Sam Sweeney
Sam Sweeney performing at the Warwick Folk Festival, July 2011
Sam Sweeney performing at the Warwick Folk Festival, July 2011
Background information
Birth nameSam Sweeney
Born (1989-02-27) 27 February 1989 (age 35)
Nottingham, England
GenresFolk
Occupation(s)Musician
Years active2001–present
Websitewww.samsweeneymusic.com Edit this at Wikidata

Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in Nottingham) is a multi-instrumental English folk musician.

Career

Sweeney was introduced to folk music as a child via his parents' record collection and taught himself to play traditional pieces by ear.[1] He started playing the fiddle at age six, and first performed as a soloist at folk festivals in 2001.[2] From 2002 to 2010, he was part of the East Midlands-based folk band Kerfuffle, playing fiddle, viola, and cajon, and singing.[3] When Kerfuffle disbanded, Sweeney continued playing with accordion player and singer Hannah James as the duo Hannah James and Sam Sweeney.

From 2008 to 2016, he became a member of the award-winning eleven-piece folk band Bellowhead, playing fiddle and English bagpipes, as a replacement for former member Giles Lewin. Sweeney played with Bellowhead until their final gig in May 2016 at Oxford Town Hall.[4]

He has toured with Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings, playing both drums and fiddle, sometimes simultaneously.[5] He is also a member of Fay Hield's band, originally named the Fay Hield Trio but as of 2012 called Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party,[3] and took part in The Full English album and tour in 2013.

Together with Andy Cutting and Rob Harbron, he formed English folk supergroup Leveret in 2015.[6]

Sweeney helped set up the UK's National Youth Folk Ensemble,[1] an EFDSS programme that introduces young people to folk music through schools, community settings and residential courses. He was appointed inaugural Artistic Director of the Ensemble in 2015.[7]

In 2018, he started his solo career with the album The Unfinished Violin.[8][9] Two years later in 2020, he followed it with his second album Unearth Repeat.[10] Then, he released an album called Escape That in 2022. That album was used as support to Bellowhead reuniting for a November 2022 tour for the tenth anniversary of the band's album Broadside. He also played alongside his Bellowhead bandmates during the tour. The band decided to reunite after doing a virtual concert during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards

Sam Sweeney with curved bow

Sweeney has won a number of awards including the 'In The Tradition' award and the 'Wiltshire Folk Association Young Folk Award', which he won for two years in succession. He was also a nominated in the 2004 BBC Young Folk Awards.[11] In 2007 he won one of five BBC Performing Arts Fund bursaries to help him start his musical career.[3] Sweeney was nominated for the 'Musician of the Year' award at the 2013 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and won this award at the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.[12] His album Unearth Repeat was voted "Album of the Year" for 2020 by Bright Young Folk readers with almost the 36% of the votes.

Discography

Year Title Band (or ensemble) Ref
2003 Not to Scale Kerfuffle [13]
2004 K2 Kerfuffle [14]
2005 Sleeping at the Station (with Charlie Barker) [15]
2006 Links Kerfuffle [16]
2008 To the Ground Kerfuffle [17]
Matachin Bellowhead [18]
2009 Umbrellowhead Bellowhead [19]
Lighten the Dark: A Midwinter Album Kerfuffle [20]
Catches and Glees Hannah James and Sam Sweeney [21]
Keepsakes (with Sam Carter) [15]
2010 Hedonism Bellowhead [22]
Looking Glass (with Fay Hield) [15]
No Man's Fool (with Rachael McShane) [15]
Born to Wander (with Louise Jordan) [15]
A New Dawn Circus Envy [15]
2011 Regret Circus Envy [15]
2012 The No Testament (with Sam Carter) [15]
State and Ancientry Hannah James and Sam Sweeney [23]
Broadside Bellowhead [24]
Orfeo (with Fay Hield) [15]
2014 Revival Bellowhead [25]
Made in the Great War Solo [26]
2015 New Anything Leveret [6]
2016 Old Adam (with Fay Hield) [15]
How the City Sings (with Sam Carter) [15]
In the Round Leveret [6]
2017 Big Machine (with Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band) [6]
Inventions Leveret [27]
2018 The Unfinished Violin Solo [9]
2019 Diversions Leveret [28]
2020 Variations Live Leveret [29]
Unearth Repeat Solo [10]
2022 Sam Sweeney Solo

References

  1. ^ a b "Breaking Down Barriers Through The Power of Folk Music : NYO Interviews English Traditional Musician Sam Sweeney". nyo.org.uk. National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. ^ Powlson, Nigel (13 February 2016). "Derbyshire folk musician and former Bellowhead member Sam Sweeney". Derbyshire Life and Countryside. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Biog". Sam Sweeney. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Band". Bellowhead. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Jon Boden and The Remnant Kings: BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2010 Folk Singer of the Year". Towersey Village Festival. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Zierke, Reinhard. "Sam Sweeney". Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and other good music. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Sam Sweeney appointed Artistic Director of National Youth Folk Ensemble". EFDSS. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Sam Sweeney". Eventseeker. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b Jackson, Aaron (26 September 2018). "Sam Sweeney – The Unfinished Violin". review. Folk Radio UK. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Sam Sweeney 'Unearth Repeat' Tour comes to Stoller Hall Manchester". Visit Manchester. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Sam Sweeney: Intro". Bright Young Folk. Archived from the original on 30 July 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Award-winning fiddle player Sam Sweeney is back on home turf". Buxton Advertiser. 31 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  13. ^ Woosnam, Dai. "Kerfuffle "Not To Scale"". livingtradition.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via folkmusic.net.
  14. ^ Koritsas, Debbie. "Kerfuffle "K2"". livingtradition.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via folkmusic.net.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Discography". Sam Sweeney. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Kerfuffle - To The Ground". brightyoungfolk.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Kerfuffle - Links". brightyoungfolk.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  18. ^ Spencer, Neil (14 September 2008). "Folk review: Bellowhead, Matachin". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Bellowhead - Umbrellowhead". brightyoungfolk.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  20. ^ Dow, George. "Kerfuffle - Lighten the Dark". livingtradition.co.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  21. ^ "Hannah James & Sam Sweeney - Catches & Glees". brightyoungfolk.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  22. ^ White, Chris (October 2010). "Bellowhead Hedonism Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Hannah James & Sam Sweeney - State & Ancientry". brightyoungfolk.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Bellowhead's most defining release to date: Broadside". folkradio.co.uk. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Sam Sweeney - Made in the Great War". brightyoungfolk.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  26. ^ Holland, Simon (20 June 2014). "Sam Sweeney: The Unfinished Violin". folkradio.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  27. ^ Blake, Thomas (5 September 2017). "Leveret: Inventions". folkradio.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  28. ^ Nickson, Chris (2019). "Leveret, Diversions". RootsWorld.com. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  29. ^ Rough, Billy (1 December 2020). "Leveret: Variations Live". folkradio.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

External links

Bellowhead
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