Folkworks: Holly Clarke at Sage Gateshead

About

Holly Clarke, a musician and singer brings her infectious energy and passion for traditional song to Sage Gateshead in her Artist in Residence showcase. This performance will be a chance to see Holly perform some of her songs with a unique lineup of musicians with exclusive arrangements of traditional material.

Holly Clarke, a singer from the Lake District who is steeped in the tradition of ballad singing, is a singer who explores these old songs and finds new ways to perform their unique narratives. Storytelling is at the heart of what Holly does as an artist and this has been influenced by the field recording singers like Nora Cleary and Sarah Anne O’Neill. It is grit and the purity of these recordings that drives Holly to perform in the way that is true to the tradition and to herself. Her voice and style is resonant with the tradition and the stories she tells, and the songs she sings resonate with people today.

For the past two years Holly has played in her band Holly and the Reivers, featuring Newcastle based musicians Bertie Armstrong and Merle Harbron, with whom she supported the legendary Billy Bragg at Folk on the Tyne Festival 2019.