Rachel Newton is a Scottish singer, harpist, fiddle player and harmonium player from Edinburgh, United Kingdom. She is a member of Heal & Harrow, The Shee, The Furrow Collective, Boreas and Spell Songs.

Career

She performs in folk music and works with both acoustic and electric harp. Her first solo album, The Shadow Side, is issued on Shee Records. It consists mainly of traditional songs in English and Gaelic, alongside her own instrumental compositions. The album also shows her using both harps in song accompaniment and in instrumental arrangements.

Rachel Newton has also performed with The Emily Portman Trio and with The Shee, and she is associated with BBC Radio 2 Folk Award recognition. She wins the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Musician of the Year in 2017.

Recording details and collaborations

The Shadow Side includes guest vocals, guitar and mandolin from Kris Drever, including a duet on the traditional song “Green Willow”. Mattie Foulds plays percussion on the album. Newton also plays fiddle and harmonium on the record. The album is recorded and mixed at Mobile With a Home by Mattie Foulds, mastered by Stuart Hamilton at Castlesound Studios, with photography by Somhairle MacDonald and design by Lillias Kinsman-Blake.

Recognition

The Shadow Side is nominated for Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2012. It is described in reviews as a debut album and is noted for placing traditional music at the centre while also moving into instrumental and arrangement-based ideas.