Jackie Oates is an

English folk 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 ...

singer and

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 ...

player.

Life

Oates was born in

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

in 1983 but grew up in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. At the age of 18, she moved to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

to study

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

and was based in Devon until 2011, when she moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where she lives with her young family. She was a member of

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

between 2003 and 2007. left, Performing with John Spiers at Purbeck Valley Folk Festival in 2021 She was a finalist in the

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 ...

in 2003, and was one of the nominees for 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 ...

"Horizon Award" in 2008, going on to win that award in 2009, as well as the award for best traditional track for her recording of " The Lark in the Morning". She has performed as part of the folk trio Wistman's Wood and sung with Morris Offspring and

The Imagined Village The Imagined Village is a folk music project founded by Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt Sound System. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represented modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, featured musicians from a ...

. More recently, she has performed with

John Spiers John Spiers (born 1975) is an English melodeon, concertina and bandoneon player. He is widely recognised as one of the leading English melodeon players of his generation. Career left, Performing with Jackie Oates at Purbeck Valley Folk Fe ...

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 ...

, with whom she recorded the album, ''Needle Pin, Needle Pin'' in 2020. Her brother is the singer,

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

and record producer

Jim Moray Jim Moray (born 1981) is an English folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Recording artist While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Moray released the home-recorded ''I Am Jim Moray'' EP. During ...

, and they have guested on each other's albums.Jackie's Violet Hour

BBC Devon BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Mannamead area of Plymouth. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience o ...

. Created 31 January 2008, last updated 10 April 2008. Accessed 27 September 2008.

Discography

;Solo albums *''Jackie Oates'' (Hands On Music HMCD25, 2006) *''The Violet Hour'' (Chudleigh Roots CR002, 2008) *''Hyperboreans'' (

One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In th ...

TPLP1034CD, 2009) *''Saturnine'' (ECC Records ECC004, 2011) *''Lullabies'' (ECC Records ECC009, 2013) *''The Spyglass & The Herringbone'' (ECC Records ECC015, 2015) *''The Joy of Living'' (ECC Records ECC018, 2018) ;With other acts * '' Cruel Sister'' –

(Rabble Rouser RR005, 2005) *''Bending The Dark'' –

(ECC Records ECC006, 2012) *''Wings'' (EP) – with Megan Henwood (2016) *''Needle Pin, Needle Pin'' – with

(2020)

References

External links

Official websiteFacebook pageTwitter profileThe Spiral Earth Interview: Jackie OatesThe Folk Radio UK Interview: Jackie Oates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oates, Jackie Living people 1983 births 21st-century British singers 21st-century violinists Alumni of the University of Exeter English fiddlers English folk musicians English folk singers People from Congleton People from Staffordshire