Artisan (group)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Artisan

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|200px
Img_capt = Artisan: Brian Bedford (l), Jacey Bedford (c) and Hilary Spencer (r)
Background = group_or_band
Origin = England
Genre = Folk
Years active = 1984 - 2005
Label =
URL = [http://www.artisan-harmony.com/ artisan-harmony.com]
Current_members = Brian Bedford
Jacey Bedford
Hilary Spencer

Artisan were an English vocal harmony trio, who sang a cappella from 1985 to 2005. They consisted of songwriter Brian Bedford, his wife Jacey Bedford, and Hilary Spencer.

Artisan formed in 1984 when Jacey and Brian Bedford invited Hilary Spencer to sing with them at a concert at Birdsedge Village Hall [http://www.birdsedge.co.uk/live.htm] near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. Previous to this Hilary had been trained for opera, singing coleratura soprano as an amateur singer with local operatic societies in Sheffield. Brian had attended Huddersfield School of Music (1970 - 72) and Bretton Hall College of Education (1972-73) and after learning 'cello as a first instrument had entered the teaching profession, teaching primary children at Crofton Shay Lane Junior and Infants - later Crofton Shay Lane Infants (Wakefield MDC education authority) during which time he had responsibility for music throughout the school. Jacey had no formal musical training beyond school choirs (Barnsley Girls' High School 1962 - 1969).

Artisan's early repertoire was a mixture of traditional and contemporary songs, all performed a cappella (i.e without instruments) and in three part close harmony, broadly within the folk genre, though with a cappella versions of some pop standards included. Their trademark sound was developed with Hilary singing strong lead in a much lower range than her original coleratura, with Jacey's softer voice providing a lighter (usually higher) harmony and Brian's voice often being used at the top end of his bass-baritone range so that Hilary and Brian's voices were fairly close together in range, 'glued' together by Jacey's.

After five years of performing at UK folk clubs part-time Artisan went full-time in July 1989 when trio members gave up their day jobs. After that their first European work (Belgium, Okapi Folk Festival, Lokeren, and Bokregdag, 1990) followed. In 1994 their first transatlantic tour to Canada playng the Owen Sound Summerfolk Festival and the Mariposa Folk Festival, follwed by a return to Canada and a first tour to the USA in 1995 playing Bethlehem Musikfest in Pennsylvania.

In the next ten years there were thirty tours to the USA and Canada playing venues and major festivals including: Vancouver Folk Music Festival; Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. In 2003 they played the Millennium Stage at Washington DC's Kennedy Center and the complete performance is archived on the Kennedy Center site. [ [http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=ARTISAN#Archived Concert footage from the Kennedy Center Washington DC, December 2003] ] This is a full recording, unedited, exactly as performed.

There was also one tour to Australia in 2000 to play the Port Fairy Folk Festival.

They built a strong fan base, both in the UK and North America. Artisan performed a few traditional folk songs, and songs written by other songwriters, however the majority of their work was penned by Brian Bedford (not to be confused with the actor Brian Bedford, born in Morley, Yorkshire). One of their most popular songs was, and remains, "What's the Use of Wings", written by Brian, about the need to "let go" of loved ones, and give them the freedom to make their own decisions. It has been covered by artists and groups including Vin Garbutt (who includes it in his live repertoire), the late John Wright, Marie Little, Gilly Darbey and the Philadelphia Gay Men's Choir. They traditionally ended their concerts with the Stan Rogers song The Mary Ellen Carter.

Artisan concerts were always lively, known for their audience participation. Particularly their Christmas concerts ("Stuff the Turkey"), which had a pantomime feel to them. The group stopped touring in 2005, with two final concerts held on 20 November 2005, with one afternoon and one evening concert.

As of 2008 Hilary is half of QuickSilver with Grant Baynham. Brian runs the recording studio "Park Head Studio". Jacey runs "Jacey Bedford Tour Management", an agency that arranges tours for folk musicians, mainly from overseas.

After Artisan Brian and Jacey joined The Brian Bedford Band with American musicians William Pint and Felicia Dale, and multi-instrumentalist, Ben Walker. The band briefly toured from March to July 2006 but released no CDs.

Discography

*Three Piece Sweet (1986)
*Searching for Yordale (1988)
*Driving Home (1989)
*The Season of Holly and Ivy (1990)
*Rocking At The End Of Time (1991)
*Breathing Space (1993)
*Bygone Christmas (1994)
*Our Back Yard (1996) [ [http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/webrevs/9604cd.htm Living Tradition CD review of "Our Back Yard" album] ]
*Paper Angels (1999)
*Dancing With Words (2000)
*Christmas Is Come In (2002)
*Silver And Gold (2003)
*Artisan Live (2005)
*(DVD) Artisan at the Paramount (2006) (This is a recording of Artisan's last ever concert on 20 November 2005)

Awards

*In 1997 they were nominated for the "Best Folk Song" award by the Contemporary A Cappella Society at the Contemporary A cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) for the song "Lest We Forget", fron the "Our Back Yard" album.
*In 1998 they won the "Best Folk Song" award, at the CARAs, for the song Mabel from the "Driving Home" album. [cite web |url= http://www.casa.org/index.php?option=com_casaawards&Itemid=155&showyear=1998|title=CARA Winners For 1998 |accessdate=2008-07-05 |publisher= The Contemporary A capella Society] In 1999 they were nominated for the "Best Holiday Album" award at the CARAs, for "Paper Angels". In 2001 they won "Best Folk/World Album" award at the CARAs, for "Dancing With Words". [cite web |url= http://www.casa.org/index.php?option=com_casaawards&Itemid=155&showyear=2001|title=CARA Winners For 2001 |accessdate=2008-07-05 |publisher= The Contemporary A capella Society]

ources

Music Hound Folk - The Essential Album Guide ed Neal Walters & Brian Mansfield. Published 1998 Visible Ink Press, ISBN 1-57859-037-X
* [http://www.casa.org/index.php?option=com_casaawards&Itemid=155&showyear=1998 CARA awards 1998]
* [http://www.casa.org/index.php?option=com_casaawards&Itemid=155&showyear=2001 CARA awards 2001]

References

External links

* [http://www.artisan-harmony.com/ The official Artisan website]
* [http://www.hilaryspencer.com Hilary Spencer's website]
* [http://www.birdsedge.co.uk Birdsedge Village hall Website]
* [http://www.hud.ac.uk/mh/ Huddersfield School of Music]
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O77583 Barnsley Girls High School Archives]
* [http://www.musikfest.org/ Bethlehem Musikfest]
* [http://www.summerfolk.org/ Summerfolk festival, Owen Sound Ontario]
* [http://www.portfairyfolkfestival.com/ Port Fairy Folk Festival]
* [http://thefestival.bc.ca/ Vancouver Folk Music Festival]
* [http://www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca/wp/ Winnipeg Folk Festival]
* [http://www.pfs.org/PFF.php Philadelphia Folk Festival]
* [http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=ARTISAN#Archived Concert footage from the Kennedy Center Washington DC, December 2003]