Sean Lakeman (born 29 January 1974) is an English folk musician and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Early life

Sean was born and brought up as the first of three boys in

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 Yelverton is a large village on the south-western edge of Dartmoor, Devon, in England. When Yelverton railway station (on the Great Western Railway (GWR) line from Plymouth to Tavistock) opened in the 19th century, the village became a popula ...

with his brothers, fellow folk 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 Sam Lakeman. He began playing guitar at the age of six. He played with his parents, Geoff and Joy Lakeman, and with his brothers in a family band. He also made up a quarter of the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

"Young Tradition Band" alongside

Catriona MacDonald Catriona Macdonald is a musician and teacher from Shetland and is considered to be one of the world's leading traditional fiddle players. Background Macdonald started studying fiddle with Dr Tom Anderson MBE in 1981 at age 11 (she consider ...

, Luke Daniels and

Simon Thoumire Simon Thoumire is a Scottish musician and an English concertina virtuoso. Thoumire has played all over the world. A winner of the BBC Radio 2 Young Tradition Award in 1989,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 ...

, with brothers Seth on violin and Sam on piano. The trio wrote and produced the album ''Three Piece Suite'' (1994), upon which

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 ...

was a guest singer for two tracks.

Equation

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 ...

asked the Lakeman Brothers to accompany them as a backing band for a tour of Portugal in September 1994. On their return to the UK the five agreed to form their own band,

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 ...

. The name of the band refers to the initials of the band members' names, KR2 + SL3. Shortly after the band was formed, 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 ...

replaced Kate Rusby. In the summer of 1995, the band signed a record deal with Blanco y Negro (

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 ...

). The band recorded their debut 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 ...

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 1995 and 1996. The album, ''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 ...

(

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

). 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 planned release of the album the record label shelved it. 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. The band toured throughout the UK and Europe, and completed ten tours in the USA in the late 1990s. The line-up would change over the years but Sean and Kathryn were constants as Equation went on to produce four albums: ''Return To Me'' (recorded 1996, released 2003), ''Hazy Daze'' (1998), ''The Lucky Few'' (1999), ''First Name Terms'' (2004), and ''The Dark Ages'' EP (2001).

Other projects

Lakeman has produced four albums for his younger brother

. ''

Freedom Fields ''Freedom Fields'' is an album by Seth Lakeman released twice in 2006. It is his third album as a principal performer. It is named after a park in Plymouth, England, where the Sabbath Day Fight during the Siege of Plymouth is commemorated. T ...

'' went gold in the UK and was voted

Folk Album of the year (2007). The

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

nominated ''Kitty Jay'' and '' Poor Man's Heaven'' which were both certified Silver in the UK. Lakeman is also half of the folk duo Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman with his wife, singer

. They have recorded four albums together: ''1'' recorded in 2001 and ''2'' recorded in 2003, and after a nine-year hiatus, ''Hidden People'' (2012). ''Tomorrow Will Follow Today'', released in early 2015, led to a tour of the UK. In 2013 and 2016, the couple were voted Best Duo at 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 ...

. Kathryn's song 'The Ballad Of Andy Jacobs' was also nominated as Best Original Song at the same awards in 2013.

Record production

Lakeman's credits as record producer for folk and folk-rock bands include two highly acclaimed albums for

The Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its popul ...

, plus other acts such as

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 ...

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (born Imelda Mary Clabby, 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Known primarily as a singer, she also plays the bodhrán, guitar, bass guitar and tambou ...

The Willows The Willows may refer to: Places * The Willows, El Paso, Texas, USA * The Willows, Queensland, a town in Australia * The Willows, Salford, home of Salford Rugby League club in Salford, England, UK * The Willows, Saskatoon, a residential community ...

, Carus Thompson,

Show of Hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mandoc ...

, Mad Dog Macrea, The Long Hill Ramblers and Rev Hammer. Sean also appears as a session guitarist on albums by

and

Caroline Herring Caroline Herring (born 1969 in Canton, Mississippi) is an American folk and country singer, songwriter and musician. She started singing professionally when she was a graduate student at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the Uni ...

Personal life

Sean is married to singer Kathryn Roberts and they have twin daughters, born in July 2007.

References

External links

Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman: Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakeman, Sean 1974 births Living people 21st-century British singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers English folk musicians English folk singers English male guitarists English male singer-songwriters English record producers Equation (band) members The Lakeman Brothers members Musicians from Devon People from Buckland Monachorum