June Tabor ranks among the most accomplished female interpreters of traditional British folk song from the late twentieth century into the early twenty-first, and some would argue she stands as the finest British folksinger of her generation altogether. The stark emotional force and haunting timbre of her voice forge a direct connection to earlier British traditions, while her discerning choices of repertoire, settings, and accompanists, together with an openness to fresh approaches and to songs by living writers, place her firmly in the present.
Her initial major undertaking paired her with Steeleye Span’s Maddy Prior on a duet record issued in the 1970s, an effort the two performers titled under the name the Silly Sisters. An ensemble of leading British folk figures that included Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, and Andy Irvine supplied instrumental support. On her solo recordings and concert appearances Tabor has regularly enlisted first-rate guitarists, notably Jones and Martin Simpson. She has also moved into folk-rock territory through onstage appearances with Fairport Convention and through a 1990 album recorded in tandem with Oysterband.
Against the Streams, released in 1994, found Tabor at the height of her powers, balancing traditional material with pieces by contemporary composers such as Elvis Costello and Richard Thompson. Later releases comprise Singing the Storm (1996), Aleyn (1997), Quiet Eye (2000), Rosa Mundi (2001), Echo of Hooves (2003), At the Wood’s Heart (2005), and Apples (2007). In 2011 she issued Ashore, a thematic album devoted to seafaring songs that featured her reading of Elvis Costello’s “Shipbuilding” along with new versions of “Finisterre” and “The Grey Funnel Line.” That same year she rejoined Oysterband for Ragged Kingdom. In 2013 Tabor recorded Quercus for ECM alongside saxophonist Iain Ballamy and pianist Huw Warren.
