Waterson:Carthy were an English folk group originally comprising Norma Waterson on vocals, her husband

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

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 Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Life and career Carthy was born i ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

and vocals.

History

The group had a repertoire of predominantly British traditional songs and tunes but also occasionally performed contemporary songs from various sources. Their instrumentation was based largely around Martin Carthy's guitar, Eliza Carthy's fiddle and the melodeons of Saul Rose (1996–2000 and 2007–2022) and Tim Van Eyken (2000–2007), with other instruments regularly augmenting their recordings. The group also continued 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 f ...

, from whom they were 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 Newcastle University. She was the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Folk Singer of the Year". ...

. Their second album ''Common Tongue'' (1996) featured a more diverse selection of guest musicians with significant contributions from melodeon player Saul Rose. 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 actor, singer, melodeon player and guitarist. Career Van Eyken first started playing penny whistle after seeing James Galway on television. He graduated to playing for his mother, then a member ...

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'' (2006), an album of seasonal songs on which they were joined by vocal trio The Devil's Interval ( Jim Causley,

Lauren McCormick Lauren is mostly a feminine given name. The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentiu ...

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, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. 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 continued to conduct successful careers outside the group. Norma Waterson released several solo albums and performed in an occasional duo with Martin Carthy. Martin Carthy was a member of Brass Monkey, performed in occasional duos with

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English traditional folk musician and songwriter and one of the greatest fiddlers in the world. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second Bri ...

(until Swarbrick's death in 2016 – they last toured together in 2015), John Kirkpatrick and Eliza Carthy, and had a successful solo career stretching back over more than 50 years. Eliza Carthy has a successful solo career and has performed in an occasional duo with Saul Rose. Saul has performed with various ensembles including Faustus, Random, Morris Offspring and Dansaul. Martin, Norma and Eliza all occasionally performed with Blue Murder. Individually, Martin, Norma and Eliza won or were 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 rad ...

, 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) *'' Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man'' (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 were mainly liberal adaptations of ...

) : 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