Biography
Their unusual moniker, translating roughly to “scruffy, unkempt person,” may hint at an unkempt stage image—they quip that they “sold our souls to the scarecrows”—yet it understates the arrival of one of England’s most compelling young instrumental folk acts of the new millennium. Raised in an Essex household saturated with traditional music, siblings Jamie on fiddle and Dave Delarre on guitar supply the group’s creative engine; steeped in the repertoire yet alert to contemporary currents, they shape an unmistakably English sound while absorbing wider influences. The Delarres helped run the Moreton Folk Festival, where Dave’s friend Danny Crump—new to bass and previously drawn to heavy metal—made his debut onstage after being coaxed into joining the family band, the Knapfoot Five, at Edinburgh’s Ceilidh Culture Festival. Weeks afterward, the fifteen-year-old Dave and seventeen-year-old Jamie secured a 2002 booking at Dartmoor Folk Festival; Crump came along, the performance proved so successful that further dates followed, and melodeon player Alex Goldsmith was soon recruited. Goldsmith, grandson of Southwold Town Bellman John Barber—a noted singer and melodeon player—had played since childhood and already busked the Southwold streets alongside Dave Delarre; he integrated swiftly, and the quartet quickly made an impression across folk clubs and festivals.
A six-track EP issued in 2005 further raised their profile. Although studies initially restricted touring, the musicians carved out time to lay down their first album, The Fair Essex, at Hertfordshire University; the record appeared in summer 2006 to widespread acclaim. Jamie Delarre’s propulsive fiddle, Goldsmith’s rooted rural approach, Dave’s supple and exploratory guitar lines, and Crump’s commanding bass tone earned praise from veteran listeners and a growing cohort of younger enthusiasts drawn to British folk. In December 2006, Dave—who was then pursuing music technology and composition at Herts Uni—reached the London final of the BBC Young Folk Award; although Last Orders took the prize, his rendering of Eric Roche’s percussive “Roundabout” stood out as a highlight of the evening. The following year the group joined forces with Devon singer Jim Causley for a series of concerts and festival slots, also capturing an album together.
A six-track EP issued in 2005 further raised their profile. Although studies initially restricted touring, the musicians carved out time to lay down their first album, The Fair Essex, at Hertfordshire University; the record appeared in summer 2006 to widespread acclaim. Jamie Delarre’s propulsive fiddle, Goldsmith’s rooted rural approach, Dave’s supple and exploratory guitar lines, and Crump’s commanding bass tone earned praise from veteran listeners and a growing cohort of younger enthusiasts drawn to British folk. In December 2006, Dave—who was then pursuing music technology and composition at Herts Uni—reached the London final of the BBC Young Folk Award; although Last Orders took the prize, his rendering of Eric Roche’s percussive “Roundabout” stood out as a highlight of the evening. The following year the group joined forces with Devon singer Jim Causley for a series of concerts and festival slots, also capturing an album together.
Albums
Singles
