WOMAD

Seth Lakeman

From United Kingdom

In all of the talk over the past couple of years about the revival of English folk music, one young Turk has gatecrashed the mainstream more than anyone. His name’s Seth Lakeman and, from Radio 2 to Richard & Judy, he’s introduced his brand of driving folk into homes across the nation. But this singing fiddler is much more than just the housewives’ choice. His success is all the more remarkable bearing in mind how uncompromising and dark his songs often are – tales of murder and revenge set all over the equally uncompromising and dark landscape of his native Dartmoor. His past two albums, last year’s Freedom Fields and the Mercury-nominated Kitty Jay from 2005, remain master classes in folk music that’s far removed from the kid glove-wearing trad brigade. “Being the young man I am,” he explains, “I quite like going to rock gigs. I like a lot of energy and I try to incorporate that in my songs, adding a bit of sweat and tears to these dramatic, powerful stories.”