Sam Sweeney
Musical artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Musical artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in Nottingham) is a multi-instrumental English folk musician.
Sam Sweeney | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Sam Sweeney |
Born | Nottingham, England | 27 February 1989
Genres | Folk |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Years active | 2001–present |
Website | www |
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.
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.
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 | |