ANGE HARDY

Genre: Folk

Location: Watchet, Somerset

Discography: Windmill and Wishes (2010) Bare Foot Folk (2013), The Lament of the Black Sheep (2014), Esteesee (2015)

Record Label: Story Records (Independent)

Ange Hardy is a most remarkble singer-songwriter, the kind that writes songs which are so classic you think they have existed in the folk cannon for centuries. Ange is also unique as she is the only folk performer we know to use a loop station (called Mr. Miyagi), which she does to great effect. Her last album 'The Lament of the Black Sheep' was only one of a handful of albums to be five star rated by Telegraph in 2014 and after listening to it. it's not too hard to understand why.

Ange is from Somerset and has been a songwriter from the age of 14 when she first picked up a guitar on the streets of Ireland. She is completely self taught and has always used her writing as a way of channeling the intense life she has led.

When Ange was in her early 20's she started playing around the open mic scene in Taunton Somerset and it soon became apparent to her and those around her that her musical career had very much started. Using the next few years to home in on her vocals and performance she continued to write and home record until she had material for her debut studio album: "Windmills and Wishes", a true autobiographical outworking of her life.

Ange went on to marry Rob when she was 25 and have her second child Luke at the age of 27. She subsequently moved to her family home near Watchet in Somerset. In the following few years Ange focused on her family and rooted her music to a genre, the only genre it could possibly be: Folk.

Ange wrote a new 14 track folk album 'Bare Foot Folk' and in this album Ange shows her true songwriting skills as she, though still drawing from her own life, manages to write classic, traditional and contemporary folk songs telling stories that outstretch her own life by 100's of years.

She performs as a solo act, showcasing her delicate guitar work and stunning voice, she layers her vocals in a contemporary twist using a "live looping machine" which allows her to record and instantly play back layers of vocals from the stage resulting in the same warm depth of harmony that she achieves on her studio album. Ange takes you deep into the songs and the stories behind the songs, and her testimony becomes the heart of her performance.

Her brand new album based on the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge will be released in early October this year

The Telegraph's 'Best Folk Albums of 2014' list
Winner of Female Vocalist of the Year 2013 Award, Fatea Magazine.
Isambard Nu-Folk Award Finalist 2011, Bristol Folk Festival
BBC Somerset Album of the week
FolkWords June 2014 - Album of the Month
BBC Radio Scotland, Iain Anderson : Album of the Week

“Ange Hardy perfectly balances the strengths of traditional folk music with fresh writing...There is not a weak track among the 14 on Somerset singer-songwriter Ange Hardy's album The Lament of the Black Sheep” (Martin Chilton, The Telegraph)

“Bare Foot Folk is an excellent album” (Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio2 Folk Show)

"Now an album which has grown on me the more and more I listen to it is Bare Foot Folk from Ange Hardy. She lives down in the west country, writes all her own stuff, but they do sound as though they've come straight out of the soil of Devon and Somerset, I really like them....It'll be interesting to see when Ange does another album whether she carries on writing stuff which is very very rootsy and very very folky, I do like her stuff" (The Mike Harding Folk Show)

“A collection of unfailingly listenable, self-penned acoustic songs. Amongst this charming assortment of melodies we are treated to highly catchy tunes, some nods to ancient times as well as choice references to the present day.” (R2 Magazine (Rock'n'Reel) ****

Ange Hardy is a folk singer, songwriter and guitarist from West Somerset. In January 2014 she was awarded FATEA Magazine's prestigious “Female Vocalist of the Year” following the release of her 2013 album “Bare Foot Folk”. R2 Magazine gave the album 4 stars and called it “a collection of unfailingly listenable, self-penned acoustic songs” whist Maverick Magazine said “cannot find fault with her songs at all, they had me gripped to my seat, hanging on to every word!”. Legendary folk presenter Mike Harding said of Ange's songwriting that “she writes all her own stuff, but they do sound as though they've come straight out of the soil of Devon and Somerset, I really like them!”. Ange's new album “The Lament of The Black Sheep" is scheduled for release by Story Records on September 13th 2014. Where 'Bare Foot Folk' was about Ange Hardy stripping everything back to her roots 'The Lament of the Black Sheep' is about exploring the surrounding soil. These are songs of heritage, stories of working the land, tales deeply rooted in the traditions of rural life. 'The Lament of the Black Sheep' is a collection of original songs inspired by family, tradition, personal experience, and the tales of the west country. Ange Hardy performs live as a solo act but her mesmerising combination of beautiful story telling and delicate guitar work is given a contemporary twist through her exceptional use of 'live looping' to build vocal harmonies. Ange stands with a digital tape recorder at her feet that allows her to record and instantly play-back what she is singing. The effortlessness with which she builds layers of perfect harmonies in front of your eyes, combined with her honest and heartfelt insight into the stories and inspirations behind her songs, is absolutely captivating. Ange's 2014 performance dates include a variety of theatres, folk clubs, and festivals and her set will include favourites from her previous two albums, as well as a number of new tracks from “The Lament of The Black Sheep”.

Laurel Canyon Music

ANGE HARDY