Sue Harris

Sue Harris is an English musician classically trained as an oboeist, but best known for her folk music performances with the hammered dulcimer.[1][2]

For other people named Susan Harris, see Susan Harris (disambiguation).

Sue Harris
Harris on stage at Greenwich, London, 1982
Harris on stage at Greenwich, London, 1982
Background information
Instrument(s)oboe, hammered dulcimer, voice
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Harris (second from right) with Martha Rhoden's Tuppenny Dish (Border Morris team), Towersey Festival, 1980

Biography

Harris is fluent in reading and writing music and switched from her original instrument, the oboe, to the dulcimer in the mid-1970s. In making that switch, she became one of the foremost performers on that folk instrument, though at the time it seemed just a matter of expediency. She was married to John Kirkpatrick, a prominent melodeon virtuoso in England, was pregnant with their first son, and found herself unable to maintain the breath control needed to play the oboe.

She performed on both instruments with the Albion Country Band on their debut album Battle of the Field (1976), and also recorded and performed as one half of a duet with Kirkpatrick. Harris has also performed with Richard and Linda Thompson, and has been a composer for the BBC on various broadcast plays, as well as for live theatre. She is also a singer and has written music for choral groups.

More recently, in 2008 she was leader of the "Wild Angels Community Choir" in Welshpool, Powys, Wales.[3]

Following the World Dulcimer Congress held in Malvern, Worcestershire in 2015, Harris formed the English Dulcimer Duo with Lisa Warburton. The duo has toured extensively, performing a repertoire of mainly English tunes, but also including a number of jaunty 18th-century melodies and Welsh tunes.[4]

Discography

Solo albums
  • Hammers and Tongues (Free Reed Records FRR 020, 1978)[5]
  • Pastorela (Beautiful Jo Records, 2002)[6]

Albion Country Band

The English Country Blues Band
  • No Rules (1982)[8]
  • Unruly (2014)[9]

John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris
  • The Rose of Britain's Isle (1974)[10]
  • The Bold Navigators (with Jon Raven) (1975)[11]
  • Plain Capers - Morris Dance Tunes From the Cotswolds (1976)[12]
  • Among The Many Attractions at the Show will be a Really High Class Band (1976)[13]
  • The English Canals Songs, Narration, Contemporary Extracts (with Jon Raven) (1976)[14]
  • Shreds and Patches (1977)[15]
  • Facing the Music (1980)[16][17]
  • Ballad Of The Black Country (1981)[18]
  • Stolen Ground (1989)[19]

In 2009 Topic Records included in their 70-year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten The Rose Of Britain’s Isle / Glorishears from The Rose Of Britain’s Isle as track thirteen on the second CD.

Martin Wyndham-Read, Sue Harris and Martin Carthy
  • The Old Songs (1984)[20]
  • Across The Line (1986)[21]

Various artists – Sue Harris, Old Swan Band et al.

Tufty Swift
  • Hammers, Tongues And A Bakewell Tart (2007) (CD reissue of Hammers and Tongues)[22]

See also

References
  1. "bejo.co.uk". www.bejo.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  2. Eder, Bruce. "Biography: Sue Harris". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  3. "Introducing TASC: Traditional Arts Support in the Community" (PDF). tradartsupport.org.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  4. "English Dulcimer Duo | Folk Band | Gig Listings - Artist Listed on Folk and Honey". www.folkandhoney.co.uk.
  5. "Sue Harris: Hammers & Tongues". mainlynorfolk.info. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  6. "Pastorela". 6 April 2002 – via Amazon.
  7. "Albion Country Band: Battle of the Field". mainlynorfolk.info.
  8. "The English Country Blues Band". mainlynorfolk.info.
  9. Pownceby, Clive. "The English Country Blues Band "Unruly" (review)". The Living Tradition. No. 49.
  10. "John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris: The Rose of Britain's Isle". mainlynorfolk.info. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  11. "Songs of the Inland Waterways : The Bold Navigators". www.waterwaysongs.info.
  12. "Plain Capers: Morris Dance Tunes from the Cotswolds by John Kirkpatrick, Martin Carthy, Sue Harris, Martin Brinsford, Fi Fraser on The Session" – via thesession.org.
  13. "John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris: Among the Many Attractions at the Show Will Be a Really High Class Band". mainlynorfolk.info.
  14. "Songs of the Inland Waterways : The English Canals". www.waterwaysongs.info.
  15. "John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris - Shreds And Patches". Topic Records.
  16. "John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris - Facing The Music". Topic Records.
  17. "John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris: Facing the Music". mainlynorfolk.info.
  18. "Ballad of Black Country - John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris | User Reviews | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  19. "John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris: Stolen Ground". mainlynorfolk.info.
  20. "Martyn Wyndham-Read et al.: The Old Songs". mainlynorfolk.info.
  21. "Martyn Wyndham-Read: Across the Line". mainlynorfolk.info.
  22. "Hammers, Tongues and a Bakewell Tart - Tufty Swift | Release Credits". AllMusic.
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