Chris Wood
18th Jun 2010@ 19:45 Big Top
Voted 'Singer of the Year' and 'Best Album' in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009. We are delighted to welcome Chris Wood to the Big Session.
"The finest and most original singer-songwriter to have emerged from the British folk scene since Richard Thompson" – The Guardian
‘Albion’ nominated as ‘Best Compilation/ Reissue’ in fRoots album awards 2009
Chris Wood is an uncompromising writer whose music reveals his love for the un-official history of the English speaking people. With gentle intelligence he weaves the tradition with his own contemporary parables. His writing has been said to share the same timeless quality as Richard Thompson at his best.
Chris’s latest projects include the new album, Handmade Life, which saw Chris touring with a 4 piece band in late 2009 and he will go on to tour the album solo in 2010.
He is also an integral collaborator and vocalist as part of Simon Emmerson’s project, ‘The Imagined Village’ which won a 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for ‘Best Track’ for ‘Cold Hailey Rainy Night’. The project also features artists such as Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy and Johnny Kalsi. The new album is released in January at Celtic Connections in Scotland.
The Irish Times heralded Chris Wood as "the renaissance man of English folk" when on his own R.U.F Records label he released The Lark Descending which included the BBC Folk Award winning song One In A Million in 2005.
Wood’s appeal has now gone way beyond English folk music. He was invited to sing at last year's WOMEX where he garnered much praise and found many new followers. Likewise, his spot at the WOMAD 2008 festival was testament to his widening appeal. He has had musical commissions from BBC Radio 3's Late Junction and Between The Ears, and also from The Sage Gateshead, and has completed work for Arts Council England whilst also writing and lecturing.
fRoots
“In a warm, dark brown voice with sparse, minimalist accompaniment, Wood is an intimate story teller, applying such nuance and gravitas to every phrase you are imperceptibly lured into his world…. he seamlessly knits the spirit of the tradition into his very contemporary parables. And it's magnificent.”
Colin Irwin
The Observer Music Monthly ****
“…unshowy charm…talented interpreter of traditional material…bewitching treatises.. possessed of a time less quality…” Sarah Boden
Observer Music Monthly **** 4/5 Mojo Magazine **** 4/5 Album Of The Month
The Telegraph **** Folk Album Of The Week The Times **** 4/5
Q Magazine **** 4/5 + Best Of Month List
