Alone in the world of traditional folk music

Forbes Mutch reviews the concert given by Eliza Carthy and Jen Reid.

In early January 2024, the north of England came to St Andrew’s in the musical form of two outstanding solo folk singers.

Jen Reid

First up was Jennifer (or Jen) Reid. Speaking in her broad Lancashire accent, she introduced herself as the purveyor of ‘Victorian broadside ballads and Industrial Revolution work songs’. Asking her later what a ‘broadside ballad’ was, she described the genre as 'descriptive of narrative songs, sung in simple ballad form, on a popular theme, which used to be printed on broadsides for sale in the streets in the nineteenth century’. Jen is widely respected as a musical historian, collecting most of her material from Cheetham’s Library and the Working-Class Movement Library in Manchester. Her pedigree as a performer includes supporting performance-poet John Cooper Clarke and Jarvis Cocker’s Sheffield band Pulp. She may also be recognised as playing the character of Barb in Shane Meadows’ TV period drama The Gallows Pole.

She really is a ‘solo’ performer, singing unaccompanied with a powerful, beautifully belligerent voice. Her themes are about mills, mines and working-class people, having fun at fairs and wakes’ week outings, or struggling with poverty, hunger and disease. Her half- hour set takes the audience on a musical tour of Lancashire, with songs from Rochdale, Burnley, Nelson, Oldham and Salford Bridge on a Saturday night. Despite the grim background to many of her songs, her performance is brought alive by a depreciating sense of humour and a genuine passion for the music of old.

Eliza Carthy

After Jennifer, comes Eliza Carthy.

Due to play a gig in the church with her well-known singer-songwriter father Martin Carthy last year, they had to pull out of that appearance due to illness. Eliza couldn’t wait to make up for that disappointment and requested a slot at St Andrew’s as part of her spring tour.

Despite her status as one of Britain’s finest folk singers and musicians, Eliza is relaxed and friendly before going on stage. We chat in the vestry over portions of delicious lasagne and compare our names. I tell her the history of the name Forbes Robertson Mutch and she responds with delight to say that her full name is Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy. Could we be related, we laugh?

Hailing from Scarborough in North Yorkshire – the other side of the Pennines to Jen Reid – both singers are inspired by traditional folk music and nineteenth century ballads. The difference is that Eliza is more experimental and accompanies herself on the fiddle. She is also known to play the viola, melodeon, piano, guitar, tenor guitar and ukulele. The phrase ‘talented musician’ is an understatement. She has been performing since she was 13 and has conquered the world of folk music, with a long list of awards and prestigious collaborations with other folk celebrities, including Nancy Kerr and Jon Boden. In the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards one year, she won 'Folk Singer of the Year', 'Best Album' (for Anglicana) and 'Best Traditional Track' (for Worcester City, from the same album). In 2014, she was awarded an MBE for services to folk music in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Her set that evening covered a huge canvas of music, ranging from the aforementioned ballads to songs from what she describes as a ‘barrack room folk opera’ The Transports by Peter Bellamy; from a collaborative album with American banjo player Tim Eriksen, to songs that she composed for Shakespeare’s little-known play The Two Noble Kinsmen at The Globe theatre in London. Featuring two fiddle virtuosos, this complex tune is the highlight of the evening. She finishes with a rendering of her most famous solo track, Worcester City, which she humorously describes as a ‘typical folk tale about murder’.

Stripped back and minimalist compared to many of St Andrew’s folk events, the concert is, nonetheless, a perfect example of the talent that exists on the British folk scene at the moment and another demonstration of the church’s pulling power as a first-class venue.

Forbes Mutch (no MBE)

PHOTO CREDIT: Judith Burrows

Find out more about Eliza Carthy

https://eliza-carthy.com/