Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening

Sunday 26 Sept 2021 | 4pm
St Thomas Church, Lymington

Kathryn Tickell – Northumbrian smallpipes, fiddle
Joss Clapp – guitar, vocals
Joe Truswell – drums, programming
Kate Young – fiddle, vocals
Amy Thatcher – accordion, vocals
Kieran Szifris – octave mandolin

Musicians from Northumberland, Scotland and England invoke the dark, powerful, shamanic sounds of Ancient Northumbria and broadcast them to the modern world.

Their inspiration comes from the wild, dramatic, weather-bitten countryside along Hadrian’s Wall, which seems so quintessentially Northumbrian…and yet, almost 2000 years ago that same landscape was inhabited by people from around the world, worshipping different gods and following different customs.

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening embrace that global perspective, bringing some of the oldest Northumbrian tunes and songs throbbing to life, intermingling them with new material and binding it all together with contemporary resonance and attitude.

Fresh sounds merge with ancient influences. Expansive sonic textures are created. Dazzling duets from Kathryn’s pipes and Amy’s accordion contrast with the dark and dirty riffs and rhythms of Kieran’s octave mandolin. Intrepid world-traveller Kate adds her fearless explorations and the inventive use of drums and percussion unites the ensemble.

Band members are also known for their work with: Sting, Soumik Datta, The Shee, Monster Ceilidh Band, Songs of Separation, Carthy, Oates, Farrell & Young, Tarras, the Kathryn Tickell Band and many more.

Kathryn  Tickell

Kathryn Tickell is the foremost exponent of the Northumbrian pipes, a composer, performer, educator and successful recording artist whose work is deeply rooted in the landscape and people of Northumbria.

Kathryn was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, 2015. The OBE recognises her extraordinary career which began with learning tunes from old shepherd friends and evolved to traverse genres from jazz and world music to large-scale orchestral works. Exploring and cultivating her bountiful native heritage of Northumberland have been a constant throughout.

Kathryn currently tours with her new band The Darkening. 2018 saw the band’s debut at Norfolk & Norwich Festival, going on to be live-streamed at the BBC’s Great Northern Soundtrack. 2019 has seen capacity audiences on the band’s debut album tour. A host of glowing reviews for the new release “Hollowbone” include four star reviews in The Observer and the Financial Times, with fRoots magazine describing The Darkening as “a crucial and exhilarating band setting the world on fire.”

Kathryn is a regular presenter for BBC Radio 3’s “Music Planet”, broadcasting live with sessions from the biggest international names in roots-based music.

Kathryn’s folk-classical ensemble The Side enjoyed several UK and European tours. Comprising of Kathryn, Louisa Tuck (cello), Ruth Wall (harp) and Amy Thatcher (accordion, clog dancing) The Side first toured the UK in autumn 2013. Support from the PRS for Music Foundation enabled Kathryn to write and commision new work. The quartet’s debut album was released in September 2014 and they went on to play concert hall dates at the Berliner Philharmoniker and Luxembourg Philharmonie and extensive UK touring until 2017.

On her home ground in 2016, Kathryn set up Magnetic North East, a new community interest company born out of a love for the region: its music, arts, culture, heritage, places and people; its long history of creativity; its strong sense of identity coupled with its adaptability and receptiveness to change. Through its work, Magnetic North East celebrates and promotes the distinctive cultural identity of the North East of England, rooted in the region’s traditions but boldly exploring new opportunities. Among MNE’s work is the mentoring project that produces the north-east’s premier young folk ensemble Superfolkus.

Kathryn is the founder of The Young Musicians Fund at the Community Foundation, which has raised over £100,000 for young people in the North East. The fund has built an endowment which will make grants to young musicians in the North East in perpetuity. More details and Kathryn’s “Just Giving” page here https://www.justgiving.com/Kathryntickell The Fund is held by the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. In 2015 Kathryn also became a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland.  

In 2013 Kathryn was awarded “Musician of the Year” in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Her album “Northumbrian Voices” won “Best Traditional Album” in the Spiral Earth Awards, voted for by the public. Kathryn initiated and was Artistic Director for “The Festival of the North East”, a celebration of arts across the region. Included in the programme was “One Night in Gateshead” where Kathryn’s new pieces for Royal Northern Sinfonia were premiered; this night also saw the premiere performance by The Side. Kathryn also worked closely with Live Theatre as Musical Director for a new play “Tyne”, performed in June and July, with further successful runs at Theatre Royal Newcastle and the Customs House South Shields in March 2014. Ongoing collaboration with Sting resulted in her performing in the music-theatre show “The Last Ship” at The Public Theatre, New York in autumn 2013.

Kathryn works collaboratively across many genres, making her work contemporary and exciting. In 2009, she was presented with The Queen’s Medal for Music, awarded to those deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to British music. Kathryn was granted two commissions in 2010: to contribute to Alex Wilson’s “Compass Suite” for the first Summer Solstice festival at Canary Wharf in June, and to compose a piece for pipes and piano, for Joanna MacGregor. This led to a further commission in 2011: to compose new work and curate a programme for Bath International Festival with Joanna. Later that year, Kathryn went on to curate, present and perform in a BBC Proms Percy Grainger night, to great critical acclaim. Kathryn also developed her music-theatre show “Northumbrian Voices”, supported by the Arts Council of England. Following UK touring she went on to release the double album “Northumbrian Voices” in 2012.

New compositions by Kathryn in 2012 included “Northumbrian Fantasia” for the National Youth Orchestra. She also produced “Jig Hop”, composing for and performing with Folkestra and other artists for BT River of Music, part of the Cultural Olympiad.