Background....
Elizabeth
hails from Cudworth, a little ex-mining village near Barnsley in South Yorkshire
(you might just detect a slight accent).
She started her musical career at the tender age of 7, singing solo children’s
hymns at Cudworth Methodist Church. By the age of 14 she was singing with her
sister Hazel or friend Sandra at various churches in the area, and also putting
on concerts for pensioners.
At 17 she was encouraged by her mother to sing in the Working Men’s Clubs.
However, after accompanying her mother to the local folk club at the ‘Fox and
Hounds’ in Shafton, and, inspired by the passion and enthusiasm for traditional
music displayed by the likes of Dave Oldroyd and Ken Hudson, she fell in love
with folk music. She has been singing in folk clubs ever since.
At 21 she was encouraged by Derek Elliott to go to BBC Radio Sheffield, where
folk programme presenter and performer, John Leonard, recorded and played a
couple of her traditional songs.
Her time at Barnsley Folk Club during the late seventies and early eighties
fuelled her passion for traditional folk music and she appeared at local venues
supporting such acts as Vin Garbutt and The Watersons.
In the late eighties she moved to Norfolk and became a regular at the Norwich
folk club at The Denmark Arms (where a young Damien Barber also regularly
attended). Here she was given the chance to support Keith Marsden and
Cockersdale.
For the last 15 years she has lived in Lincolnshire and she currently organises
the guest list and is MC at Spalding folk club.
Her early influences were undoubtedly the
local and national folk performers she encountered along the way. Vin Garbutt,
Keith Marsden, Isla St Clair. Pat Ryan, Vera Aspey, Derek and Dorothy Elliott
and Dave Burland are among those deserving special mention.
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