Sally Barker
Encyclopedia
Sally Barker is an English
folk
singer and songwriter
, known for her solo work and as a founding member of The Poozies
.
on television. Her influences are varied, and include Bessie Smith
, Bonnie Raitt
, John Martyn and Aretha Franklin
. Barker worked initially as half of a duo called Sally And Chris with bass player Chris Watson, performing folk and blues in pubs and clubs in the English midlands. Later the duo went on to support Steeleye Span
and Gordon Giltrap
.
After winning the Kendal Songsearch Competition in 1986, Barker began touring in a support capacity to acts such as Fairport Convention
, Taj Mahal
, Richard Thompson, Wishbone Ash
and Roy Harper
. Her self-titled first album was well received and contained cover versions of songs previously featured in her live act. Her second release, "This Rhythm Is Mine", showed the ongoing development of her maturing musical potential, and in 1990, she opened for both Bob Dylan
and Robert Plant
in Germany. The album also receivied a U.S. release on Ryko's Hannibal label.
In 1990 Barker became a founding member of The Poozies
, an all-women folk band. The lineup featured harpists Mary Macmaster
and Patsy Seddon
from the Scottish
harp
duo Sileas
, and Karen Tweed
(accordion) who Barker met at a folk festival in Hong Kong
. The Poozies
have been described as the "UK's finest all-female outfit" and "Britain’s premiere Celtic roots all-woman supergroup" http://www.celtic-music-shop.com/HYCD200132.html. Barker played with The Poozies until 1995, when she left just before the birth of her first child. Kate Rusby
took Barker's place. At one point Barker was unable to sing for a year due to throat problems, which were eventually solved by the removal of her tonsils. Her 2003 album "Maid in England", which had been in the making for six years, was muted by the death of her husband (Chris Wakeford, a dairy farmer) through a recurrence of cancer in August of that year.
Music became an academic pursuit for the next 4 years as Sally studied at de Montfort University for a degree in Music Technology with the occasional gig squeezed in between bringing up the kids. Barker graduated in June 2007.
Sally also appeared on the Show of Hands
album Live at the Royal Albert Hall
. In 1992 she recorded the song "I Misunderstood" for the CD "The World Is A Wonderful Place: The Songs Of Richard Thompson". Barker also provided vocals for the 1997 Pete Morton
CD "Courage, Love and Grace" and the 1998 Janet Russell CD "Gathering the Fragments".
In the Autumn of 2006 Barker reunited with The Poozies for a series of shows, deputizing for Eilidh Shaw
, who celebrated the birth of a daughter in August, 2006. Following this experience Sally joined the group permanently to make it a five-piece. The Poozies latest album '"Yellow Like Sunshine" was released in Autumn 2009 and features Maireared Green on accordion (she replaced Karen Tweed in November 2008).
Since November 2008 Barker has presented the 'Joni Mitchell Project' with piano and dulcimer player Glenn Hughes (and occasionally banjo player Debbie Cassell) in which they perform an evening of Joni's songs. An album, "Conversation:the Joni Tapes (Vol 1)" was released in August 2010 with an album launch at the Edinburgh Fringe at the ACOUSTIC MUSIC CENTRE.
Sally has also recently played two shows at The Donkey in Leicester with Kevin Hewick
and they intend to debut a full band line-up Liberation Doll with Lee Allatson and Ian Crabtree later in October 2011.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, known for her solo work and as a founding member of The Poozies
The Poozies
The Poozies are an all-women band that produce folk music from the English and Scottish traditions. The band perform traditional and self-composed material. Contemporary songs written by Sally Barker also feature heavily in the current live set...
.
Biography
Barker began writing songs and performing music at age 10, after being inspired by seeing English folk-pop singer Mary HopkinMary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....
on television. Her influences are varied, and include Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, John Martyn and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. Barker worked initially as half of a duo called Sally And Chris with bass player Chris Watson, performing folk and blues in pubs and clubs in the English midlands. Later the duo went on to support Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
and Gordon Giltrap
Gordon Giltrap
Gordon Giltrap is an English acoustic and electric guitarist and composer, whose musical styles cross multiple genres, including folk, blues, folk rock, pop, classical and rock....
.
After winning the Kendal Songsearch Competition in 1986, Barker began touring in a support capacity to acts such as Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, Richard Thompson, Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...
and Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
. Her self-titled first album was well received and contained cover versions of songs previously featured in her live act. Her second release, "This Rhythm Is Mine", showed the ongoing development of her maturing musical potential, and in 1990, she opened for both Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
in Germany. The album also receivied a U.S. release on Ryko's Hannibal label.
In 1990 Barker became a founding member of The Poozies
The Poozies
The Poozies are an all-women band that produce folk music from the English and Scottish traditions. The band perform traditional and self-composed material. Contemporary songs written by Sally Barker also feature heavily in the current live set...
, an all-women folk band. The lineup featured harpists Mary Macmaster
Mary Macmaster
Mary Macmaster is a Scottish harpist, performing with The Poozies and the duo Sileas.-References:...
and Patsy Seddon
Patsy Seddon
Patsy Seddon , BA is a Scottish harpist, violinist and traditional singer in Scots and Gaelic languages, who performs with bands such as The Poozies and the duo Sileas and solo. A Kodaly-trained music teacher, sheeaches harp and singing in Edinburgh schools.-External links:*...
from the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
duo Sileas
Sileas
Síleas is a Scottish harp duo. Patsy Seddon plays electric harp and gut-strung harp, and Mary Macmaster plays electric harp and metal-strung harp. Together they make up part of the all-women folk band The Poozies....
, and Karen Tweed
Karen Tweed
Karen Tweed is a piano accordionist from London, England.-Biography:Tweed began to play the piano accordion at the age of 11, studying from button and piano accordion virtuoso John Whelan, and went on to win the first of 5 all-Ireland championships in 1977...
(accordion) who Barker met at a folk festival in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The Poozies
The Poozies
The Poozies are an all-women band that produce folk music from the English and Scottish traditions. The band perform traditional and self-composed material. Contemporary songs written by Sally Barker also feature heavily in the current live set...
have been described as the "UK's finest all-female outfit" and "Britain’s premiere Celtic roots all-woman supergroup" http://www.celtic-music-shop.com/HYCD200132.html. Barker played with The Poozies until 1995, when she left just before the birth of her first child. Kate Rusby
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
took Barker's place. At one point Barker was unable to sing for a year due to throat problems, which were eventually solved by the removal of her tonsils. Her 2003 album "Maid in England", which had been in the making for six years, was muted by the death of her husband (Chris Wakeford, a dairy farmer) through a recurrence of cancer in August of that year.
Music became an academic pursuit for the next 4 years as Sally studied at de Montfort University for a degree in Music Technology with the occasional gig squeezed in between bringing up the kids. Barker graduated in June 2007.
Sally also appeared on the Show of Hands
Show of Hands
Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer. In recent years they have been accompanied on tour and in the studio by jazz double-bassist Miranda Sykes.-Origins:...
album Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Show of Hands album)
Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a 1996 live album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. It was performed live at the Royal Albert Hall on 24 March 1996, following the success of their studio album, Lie of the Land.-Track listing:...
. In 1992 she recorded the song "I Misunderstood" for the CD "The World Is A Wonderful Place: The Songs Of Richard Thompson". Barker also provided vocals for the 1997 Pete Morton
Pete Morton
Pete Morton is a folk singer-songwriter who currently lives in London, England.-Biography:Morton was born in Leicester, England on July 30, 1964, and was educated at Countesthorpe Community College where he spent most of his time in the music block learning guitar and playing new wave and punk songs...
CD "Courage, Love and Grace" and the 1998 Janet Russell CD "Gathering the Fragments".
In the Autumn of 2006 Barker reunited with The Poozies for a series of shows, deputizing for Eilidh Shaw
Eilidh Shaw
Eilidh Shaw is a Scottish fiddle player and singer. She has performed with The Poozies, Harem Scarem and recorded a solo album, Heepirumbo, in 1997. Her brother Donald Shaw was a founding member of Capercaillie. She and The Poozies performed at 2008's Fèis an Eilein in the Isle of Skye.-References:...
, who celebrated the birth of a daughter in August, 2006. Following this experience Sally joined the group permanently to make it a five-piece. The Poozies latest album '"Yellow Like Sunshine" was released in Autumn 2009 and features Maireared Green on accordion (she replaced Karen Tweed in November 2008).
Since November 2008 Barker has presented the 'Joni Mitchell Project' with piano and dulcimer player Glenn Hughes (and occasionally banjo player Debbie Cassell) in which they perform an evening of Joni's songs. An album, "Conversation:the Joni Tapes (Vol 1)" was released in August 2010 with an album launch at the Edinburgh Fringe at the ACOUSTIC MUSIC CENTRE.
Sally has also recently played two shows at The Donkey in Leicester with Kevin Hewick
Kevin Hewick
Kevin Hewick is an English singer-songwriter who was an early member of the Factory Records roster. In the present day he is known for his recording on Pink Box records, an independent label based in Leicester and his recent work with Italian collective Unfolk.-The Factory years:Newly added to the...
and they intend to debut a full band line-up Liberation Doll with Lee Allatson and Ian Crabtree later in October 2011.
Personal life
Sally was married to Chris Wakeford from 1984 to his death from cancer in 2003. They have 2 sons. Her only other significant relationship was with Steven Cockett between October 2008 and June 2010.Solo
- The Final Straw (EP, 1985)
- Dreams Of Overcoats And Espionage (Cass, 1986)
- In the Spotlight (1988)
- Sally Barker (1989, German release of "In the Spotlight")
- Money's Talking (EP, 1990)
- This Rhythm is Mine (1990)
- Tango! (EP, 1992)
- Beating The Drum (1992)
- Money's Talking/Tango! (1995, re-release of above mentioned EPs)
- Favourite Dish (1996)
- Passion & The Countess (1998)
- Another Train - The Compilation (2000)
- Maid in England (2003)
The Poozies
- Chantoozies (1993)
- Dansoozies (1995)
- Raise Your Head: A Retrospective (2000)
- Yellow Like Sunshine (2009)
Multimedia
MP3 excerpt of "Money's Talking" from "This Rhythm is Mine"External links
- Official Site
- [ Allmusic]
- Poozies Official Site