had already re-established The Watersons' tradition of performing a pre-Christmas tour under the ''Frost & Fire'' banner and by December 2006 this had been expanded to include a

Mummers Play Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers (also by local names such as ''rhymers'', ''pace-eggers'', ''soulers'', ''tipteerers'', ''wrenboys'', and ''galoshins''). ...

, brass section and a more significant contribution from The Devil's Interval. Van Eyken had announced his intention to leave the group to concentrate on his solo career prior to the December 2006 tour and his eventual final show was a Waterson Family special performance on 12 May 2007 London's

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. Saul Rose, having again taken up music full-time in May 2006, immediately rejoined and the group began touring again in June 2007. All four members of Waterson:Carthy continue to conduct successful careers outside the group. Norma Waterson has released several solo albums and performs in an occasional duo with Martin Carthy. Martin Carthy is a member of Brass Monkey, performs in occasional duos with

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

(until Dave Swarbrick died in 2016 – they last toured together in 2015), John Kirkpatrick and Eliza Carthy, and has a successful solo career stretching back over more than 50 years. Eliza Carthy has a successful solo career and performs in an occasional duo with Saul Rose. Saul performs with various ensembles including Faustus, Random, Morris Offspring and Dansaul. Martin, Norma and Eliza all occasionally perform with Blue Murder. Individually, Martin, Norma and Eliza have won or been nominated several times in the

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 Waterson:Carthy won awards for Best Group and Best Traditional Track (''Raggle Taggle Gypsy'') in 2000. Norma died on 30 January 2022, at the age of 82.

Discography

*''Waterson:Carthy'' (1994) *''Common Tongue'' (1996) *''Broken Ground'' (1999) *''A Dark Light'' (2002) *The Watersons: ''Mighty River of Song'' (2004) Several previously unreleased Waterson:Carthy tracks appear on this 4-CD box set *''Fishes And Fine Yellow Sand'' (2004) *''

'' (2006) *''The Definitive Collection'' (compilation 2005)

DVD

* ''In Search of English Folk Song'' (1997 BBC film directed by

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

) : Fairport Convention, Donovan, Osibisa, Eliza Carthy, The Albion Band, Waterson:Carthy, Edward II. : Reissued on DVD in 2008, but for Region 1 only

References

External links

Topic Records pageformer official site by wayback machine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterson:Carthy 1994 establishments in England 2022 disestablishments in England English folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2022