Eliza Carthy

Recognized widely for her inventive contributions and prominent role within England's traditional music community, Eliza Carthy first gained attention during the mid-'90s both through solo work and as part of Waterson-Carthy, the ensemble she established alongside her parents, the revered folk figures Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy. Serving as vocalist, composer, and violinist, she established her standing swiftly by blending the inherited folk repertoire of her elders with energetic freshness and a rebellious edge across a pair of Mercury Prize-nominated releases, Red Rice from 1998 and Anglicana from 2003. Her extensive partnerships with relatives as well as figures including Billy Bragg, Richard Thompson, the Oysterband, Nancy Kerr, and Martin Green, among many others, have embedded her contributions deeply within 21st-century British folk traditions.

Born on August 23, 1975, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Carthy made her initial structured foray into the family profession at age 13 by assembling the Waterdaughters alongside her aunt Lal Waterson and cousin Marry Waterson. Her emerging skill on the fiddle simultaneously opened doors to numerous performances both within the family circle and as half of a violin partnership with Nancy Kerr, resulting in the 1993 recording Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr. The next year brought the creation of Waterson-Carthy, an outfit uniting Eliza with her parents and linking successive eras of folk expression. Across Waterson-Carthy's 1994 debut album, a further Kerr collaboration titled Shape of Scrape in 1995, and her own 1996 solo debut Heat Light & Sound, Carthy's emergence as a significant force in British folk became unmistakable. She remained exceptionally busy through the rest of the '90s, contributing to Waterson-Carthy projects, directing the Kings of Calicut, joining Billy Bragg and Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue endeavor, and issuing the widely praised 1998 solo effort Red Rice, which earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination.

After the stylistically varied 2000 release Angels & Cigarettes, she joined another family endeavor, the supergroup Blue Murder, also incorporating members of Swan Arcade and Coope, Boyes & Simpson. Her fourth album, Anglicana from 2003, secured a further Mercury Prize nomination plus three Radio 2 Folk Awards. Rough Music in 2004 signaled a clear return to traditional sources, echoed by the Waterson-Carthy sets Fine Fishes & Yellow Sand (2004) and Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man (2006), the latter emphasizing instrumental works. Participating in producer Hal Willner's 2006 maritime anthology Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, she performed on three tracks, one of them alongside Richard Thompson. Dreams of Breathing Underwater from 2008 contained entirely original songs and was designed as a follow-up to Angels & Cigarettes. In 2010 Carthy partnered with her mother Norma Waterson on Gift, marking their debut recording as a duo. She later revisited the duo configuration with her father Martin Carthy on the restrained and refined 2014 album The Moral of the Elephant. Between those projects came the 2011 solo release Neptune, which also inaugurated her label Hem Hem, together with the 2013 Topic Records solo anthology Wayward Daughter.

Collaborating with the Wayward Band, the expansive 12-piece ensemble she assembled after the Wayward Daughter collection, Carthy delivered 2017's Big Machine, an energetic blend of traditional music, rock, and jazz approaches. The subsequent year brought a second partnership with her mother, issued as Anchor and credited to Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy with the Gift Band. Financing difficulties surrounding the initial Big Machine endeavor left the Wayward Band members without complete payment for their contributions. Characterizing the circumstances as a "monumental con," Carthy produced her first solo album in 14 years, Restitute, specifically to generate funds for full compensation of her fellow musicians. A limited-edition pressing of Restitute appeared in February 2019 and sold out rapidly, after which the established British folk label Topic Records issued a broader edition the following May.