Comprising three of Britain's finest musicians and interpreters of songs and tunes, each member of this trio is an acknowledged virtuoso in their own right. Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr have come together for the joy of playing and exploring the possibilities of music together, after appearing together on stages in various combinations over recent years and thoroughly enjoying it!
Nancy Kerr has been a major part of the acoustic music scene since she was a teenager and has always been a distinctive and impressive talent, turning heads everywhere she's played or sung. She is currently part of an award winning duo with her husband, James Fagan, and also one quarter of the Melrose Quartet and a key member of The Full English band, both nominated for BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2014. Nancy has previously been nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Song, acknowledging her superb song-writing skills. She is a multi-instrumentalist of rare and astonishing talent as well a beautiful and joyful singer. She is one of the shining stars in the British music firmament and going from strength to strength with every new challenge she takes on.
Andy Cutting is an extraordinary musician. A master of the diatonic accordion and most other squeezeboxes, he is a superbly sensitive accompanist, a writer of beautiful and thrilling tunes, a highly in-demand band member and a sublime solo performer. His list of recording credits and sessions reads like a Who's Who of acoustic music both in the UK and abroad, and he has played live with The Who, Roger Daltry and Sting, amongst others. Along with other young players in the 80s/90s, he helped change the face of British folk music; his work in a duo with Chris Wood and as a member of the mighty, Blowzabella, helped popularise French-Canadian and European music both here and abroad. Andy has toured extensively in the past with Martin Simpson, who always says that playing music with Andy Cutting is his favourite thing to do.
Martin Simpson is a multi-award winning musician, singer and songwriter who has worked with Bonnie Raitt, Richard Hawley, Jackson Brown, June Tabor, Richard Thompson and many more, as well as being a world-renowned performer in his own right. He was a notable virtuoso in his early teens and his partnership with June Tabor in the 70s and 80s brought him to the attention of a much wider audience and led to him being courted by the world of rock and roll, which he sidestepped. Twenty years living in the USA exposed him to a whole range of music, which he absorbed like a sponge, and since living back in the UK he has gone from strength to strength. He has often said that playing music with likes of Andy and Nancy makes him a better player and in this trio he will be mainly playing guitars and banjos, singing and grinning from ear to ear.
