Mary Hampton
Mary Hampton was born in London. While studying twentieth century music at university she heard her first traditional English folk song quite by chance on a compilation tape made by a friend, in between Frank Zappa and Penderecki. It was a big, hairy shock.
Ever since then she has been rooting about in second hand bookshops and libraries across the land trying to absorb as many of these strange forgotten stories as possible. She has taken them to a wide variety of audiences, the majority of whom have been, like her, previously unaware of the existence of these songs.
The songs themselves are mainly English, but the occasional American, Scottish and French song finds its way into the set. The melodies are nearly always built from the bones of the original tunes. The subjects they cover are timeless: power, sex, fear, conflict, necessity, loss, desire and the many absurd mysteries of subjective experience. The language they use is raw and poetic; the stories themselves frequently charged with drama and mystery. They describe the ways in which the world has changed, because of their antiquity, and at the same time the ways in which we as people in the world have stayed pretty much the same. They remain and bewilder.
Mary's musical influences include Anne Briggs, Bob Dylan, Bach, traditional haardinger fiddle music and bird song. She recently had a residency at London's Cargo, with fellow musicians Alice Eldridge, Jo Burke and Nick Franklin with whom she has recently recorded her first EP, 'Book One'. Last year she sang on Eliza Carthy's album 'Rough Music' and more recently she has supported St. Etienne in Brighton and bellowhead at Scala.
To book Mary or for further information: email Tel: 01225 422524