Megson are an English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

duo composed of husband and wife Stu Hanna and Debbie Hanna (previously Debbie Palmer). The duo have released thirteen

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and one EP on their own label, ''edj''. Their live performances feature Stu playing a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

and Debbie sometimes playing

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

as backing to their

vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chor ...

Biography

The duo met while singing in Cleveland Youth Choir before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to allow Debbie to study

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

while Stu became involved with a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band. In 2004 they began making their own music and released their first album, ''On The Side'', while performing at acoustic clubs around London. Megson named themselves after Debbie's family dog, who at the time had just died. They had originally decided upon "The Ghost of Meg", but their family and friends convinced them that it sounded like a death-metal band. Megson's first album, ''On The Side'', consisted of a mixture of self-penned and traditional songs. Released in 2004, the album caught the attention of Seth Lakeman, whose brother Sean helped produce their second album, ''Smoke Of Home'', which further explored the wealth of traditional songs from around their home in

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

as well as self-composed songs in the same style. Their third album, ''Take Yourself A Wife'', was recorded while they were planning their wedding and consists of their own take on traditional and Victorian folk songs. ''The Longshot'', consists of songs about work from the North East of England and their own experiences of

English culture The culture of England is diverse. Owing to England's influential position within the United Kingdom it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate English culture from the culture of the United Kingdom as a whole. However, tracing its origins ...

, especially sport and the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

. ''When I Was A Lad'' features traditional childhood songs and new compositions written for their first child. ''Live'' captures a performance at

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

Folk Club. ''In A Box'' consists of songs about the way we live – then and now. They have been nominated for "Best Duo" at the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...

three years in a row and have garnered

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

from several radio DJs including

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

's Bob Harris, who invited them to do a live studio session for his show in 2007. They also accompanied Lucy Ward on her 2011 album, '' Adelphi Has to Fly'', which was produced by Stu Hanna.

Discography

Albums * ''On the Side'' (2004) * ''Smoke of Home'' (2007) * ''Take Yourself a Wife'' (2008) * ''The Longshot'' (2010) * ''When I Was a Lad'' (2012) * ''Live'' (2013) * ''In a Box'' (2014) * ''Good Times Will Come Again'' (2016) * ''Contradicshun'' (2019) * ''Little Bird'' (2019) * ''A Yuletide Carol'' (2020) * ''Unknown Waters'' (2022) * ''What Are We Trying To Say?'' (2023) EPs * ''Megson'' (2006)

References

External links

Official website

Megson Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Megson (Band) 2004 establishments in England Male–female musical duos Musical married couples English folk musical groups English musical duos Folk music duos Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from County Durham