Waterson–Carthy

Waterson–Carthy
Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson at a Waterson–Carthy performance in Cranleigh, April 2006.
Background information
Origin	Robin Hood's Bay/Whitby, England
Genres	English folk music
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Topic
Associated acts	Norma Waterson Martin Carthy Eliza Carthy The Watersons Blue Murder
Website	www.watersoncarthy.com
Members	Norma Waterson Martin Carthy Eliza Carthy Saul Rose
Past members	Tim Van Eyken

Waterson–Carthy (stylised as Waterson:Carthy) are an English folk group originally comprising Norma Waterson on vocals, her husband Martin Carthy on guitar and vocals and their daughter Eliza Carthy on fiddle and vocals.

They have a repertoire of predominantly British traditional songs and tunes but also occasionally perform contemporary songs from various sources. Their instrumentation is based largely around Martin Carthy's guitar, Eliza Carthy's fiddle and the melodeons of Saul Rose (1996–2000 and 2007-date) and Tim Van Eyken (2000–2007) with other instruments regularly augmenting their recordings. The group also continue the strong unaccompanied vocal tradition established by Norma and Martin's previous family group The Watersons, from whom they are widely considered to have evolved.

The group's first album Waterson:Carthy (1994) was performed largely as a trio, with notable contributions from Eliza's musical partner Nancy Kerr. Their second album Common Tongue (1996) featured a more diverse selection of guest musicians with significant contributions from melodeon player Saul Rose. Although at this stage Rose was not credited as a full group member he soon became a permanent member of the touring group and was credited as a full group member on the release of their third album Broken Ground (1999).

Rose left shortly thereafter to take up a career in the pharmaceutical industry and was replaced by Tim van Eyken in 2000. This line-up went on to release the albums A Dark Light (2002) and Fishes & Fine Yellow Sand (2004) and to consolidate the group's reputation as an outstanding live band. Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man (2006), an album of seasonal songs on which they were joined by vocal trio The Devil's Interval (Jim Causley, Lauren McCormick & Emily Portman) was widely considered both a belated follow-up and an addendum to The Watersons' Frost & Fire (1965). The group had already re-established The Watersons' tradition of performing a pre-Christmas tour under the Frost & Fire banner and by December 2006 this had been expanded to include a Mummers Play, brass section and a more significant contribution from The Devil's Interval.