Fay Hield heads for Sage, Gateshead

FAY Hield, the brain behind The Full English, an academic archive project sponsored by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, is on tour and heading for Gateshead on Sunday. When many of the finest early 20th Century folksong collections were brought together, Hield developed a supergroup of folk performers, touring for two years, winning Best Group and Best Album at the 2014 BBC Folk Awards and earning her a nomination for Folk Singer of the Year.

Hield offers an atmospheric evening of songs plus songs from her latest album, Old Adam, listed in The Guardian’s Best Albums of 2016.

Her long-standing band, The Hurricane Party, features an array of some of the folk scene’s most respected young players, including Full English artists Sam Sweeney (fiddle/vocal) and Rob Harbron (concertina/fiddle/vocal). Completing the line up are Ben Nicholls (double bass), Toby Kearney (percussion) and Roger Wilson (guitar/fiddle/vocal).

Just prior to the this month's tour a single film is to be released for Fay’s version of Raggle Taggle Gypsy. Working from beautiful illustrations Nick Hayes produced for the release of Old Adam earlier in the year, animator Kristina Pulejkova brings the tale to life.

With new arrangements to old songs, Hield continues in her exploration of the incredible repertoire that is the English tradition, pushing at the boundaries of the public's engagement with music.

* Sun, Oct 9. Sage, Gateshead. Box Office: 0191-443-4661 or sagegateshead.com

Viv Hardwick