ARTIST: The Shee
COUNTRY: UK
GENRE: Folk, World, Roots, Gaelic, Bluegrass
MORE ABOUT: The Shee are an exceptional all-female band showcasing three powerful vocalists and an astonishing level of instrumental prowess. Their diverse range of individual musical influences combine to produce an adventurous brew of Folk, Gaelic and Bluegrass and has earned them considerable recognition along with high profile performances at festivals including Cambridge and Celtic Connections, as well as concerts across Europe and Canada.
Their debut album ‘A Different Season’ was released in 2008, followed by nominations in both the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards and the BBC 2 Folk Awards 2009. Individual musical achievements include BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician 2006, Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland for Best Use of Music 2009, as well as members performing with ‘Sting’, ‘The Unusual Suspects’, ‘Shooglenifty’, ‘Kathryn Tickell Band’ and Scandinavian group ‘Frigg’. Their second studio recording, ‘Decadence’ was released in October 2010 and went straight into the best albums of 2010 in the World Music Charts Europe.
MUSICIANS AND INSTRUMENTS:
Amy Thatcher: piano accordion and clogs
Amy Thatcher is an Accordionist and clog dancer from Greater Manchester. Based in Newcastle, she works regularly with the prodigiously talented local scene. Kathryn Tickell and Sting have ensured Amy’s reputation as one of the most talented young musicians, not only in the North East, but the rest of the country. Recently, Amy has been busy touring the world with the Monster Ceilidh Band, adding a tour of Russia and playing at the internationally renowned Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysia to her already long list of achievements. You can see Amy performing on Sting’s latest DVD release ‘Winter Songbook’.
Laura-Beth Salter: mandolin, voice
Laura-Beth is a mandolin player and vocalist from Lincolnshire who is now based in Scotland. Her background is in the Blues, Oldtime and Bluegrass music that her parents play, but after studying the Traditional Music Degree in Newcastle she became heavily involved in the folk scene and has since toured with bands such as Frigg and Shooglenifty. Laura-Beth has also appeared on BBC Alba’s Ceol a Country and performed music for ‘Traces and Graces,’ an outside theatre/dance production. She is now teaching mandolin, focusing on a solo project returning to her American influences as well as touring with The Shee.
Lillias Kinsman-Blake: flute, fiddle
Lillias is a flautist from the Scottish Borders. A founder member of The Shee, Lillias has gained a reputation as a versatile musician performing both within the traditional music scene and for theatre, storytelling and classically inspired projects including Blair Douglas’ Gaelic Mass. In 2009 she received a CATS award for ‘best use of music and sound in a Scottish theatre production’. Lillias founded the traditional music education company Focal Music, tutors for Newcastle University, Folkworks and The Sage Gateshead and is currently involved with the Scottish youth music project: Love Music Festival. Lillias is also a graphic design artist.
Olivia Ross: fiddle, voice
Olivia is a string instructor working in schools in her native Highland region. Taking up the violin at the age of 9 Olivia was taught both traditional and Classical styles and techniques which has made her a versatile musician. Whilst leaving Scotland to study at Newcastle University in 2002 Olivia discovered she had an unknown love and talent for the Scots Ballad tradition. This has led her to performing and collaborating with many musicians such as Chris Wood, Kathryn Tickell and Corrina Hewat.
Rachel Newton: harp, voice, fiddle
Rachel is from Edinburgh with family ties to the North-West Highlands. She became involved in traditional music mainly through the Feis and went on to attend the City of Edinburgh Music School and then the BMus Folk and Traditional Music degree course at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. In 2005, Rachel was a finalist in the Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award and with the Rowantree Theatre Company she was awarded a Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best Use of Music in 2009. Her singing appears on the British Independent Film Award winning film ‘The Inheritance’.
Shona Mooney: fiddle, viola
Borders fiddle player Shona Mooney is one of Scotland’s leading traditional musicians. Since winning the prestigious BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2006, she has appeared at international festivals such as: Tønder (Denmark); Celtic Connections; gone on tour with Scottish Folk orchestra The Unusual Suspects; The Shee; and recorded her debut album, ‘Heartsease (viola tricolour)’. It fuses musical agility with thematic concept, traditional Borders style with contemporary flair, and has gone on to have plenty of positive feedback, including ‘Top of the World’ (editor’s choice) in Songlines magazine, 5-star reviews in The Herald and multiple broadcasts on BBC’s Late Junction.
SELECTED PRESS REVIEWS AND QUOTES:
“Powerful, layered harmonies, striking rhythms and a unique folk sound!” (Tim Cumming, Songlines, “Top Of The World”)
“A dangerously decadent addition to the folk scene!” (Tim Cumming, Songlines, “Top Of The World”)
“Even The Shee themselves may have been surprised by the inroads made by their pleasantly accomplished debut album A Different Season, garnering award nominations and everything. Suitably empowered, they’ve clearly got the bit between their teeth on this much grittier, more adventurous and infinitely superior second album” (Colin Irwin, fRoots)
“With Decadence they continue from their debut and strengthen their particular blend of the Highlands meets Appalachia delivered with a knowingly sexy wink. Perhaps their success lies in the fact that they so obviously enjoy every aspect of it, and despite being a delightfully complex album full of deep undercurrents and soulful eddies, you can tell that they are having a damn good time of it all.” (Iain Hazlewood, Spiral Earth)
“They present a powerhouse of an album with top of the range vocals and charm. Their compositions breathe new life into traditonal tunes and have a progressive and cheeky edge to them that I’ve always enjoyed. Check their version of that folk classic Eppie Morrie. As far as newcomers go they have set their standards high with a great fusion of influences: Folk, Scots, Gaelic and Bluegrass. This is an impressive follow-up to their debut album A Different Season.” (folkradio.co.uk)
“Full of zest, zing and zip, unlike many of their folky contemporaries this all-female Scots-English sextet have a lot more going for them than just high-level musicianship and the ability to play fast. Subtlety, stagecraft and an inner confidence are also strengths.” (Barry Gordon, The Scotsman)
“The Shee are six gifted young women from Scotland who arrange traditional songs in what I think is a really sort of smart, contemporary style but without loosing the roots feel. Their debut album, “A Different Season”, was really impressive, I loved it! (…) They have a new album, “Decadence”, and it is terrific!” (Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2)
“This is the sort of music that can fill anything from a front room to a full concert hall and still have energy enough to launch an assault on the foyer” (FATEA Magazine)
“This is one impressive debut” (Sing Out)
“An all-female revelation… fresh, feisty music” (fRoots)
“First Class” (Penguin Eggs)
“The Shee are brilliant; their version of Tom Paine’s Bones is one of my favourite songs of the last 12 months” (Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2)
“The Shee were a revelation. The real surprise package of the Festival. Their music and singing took the place by storm – fabulous stuff!” (Sidmouth Folk Week)
“Flirtatiously funky all-female band… a stand-out at the festival” (The Scotsman)
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY:
- “Decadence” (2010)
- “A Different Season” (2008)
SELECTED VIDEOS:
The Shee take a trip to Chipping Norton Theatre and Larmer Tree Festival
Celtic Connections 2010
SELECTED PERFORMANCES:
- Oxford Folk Festival, UK (2011)
- Celtic Connections, UK (2011)
- Broadstairs Folk Festival, Italy (2010)
- Orkney Folk Festival, UK (2010)
- Kings Place, London, UK (2010)
- Whitworth Easter Folk Festival, UK (2010)
- Celtic Connections, UK (2010)
- Colston Hall, Brixton, UK (2009)
- Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, UK (2009)
- Taithou Festival, France (2009)
- Cambridge Folk Festival, UK (2009)
- Larmer Tree Festival, UK (2009)
- Vancouver, Canada (2009)
- Cecil Sharp House, London, UK (2009)
- Girvan Folk Festival, UK (2009)
- 2nd BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Nomination Ceremony, London, UK (2009)
- Wetherby Folk Festival, UK (2008)
- Whitby Folk Week, UK (2008)
- Sidmouth Folk Week, UK (2008)
- Wickham Festival, UK (2008)
- The Sage Gateshead, UK (2008)
- Celtic Connections, UK (2008)
SONGS:
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