Cecil Sharp Project

Cecil Sharp Project

Cecil Sharp Project is a folk group formed by eight musicians who spend a week in the countryside developing a concept work about the folk-song collector Cecil Sharp. The project takes Sharp as its subject while also questioning his legacy, with songs that are varied in style and openly non-reverential in tone.

Line-up and contributors

The group brings together Steve Knightley, Kathryn Roberts, Jim Moray, Jackie Oates, Patsy Reid, Andy Cutting, Leonard Podolak and Caroline Herring. The musicians come from different parts of the contemporary folk scene, including the Scottish band Breabach through Patsy Reid, and the collaboration is presented as an ensemble rather than a set of separate solo performances. Their performances feature singers and instrumentalists swapping solos and interacting closely.

Material and themes

Part of the repertoire consists of songs collected by Cecil Sharp. In these arrangements, Oates and Roberts sing harmonies on Barbara Allen, while Oates and Herring trade vocals on different versions of Lover's Lament. The original songs in the project range from reflective to critical. Ghost of Songs is a tribute to the people who shared songs with Sharp, Dear Kimber addresses morris dancing and Sharp's patronising attitude towards women, and Maud and Cecil is a comic sexual fantasy about Sharp and his assistant Maud Karpeles.

Context

The project is closely tied to the modern British folk revival scene and has been performed at venues associated with folk music, including the headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. It also appears at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.