Kate Rusby
- Composer
- Actress
- Music Department
Kate Rusby is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, Barnsley. Sometimes called the 'Barnsley Nightingale', Rusby has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is one of the best known contemporary English folk singers. The Guardian described her as "a superstar of the British acoustic scene." The BBC website described her as "The first lady of young folkies". Kate Rusby is one of the few folk singers to have been nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Rusby was born into a family of musicians in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle and the piano, as well as to sing, she played in many local folk festivals as a child and adolescent, before joining and becoming the lead vocalist of the all-female Celtic folk band the Poozies. 1995 saw the release of her breakthrough album, Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts, a collaboration with her friend and fellow Barnsley folk singer Kathryn Roberts. In 1997, with the help of her family, Rusby recorded and released her first solo album, Hourglass. Since then she has gone on to receive acclaim in her home country and abroad and her family continues to help her with all aspects of her professional career.
Rusby was also a member of the folk group Equation, later to be replaced by Cara Dillon.
Launched at the 2007 Cambridge Folk Festival, the album Awkward Annie was released on 3 September 2007. "The Village Green Preservation Society" is included as a bonus track. 2008 saw the release of Sweet Bells, an album of traditional Christmas songs interpreted by Rusby. She has since released three more Christmas albums: While Mortals Sleep (2011), The Frost is All Over (2015) and Angels & Men (2017). In 2010, Rusby released the album Make the Light, a collection of self-penned songs. In 2014, she released the album Ghost, which featured traditional songs and three Rusby originals. Rusby's fourteenth solo album, Life in a Paper Boat, was released in 2016 with a fourth Christmas album Angels And Men, the following year.
Rusby was born into a family of musicians in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle and the piano, as well as to sing, she played in many local folk festivals as a child and adolescent, before joining and becoming the lead vocalist of the all-female Celtic folk band the Poozies. 1995 saw the release of her breakthrough album, Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts, a collaboration with her friend and fellow Barnsley folk singer Kathryn Roberts. In 1997, with the help of her family, Rusby recorded and released her first solo album, Hourglass. Since then she has gone on to receive acclaim in her home country and abroad and her family continues to help her with all aspects of her professional career.
Rusby was also a member of the folk group Equation, later to be replaced by Cara Dillon.
Launched at the 2007 Cambridge Folk Festival, the album Awkward Annie was released on 3 September 2007. "The Village Green Preservation Society" is included as a bonus track. 2008 saw the release of Sweet Bells, an album of traditional Christmas songs interpreted by Rusby. She has since released three more Christmas albums: While Mortals Sleep (2011), The Frost is All Over (2015) and Angels & Men (2017). In 2010, Rusby released the album Make the Light, a collection of self-penned songs. In 2014, she released the album Ghost, which featured traditional songs and three Rusby originals. Rusby's fourteenth solo album, Life in a Paper Boat, was released in 2016 with a fourth Christmas album Angels And Men, the following year.
