Bella Hardy will play Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on October 31 in support of her ninth solo album, Hey Sammy.
In the time since 2015’s 5-star reviewed With The Dawn, Edale-born singer songwriter Bella temporarily relocated to Nashville where she became immersed in Music City’s culture of collaborative songwriting and also worked happily in the company of horses as a ranch hand.
Two music-finding trips to Yunnan Province in Southwest China also saw this BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year Award winner return with a suit-case overflowing with new lyrical and musical notions.
Consisting of humanist hymns, ancient Chinese poems, feminist battle cries and the title track’s reflections on the rise of racism in Britain, Hey Sammy, which is released on November 24 is Bella’s most wide reaching and richly rewarding album to date. She also returns to her traditional roots with a retelling of the supernatural ballad Tam Lin.
Bella found her first home in folk music through a childhood love for ballad books. A self-taught “fiddle singer”, she began performing at Cambridge and Sidmouth festivals from the age of 13 and eventually took a BA in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Music.
Her debut album Night Visiting, released ten years ago, established her reputation as a songwriter when her first original composition Three Black Feathers earned a BBC Folk Award nomination.
Bella has since become a regular on radio and television, notably singing solo in a sold-out Albert Hall at the Proms. She’s written and recorded with everyone from Beautiful South founder David Rotheray to folk luminary Eliza Carthy, and performed with the great Mary Chapin Carpenter on her 2016 UK tour.
- Bella Hardy along with her live trio, featuring leading Scottish guitarist Anna Massie and songwriting collaborator Jazz pianist Tom Gibbs will play Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on October 31.