“Bold, fearless, honest, fiddle-driven folk, rich in Scandinavian, American and English influences ”– Proper Music
Folk music is showcased at its finest this April at The Atkinson with The Rheingans Sisters.
Rowan and Anna Rheingans explore traditional and contemporary folk music from across Scandinavia, Britain and America. With a strong emphasis on two fiddles and two voices their sound is accompanied by banjo, cello, bansitar and concertina.
Both professional musicians, Rowan is well known on the English folk music scene as part of hugely popular BBC Folk Award nominated trio Lady Maisery (appearing at Love Folk 2017 in February) as well as for her work with Nancy Kerr & The Sweet Visitor Band.
She also composes for theatre and is part of the ‘Songs of Separation’ super-group alongside Eliza Carthy and Karine Polwart, amongst others. Anna lives in Toulouse, in southern France, where she is a much sought after fiddle player and teacher of french music traditions, in which she has fast become an expert, having just gained a 1st class diploma from the Conservatioire Occitan.
As both sisters have also spent a significant amount of time studying fiddle music in Scandinavia, they pull a range of influences from both the northern and southern European fiddle traditions into their own compositions and arrangements.
The Rheingans Sisters’ debut album Glad Gold Hearts was released on Rootbeat Records in June 2013 to wide critical acclaim. Songlines described them as “musical miscegenation with unabashed confidence, a duo of considerable abilities and imaginations to match” and nominated Rowan and Anna for Best Group and Best Newcomer in the Songlines Music Awards. fRoots called Glad Gold Hearts ‘a subtle gem’ and ran a feature on the Rheingans Sisters which described “vocal harmonies to die for on an album performed with compelling conviction and disarming warmth”.
Their second album Already Home, recorded over just five days in a remote forest studio in mid-Wales, is an enticing, thoughtful and adventurous record that quickly caused a stir when it was released in November 2015. Amongst a flurry of fantastic reviews The Independent called Already Home ‘superb’, fRoots described it as “quite simply extraordinary” and Folk Radio UK said it is “not only a beautiful and exceptional record, but an important one”. It was one of 10 albums nominated in ‘2015 fRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year’ and was awarded a Songlines ‘Top of the World’ album.
In this second album, Rowan and Anna wanted to explore the links between music rooted in different places, between old songs and new and between two players of distinct style and reference. Already Home is a record in the original sense of the word: this is a record of musicians playing together and responding to each other in a particular place and at a particular time. And as Anna and Rowan Rheingans spend most of their time living far apart, immersed in separate musical worlds, it is also about the particular connection and reconnection of two sisters.
In addition to their duelling fiddles and voices, the album (produced by the sisters themselves) features a rich tapestry of banjo, bansitar, viola, kantele, feet, percussion as well as innovative use of field recordings including bird song, rain and ocean. Alongside the traditional material, it also features six original tracks as Rowan showcases her songwriting and Anna her beguiling compositions.
The Rheingans Sisters are delicate and skilled musicians who refresh their traditions by embellishing known themes in their own particular style, creating sounds that are recognisably grounded in the earth of folk music and song, yet flying to new destinations.‘ Nancy Kerr – 2015 BBC Folk Singer of the Year
‘[NEW ALBUM Already Home] is unhurried music of heart and ease and lyricism, with gorgeous new songs that sound already timeless, that reek of earthly human connection and longing; a warm hug of an album.’ Karine Polwart
The Rheingans Sisters come to The Atkinson on Thursday 21 April at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12. To book please visit theatkinson.co.uk or call the Box Office team on 01704 533333, tickets are also available over the counter during The Atkinson opening hours.
The Atkinson’s folk programme continues with music from Ireland with Dervish (7 May), Scotland with Rura (18 May) and the world with The Hut People (21 May).
To keep updated with the offers and new seasonal events and activities please visit theatkinson.co.uk and sign up to the e-newsletter.
*Please note our booking fee is £1 per ticket for all purchases made online or by phone. A 2% credit card fee is charged for counter sales. There are times when our phone lines become very busy, you can purchase tickets for any of our shows online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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LISTING INFORMATION
The Rheingans Sisters
Thursday 21 April
7.30pm
£12
Please be advised that there is a £1 per ticket booking fee for telephone and online sales and a 2% fee for credit cards at the Box Office.
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About The Atkinson
The Atkinson is Southport’s beautiful new home for music, theatre, art, poetry, literature and history, right in the middle of Lord Street in Southport. Significant investment has been made in refurbishing the stunning 19th century buildings, to create a really welcoming multi art-form venue with a strong contemporary feel.
The Atkinson offers an exciting and varied destination for families, cultural tourists and arts enthusiasts alike, with a full day and night time offer. Wile the day away visiting the new shop, that sells gifts and contemporary crafts from regional makers and then relax in the Bakery, choosing from a selection of artisan bread sandwiches, cakes and sharing platters. You can even take little bit of The Atkinson home with you from the delicatessen. Wander through the major exhibitions and see performances from some of the UK’s foremost musicians, actors, performers and companies, films, family activities and much more.
The new Museum is now open. Sefton Between Land & Sea tells the story of Southport and Sefton as well as the area’s dramatic maritime history. While Discover Ancient Egypt – the new Egyptology Gallery is the home of the Goodison Egyptology Collection, a remarkable collection of archaeology that has not been seen for over 40 years.
Posted on 15 April 2016 under General news
