The English Fiddle Ensemble are doing a mini tour to celebrate our debut album of traditional English fiddle tunes ‘ENGRAINED’
Sunday 15th February (afternoon gig) – Live at Sam’s at Walkley Community Centre, Sheffield. This will also be streamed live on FolkScape Live
Wednesday 18th February – Cecil Sharp House, London
Thursday 19th February – St. Paul’s Church, Daybrook, Nottingham
Available to buy digitally and on CD from Bandcamp – The English Fiddle Ensemble
Engrained is the debut album from The English Fiddle Ensemble, a fiddle quartet comprising some of England’s finest traditional fiddle players – Bryony Griffith, Jim Boyle, Ross Grant and Rosie Butler-Hall.
All with a passion for playing for traditional English dance, their combined experience and repertoire is vast and includes rarely played and unusual regional variations of tunes, alongside more familiar session favourites.
The title ‘Engrained’ represents not only the grain of the fiddles’ bodies, but the archaic spelling harks back to the music that has been passed down to us today and is still deeply embedded in the English tune repertoire.
With a mission to celebrate and share the wealth and variety of English dance tunes, and the importance of the village musicians in centuries gone by, the material is drawn largely from 18th and 19th century manuscripts but also includes tunes that have been adopted into the English tradition more recently. Detailed sources for each tune are given in the sleeve notes.
Produced and engineered by Pete Ord, each track was recorded as a live take with minimal edits, with all four fiddles resonating in the same room to capture the bite and lift of a live performance. The arrangements are loosely set but allow for a certain amount of improvisation, moving in and out of precise unison, joyous harmonies, and striking rhythms, and showcasing each player’s unique style.
They have been performing together since 2021 and have appeared at numerous folk festivals including Manchester, Cambridge, Whitby, Warwick, and Sidmouth (supporting John Tams).
“Exquisite” Martin Simpson
“a vibrant testament to the enduring power of English fiddle music” Angie Ingrams Fatea Magazine