Singer/songwriter Cyril Tawney was the iron man of the British folk revival, touring clubs and festivals for close to half a century -- a stretch unrivaled by any of his contemporaries. Tawney was born into a naval family in Gosport, Hampshire, on October 12, 1930, following tradition by enlisting himself at the age of 16. In all, he spent a... [+] Read More

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Whether singing a cappella or with minimal accompaniment, Frankie Armstrong uses her powerful soprano vocals to breathe new life into centuries-old British balladry. Best known for her rendition of Peggy Seeger's feminist anthem, "I'm Gonna Be an Engineer," Armstrong has been an influential presence in England since 1962.

A longtime... [+] Read More

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A mainstay of British folk music since the '50s best-known for his collections of sea shanties and whaling songs, Louis Killen is a singer, archivist, lecturer, and historian on the level of Ewan MacColl, Pete Seeger, and A.L. Lloyd, all of whom Killen worked with at one time or another.

Born in the northern village of... [+] Read More

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Born March 3, 1933, in New Bedford, MA, Paul Clayton maintained a lifelong interest in the folk song tradition, particularly sea shanties and whaling songs, and was an avid collector of folk tunes. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, he collected extensively in the Appalachians, and was instrumental in the... [+] Read More

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Bellamy was one of the English folk revival's greatest voices. He was born in Norfolk in 1944. In the early days of 1965 he moved to London, where he met up with Royston Wood and Heather Wood, and the three got a regular gig at a club whose name they would eventually adopt -- The Young Tradition. In flamboyant costumes, with witty presentation,... [+] Read More

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Sam Larner was the living embodiment of the folk tradition. A herring fisherman from the age of twelve, he built an extremely huge repertoire of folk songs and sea chantys that he sang while asea. Larner's reputation as a folk singer spread until his tale was taken up by folksingers Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker who used him as... [+] Read More

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The Watersons were one of England's premier singing families. Their early albums played an influential role in the revival of British folk music in the 1960s. British folklorist A.L. Lloyd recalled the group's "hand-crafted harmonies, an immediately recognizable and uniquely distinctive group sound which is uninhibited, spontaneous seeming, and... [+] Read More

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