Sam Sweeney

Born February 27, 1989, Sam Sweeney is a Nottingham-based English folk musician whose resonant viola playing first drew widespread notice through the 2012 album State and Ancientry, recorded with Hannah James, and his own 2018 solo outing The Unfinished Violin. He took up the instrument at six and, six years later, began appearing alone at regional folk events. From 2002 until 2010 he belonged to the quartet Kerfuffle, contributing vocals and cajón alongside his viola work.

Once that ensemble dissolved, Sweeney formed a duo with former Kerfuffle member Hannah James, an accordionist and singer; together they toured northern England and received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award in 2010. The pair released two Rootbeat Records albums, Catches and Glees in 2009 and State and Ancientry in 2012, before parting ways in 2014. In 2008 Sweeney had already joined Bellowhead, appearing on the group’s four albums from Matachin through the 2014 set Revival. Beginning in 2009 he also performed with Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings, handling both fiddle and percussion. Between 2010 and 2016 he contributed to three Fay Hield and the Hurricane Party albums, while additional 2010s sessions linked him with Rachael McShane and Sam Carter. In 2018 he signed with Island Records and issued his first solo record, The Unfinished Violin.