Marry Waterson
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Maria Gilhooley ( Knight), who records under the name Marry Waterson, is a singer, songwriter and visual artist. A member of the Waterson-Knight-Carthy family musical dynasty, Waterson is described as having "thrived on communal music making while developing highly original and distinctly English performance styles of erown."


Early life and Waterson family

Waterson is the daughter of
Lal Waterson Elaine "Lal" Waterson (15 February 1943 – 4 September 1998) was an English folk singer and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder. She was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1998, s ...
and George Knight and was born in the city of
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
, East Riding of Yorkshire. She made her recording debut as a guest on the album '' A True Hearted Girl'' by Lal and
Norma Waterson Norma Christine Waterson (15 August 1939 – 30 January 2022) was an English singer and songwriter, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a celebrated English traditional folk group. Other members of the group included h ...
in 1977. In 1988 she formed an occasional singing partnership with her mother Lal, aunt Norma and cousin
Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Life and career Carthy was born i ...
under the name The Waterdaughters. She has since been a guest performer on numerous Watersons and
Waterson–Carthy Waterson:Carthy were an English folk group originally comprising Norma Waterson on vocals, her husband Martin Carthy on guitar and vocals and their daughter Eliza Carthy on fiddle and vocals. History The group had a repertoire of predominantly ...
recordings and has often performed live with her family at
festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...
and special performances.


Later musical career

On 12 May 2007, Waterson appeared with the Waterson family at a special concert at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
entitled '' A Mighty River of Song'', and on 25 October 2007, she appeared at the
BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms The BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms (formerly the BBC Electric Proms) was an October pop music festival in London run by the BBC for five years, 2006–2010. On 31 January 2011, the BBC announced that the event would be discontinued with immediate ...
concert ''Once in a Blue Moon: A Tribute to Lal Waterson'' at
Cecil Sharp House Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada * Cecil, Albert ...
in London. In 2007, Waterson replaced
Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Life and career Carthy was born i ...
in Blue Murder, and made her concert debut with that group on 23 November at the Met Theatre in
Bury, Greater Manchester Bury (, ) is a market town on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. which had a population of 81,101 in 2021 while the wider borough had a population of 193,846. The town was originally part of the ...
. In January 2010, Waterson performed at the Sydney Opera House in a line-up of rock, punk, pop and folk musicians under the musical direction of Hal Willner as part of his ''
Rogue's Gallery A rogues' gallery (or rogues gallery) is a police collection of mug shots or other images of criminal suspects kept for identification purposes. History In 1855, Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, established a ...
'' project. After signing to
One Little Indian Records One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...
, in 2011 Waterson released the album ''The Days That Shaped Me'', co-written with her brother Oliver Knight. The album was nominated for a Radio 2 Folk Award. During that year she both recorded and toured with her brother, billed as Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight. A second album by the siblings, ''Hidden'', was released in 2012. In October 2013, Waterson curated a tour with
The Barbican Barbican is a type of fortified building. Barbican may also refer to: * Barbican (drink), a brand of malt beverage in Saudi Arabia and the UAE * Barbican Estate, a residential estate in London ** Barbican Centre, an arts centre in London ** Barb ...
bringing ''Bright Phoebus'', by Lal and Mike Waterson, to the stage for the first time. She performed with a cast which included
Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...
and
Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Long ...
amongst others. Also in 2013, Waterson designed and produced ''Teach Me to Be a Summer's Morning'', a book and CD celebrating the works of Lal Waterson, released on the
Fledg'ling Records Fledg'ling Records is a British independent record label founded in 1991. The label has re-released some albums previously issued by Hokey Pokey Records which was also run by the Fledg'ling founder—David Suff. David Suff having been half of ...
imprint. In 2015, Waterson released a third album, this time collaborating with guitarist David A. Jaycock, entitles ''Two Wolves''. This album, produced by Neill MacColl, featured performances by
Kate St John Kate St John (born 2 October 1957) is an English composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. She was a member of bands Ravishing Beauties, The Dream Academy, and Channel Light Vessel, and of Van Morrison's live band, in which she pl ...
and Kami Thompson, one song for which Waterson shared writing credit with her late mother Lal Waterson, and another which incorporated a recording of her late uncle Mike Waterson.


Reception

One review of ''The Days That shaped Me'', Waterson's first album with Oliver Knight, noted that the brother and sister "have thrived on communal music making while developing highly original and distinctly English performance styles of their own." A review in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' called the album's songs "unadorned, sometimes courtly, always hard to read." Robin Denselow, in reviewing ''Hidden'' for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', described Waterson's singing as "no-nonsense, sometimes deadpan, but effectively varied" and stated that the album "sounds better each time you play it." Later reviewing ''Two Wolves'' for the website Freaky party, Denselow said that Waterson's "singing is plaintive and quietly powerful, and the songs are slow but varied".


Other artistic pursuits

Waterson currently lives in
Robin Hood's Bay Robin Hood's Bay is a village in North Yorkshire, England. It is south of Whitby and north of Scarborough on the Yorkshire Coast. It is an ancient chapelry of Fylingdales in the wapentake of Whitby Strand. It is on the Cleveland Way nati ...
, where she animates music videos, recently producing stage loops for
Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...
. She has also worked as a graphic designer. Previously she developed a successful practice as a sculptor, working largely in
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. Her work has been exhibited at numerous locations in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
and the
northeast of England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County Durham , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. It is the least ...
, and she has completed several commissions.


Discography


With Oliver Knight

*Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight: ''The Days That Shaped Me'' (2011) *Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight: ''Hidden'' (2012)


With David Jaycock

*Marry Waterson & David A Jaycock: ''Two Wolves'' (2015) *Marry Waterson & David A Jaycock: ''Death Had Quicker Wings Than Love'' (2017)


With Emily Barker

*Marry Waterson and Emily Barker: ''A Window to Other Ways'' (2019)


With Hack-Poets Guild (Lisa Knapp and Nathaniel Mann)

*Hack-Poets Guild: ''Blackletter Garland'' (2023)


Collaborations and guest appearances

*Lal & Norma Waterson: ''A True Hearted Girl'' (1977) *Mike Waterson: ''Mike Waterson'' (1977) *Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: ''Once in a Blue Moon'' (1996) *Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: ''Bed of Roses'' (1998) *Oliver Knight: ''Mysterious Day'' (2002) *The Watersons: ''A Mighty River of Song'' (2004) *Various artists: ''Evolving Tradition 4'' (2004) *Various artists: ''Rubber Folk: A Folk Tribute to the Beatles'' (2006) *
James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist ...
: ''When The Haar Rolls In'' (2008) *
Kathryn Williams Kathryn Williams (born 15 February 1974, Liverpool, England) is an English singer-songwriter who to date has released 14 studio albums, written and arranged for a multitude of artists, and was nominated for the 2000 Mercury Prize, Mercury Mus ...
: ''The Quickening'' (2009) *
Topic Records Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.M. Brocken ...
(70th anniversary boxed set): ''Three Score & Ten'' (2009) *Eliza Carthy & Norma Waterson: ''Gift'' (2010) *James Yorkston: ''I was A Cat From A Book'' (2011) *Various artists: ''BBC Folk Awards'' (2012) * Lisa Knapp: ''Hidden Seam'' (2013) *(
Lush Lush may refer to: People Music * Lush (band), a British rock band * ''Lush'' (Mitski album), a 2012 album by Mitski * ''Lush'' (Snail Mail album), a 2018 album by Snail Mail * "Lush", a single by Skepta featuring Jay Sean * '' Lush 3'', a s ...
) Fresh Handmade Sound: ''Hard Days Night Treatment'' (2014) *A tribute to
Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a British folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as o ...
: ''Joy of Living'' (2015)


DVDs

*The Waterson Family: ''Live At Hull Truck'' (2011) *James Yorkston: ''I Was A Cat From A Book'', album & DVD (2011)


References


External links


Waterson–Carthy official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterson, Marry Artists from Kingston upon Hull English women singers English sculptors Living people Musicians from Kingston upon Hull Year of birth missing (living people) People from Robin Hood's Bay Blue Murder (folk group) members