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Hailed as an innovator and a leading light of England's folk scene,
Eliza Carthy rose to prominence in the mid-'90s both as a solo artist and a member of
Waterson-Carthy, the group she formed with her parents, folk icons
Norma Waterson and
Martin Carthy. A singer, songwriter, and fiddler,
Carthy built her reputation early on, infusing the traditional folk of her parents' generation with a youthful vibrancy and punk-like spirit on two Mercury Prize-nominated albums, 1998's Red Rice and 2003's
Anglicana. Through numerous collaborations with her family and artists like
Billy Bragg,
Richard Thompson,
the Oysterband,
Nancy Kerr,
Martin Green, and a host of others, her presence has been woven into the fabric of U.K. folk music in the 21st century.
Born August 23, 1975 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire,
Carthy's first formal entry into the family business came at the age of 13 when she formed the Waterdaughters with her aunt,
Lal Waterson, and cousin
Marry Waterson. Meanwhile, her prowess as a young fiddler led to a variety of gigs both with her family and as one-half of a fiddle duo with musical partner
Nancy Kerr, yielding the 1993 album Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr. The following year saw the formation of
Waterson-Carthy, a group that joined
Eliza with her parents, bridging the gap between two generations of folk music. Between
Waterson-Carthy's 1994 debut, a second outing with
Kerr in 1995's Shape of Scrape, and her own 1996 solo debut, Heat Light & Sound,
Carthy's arrival as a major player in the British folk scene was undeniable. Throughout the remainder of the '90s, she was highly active, recording and performing as part of
Waterson-Carthy, leading another band, the Kings of Calicut, appearing on
Billy Bragg and
Wilco's
Mermaid Avenue project, and releasing her acclaimed 1998 solo follow-up, Red Rice, which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
Following 2000's eclectic
Angels & Cigarettes album, she appeared on yet another family project, the supergroup
Blue Murder, which also features members of Swan Arcade and
Coope, Boyes & Simpson. Her fourth LP, 2003's
Anglicana, earned another Mercury Prize nomination as well as three Radio 2 Folk Awards. 2004's Rough Music saw a marked return to traditional music, as did the
Waterson-Carthy releases
Fine Fishes & Yellow Sand (2004) and Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man (2006), the latter of which was highly focused on instrumental pieces. Taking part in producer
Hal Willner's 2006 nautical collection, Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, she contributed to three songs, including one with
Richard Thompson. 2008's
Dreams of Breathing Underwater featured all original material and was conceived as a sequel to her 2000 album,
Angels & Cigarettes. In 2010,
Carthy teamed up with her mother,
Norma Waterson, for Gift, their first album as a duo. She would later repeat this duo format with her father,
Martin Carthy, on 2014's spare and elegant The Moral of the Elephant. In between those two releases was 2011's solo outing, Neptune, which also served to launch her label, Hem Hem, as well as 2013 solo anthology from
Topic Records called Wayward Daughter.
Working with
the Wayward Band, a large 12-piece band she formed following the Wayward Daughter release,
Carthy issued 2017's Big Machine, a lively fusion of traditional music, rock, and jazz styles. The following year saw a second collaboration with her mother called Anchor, which was credited to
Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy with the Gift Band. Due to problems regarding the initial financing of the Big Machine project, the members of
the Wayward Band did not receive their full wages for their work. Describing the situation a "monumental con,"
Carthy recorded her first solo album in 14 years,
Restitute, to raise the money to fully compensate her collaborators. An initial limited-edition pressing of
Restitute was released in February 2019 and quickly sold out. The following May, the venerable British folk label
Topic Records reissued the album in a more widely available edition. ~ Timothy Monger