Belinda O'Hooley

Belinda O'Hooley (born 18 July 1971) is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Yorkshire, England. Formerly a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now The Unthanks), she now records and performs as O'Hooley & Tidow with her wife Heidi Tidow (pronounced Tee-doe).

Belinda O'Hooley
O'Hooley (seated, left) with Heidi Tidow at Musicport 2014
O'Hooley (seated, left) with Heidi Tidow at Musicport 2014
Background information
BornLeeds, England
GenresFolk, chamber folk, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)piano, vocal
Years active2004–present
LabelsNo Masters; Rabble Rouser; Hum Records
Websitewww.ohooleyandtidow.com

Early life and education

O'Hooley, who has Irish roots,[1][2] was born in Horsforth, Leeds,[3] grew up in Guiseley and went to school in Menston. She studied behavioural sciences at the University of Huddersfield.[4]

Professional career

O'Hooley comes from a long line of County Sligo musicians and performed alongside her first cousin Tommy Fleming,[5] a singer who was formerly with De Danann.[2][6]

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

From 2004 until 2008 she was a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now The Unthanks).[4] Nic Oliver, reviewing their 2007 album The Bairns for musicOMH, described O'Hooley as "the ace in the pack throughout The Bairns. Her background in cabaret (intriguingly, she had once appeared on Stars In Their Eyes impersonating Annie Lennox) adds a left-field edge to the music, with her jazzy piano chords lending a sing-along feel to the live favourite Blue's Gaen Oot O'The Fashion. O'Hooley also contributes the two original tracks to the album, although the casual listener could quite easily mistake both Blackbird and Whitehorn[nb 1] for traditional songs".[7]

Solo albums

In 2005 O'Hooley released a solo album, Music is My Silence, described by reviewer David Kidman of Netrhythms.co.uk as "a commanding and defiant set of thoroughly contemporary-sounding songs"[6] and by FATEA as "a highly polished collection of songs that gently sway between folk and jazz".[8]

In 2019 she released a second solo album, Inversions,[9] described by Jude Rogers in The Guardian as "a set of beautiful piano and spoken-word pieces".[10]

O'Hooley & Tidow
Main article: O'Hooley & Tidow

She has issued eight albums with Heidi Tidow, performing as O'Hooley & Tidow. Their 2016 album, Shadows, was given a five-starred review by Robin Denselow in The Guardian[11] and four of their other albums have received four-starred reviews in the British national press.

Coven

With Heidi Tidow she performs in the all-female group Coven, whose members also include Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans, Hazel Askew and Grace Petrie. In 2017, Coven released an EP, Unholy Choir.[12]

Other musical contributions

O'Hooley played piano on Jackie Oates' albums Jackie Oates (2006),[13] The Violet Hour (2008),[14] Hyperboreans (2009),[15] Saturnine (2011)[16] and Lullabies (2013).[17] With Heidi Tidow, she was also featured on Chumbawamba's album ABCDEFG (2010)[18] and DVD Going, Going (2012),[19] Lucy Ward's debut album Adelphi Has to Fly (2011)[20] and Patsy Matheson's Domino Girls (2014).[21]

O'Hooley & Tidow were amongst the musicians on the album The Ballads of Child Migration: Songs for Britain's Child Migrants, released by Delphonic Records in October 2015. They contributed the music for one song on the album, "Why Did I Leave Thee?"[22]

O'Hooley also accompanied Nic Jones at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on his 2011 comeback tour[23] and on further tours in 2012 and 2013.[24][25] In 2015 O'Hooley accompanied Jim Boyes on his Sensations of a Wound tour, telling a little-known story of the First World War. An album of this music, Sensations of a Wound: The Long, Long Trail of Robert Riby Boyes, was released on the No Masters label in February 2015.[26][27]

She appeared on Ray Hearne's album Umpteen in 2016.[28]

Other work

She had a small acting role as a plain-clothes police inspector in episode 1 of season 3 of Happy Valley, the TV programme created by Sally Wainwright who was also created the TV series Gentleman Jack.[29]

Discography

with Rachel Unthank and the Winterset
Title Format Release date Label Notes
Cruel Sister album 11 May 2005 Rabble Rouser (RR005) (UK); Cortex (CTX392CD) (Australia)
The Bairns album 28 August 2007[30] EMI (50999 504 3802 0) / Rabble Rouser (50999 504 3802 0) (UK); Shock Records/ Rabble Rouser (Australia)
Real World Music (USCDRW158)/ Rykodisc (USA)		Includes two original songs by O'Hooley: "Blackbird" and "Whitethorn"

Belinda O'Hooley
Title Format Release date Label
Music is My Silence album 13 June 2005 Rabble Rouser (RR001), distributed by Cadiz Music
Inversions album 28 June 2019 No Masters (NMCD53), distributed by Proper Records

O'Hooley and Tidow

Belinda O'Hooley's recordings with Heidi Tidow are listed at O'Hooley & Tidow.

with Coven
Title Format Release date Label
Unholy Choir EP 19 March 2017 own label COVENCD01

Personal life

Belinda O'Hooley and her wife Heidi Tidow, who married in 2016, live in Golcar in West Yorkshire. They have a son, Flynn, born in September 2019.[31]

Notes
  1. The song is actually called "Whitethorn", as O'Hooley explains in an interview with David Peschek: "It's about my great-grandmother, struggling to survive in a tiny village in Ireland...She was pregnant 15 or 16 times and only two babies survived. Because they hadn't lived long enough to be christened, they weren't buried in the local churchyard, but under a whitethorn bush, actually near where my dad lives now. It really brought home to me the history of women's struggles, and made me want to write."
    David Peschek (14 September 2007). "In our family, singing is the law". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2011.

References
  1. Jo Breen (14 March 2014). "O'Hooley & Tidow: The Hum". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  2. "Sligo Live a place of homecomings after 10 years". The Sligo Champion. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. "How Huddersfield became home to one of folk music's most exciting duos". Yorkshire Post. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  4. Sam Wonfor (25 June 2013). "New band and album for The Unthanks' Belinda O'Hooley". The Journal. Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  5. Michael J McDonagh (14 August 2019). "How music was so integral to the BBC hit television programme Gentleman Jack". Irish World. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  6. David Kidman. "Belinda O'Hooley – Music Is My Silence (RabbleRouser)". Netrhythms.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  7. Nic Oliver (August 2007). "Rachel Unthank & The Winterset – The Bairns (EMI)". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  8. "Cambridge and Beyond". FATEA Records. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. Ian D Hall (12 June 2019). "Belinda O' Hooley, Inversions. Album Review". Liverpool Sound and Vision. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  10. Jude Rogers (28 June 2019). "Folk album of the month". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  11. Robin Denselow (28 July 2016). "O'Hooley & Tidow: Shadows review – England's answer to the McGarrigles". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  12. Reinhard Zierke (8 November 2017). "Coven: Unholy Choir". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  13. "Jackie Oates – Jackie Oates". Discogs. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  14. "Jackie Oates – The Violet Hour". Discogs. 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  15. "Jackie Oates – Hyperboreans". Discogs. 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  16. Robin Denselow (8 September 2011). "Jackie Oates: Saturnine – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  17. Robin Denselow (21 March 2013). "Jackie Oates: Lullabies – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  18. Stefan Appleby (9 March 2010). "Chumbawamba ABCDEFG Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  19. Reinhard Zierke (16 July 2020). "Chumbawamba: Going, Going". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  20. Robin Denselow (16 June 2011). "Lucy Ward: Adelphi Has to Fly – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  21. Reinhard Zierke (18 February 2014). "Patsy Matheson: Domino Girls". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  22. Reinhard Zierke (25 December 2015). "The Ballads of Child Migration: Songs for Britain's Child Migrants". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  23. Alex Gallacher (22 February 2012). "First Names Announced for Cambridge Folk Festival: including Nic Jones!". Folk Radio UK. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  24. Colin Irwin (28 June 2012). "What the folk! Nic Jones is back". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  25. "Nic Jones Trio, City Halls, Glasgow". The Herald (Glasgow). 30 January 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  26. Reinhard Zierke (29 March 2015). "Sensations of a Wound". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  27. Shelley Rainey (2015). "Jim Boyes – Sensations of a Wound – The Long, Long Trail of Robert Riby Boyes". Jim Boyes discography. Bright Young Folk. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  28. Reinhard Zierke (27 February 2021). "Ray Hearne: Umpteen". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  29. Sophie McEvoy (29 December 2022). "Happy Valley S3 Premiere Features A Surprising Easter Egg". Bustle. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  30. Mel Ledgard (30 July 2008). "Folk song is all about connection and communication – gifts that are second nature..." BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  31. "O'Hooley & Tidow announce new album Live at St George's". Folk Radio UK. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
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