The Harvesters

Music

FEATURED SONG

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One Step Forward

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Released: Jan 1, 1994

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One Step Forward
4:59
226 plays
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Dancing With Nancy
4:59
137 plays
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The Same Old Story
4:52
147 plays
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John Barleycorn
4:18
159 plays
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A Cut Above
3:28
111 plays

Total Plays: 926 / Plays Today: 2See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Acoustic / Americana / Folk
Location Midlands, UK
Profile Views: 4951
Last Login: 1/8/2012
Member Since 3/5/2008
Website www.harvestersmusic.com
Record Label Folksound
Type of Label Indie
Bio
The Harvesters could claim to be one of the most energetic and distinctive acts you’ll ever see. Uniquely, we combine our own incisive and witty original songs with traditional English songs, American Old Time songs and tunes and the percussive dance styles of Appalachian Flat-footing and Green Grass-style precision clogging. The Harvesters was first formed over 40 years ago and in that time we have been a trio, a four- and five-some and even a six-piece group! Ian accompanies our songs and dancing on his specially-made Stefan Sobell guitar, bouzouki, 10-stringed cittern and 12-stringed cittern (Guittern), dulcimer, and mandolin. Sue plays concertina, clawhammer banjo, cajon and percussion and dances a lot! Sue’s clear and distinctive voice soars out over Ian’s expert accompaniment and we’ve been told that our vocal harmonies are enough to set the hairs on the back of your neck standing up! Our decision to concentrate on writing and performing our own songs has proved extremely successful, and several other artists are now also performing our songs. We have been flatteringly described as two of the premier flat-footers in both the UK and the USA by American dance master Ira Bernstein. Dance and play an instrument at the same time? No problem. During our singing careers we have appeared for Her Majesty The Queen and many other Royal and notable audiences. We have performed in the USA and in the Falkland Islands (although we deny suggestions that we started that particular conflict just to get some more gigs!) and all over the mainland of England, Scotland and Wales. The Harvesters were the winners of the 1998 “Border Ballads Now” song-writing award for the humorous ballad, “Between the Rose And Thistle. Our brand of gentle good humour and wry observation have made us very sought after in Folk Festivals and clubs. Our musical experience appeals to many age ranges and musical tastes and we have provided support for some of the biggest names in the Folk Scene as well as headlining in concerts and clubs. We are also members of the Americana and Old Time Band, The Dustbowl String Band, whose own MySpace page is well worth a visit. Our village Appalachian dance side, Kick Start, are becoming increasingly busy at Festivals and other events And, as if that wasn’t enough, we are experienced and accomplished performers of Medieval and Elizabethan songs in period settings, performing regularly for Weddings, Corporate Events and special occasions. We are also members of a local Ceilidh Band, Reel-to-Reel. Finally, we teach much of what we know in workshops, private tuition and meet-the-artists specials. Sue specialises in vocal coaching, while Ian offers tuition in guitar, mandolin and Old Time fiddle. We have run highly successful Flat-footing workshops both at Festivals and for small organisations.
Members
Sue Hartland: Vocals, Concertina, Percussion, Banjo, Step Dancing. Ian Hartland: Vocals, Guitars, Guittern, Cittern, Bouzouki, Mandolin, Fiddle, Hurdy-Gurdy, lots of blown instruments and, finally, Keyboards.
Influences
Many and varied: Joan Baez, The Beatles, Tom Petty, Martin Carthy, The Battlefield Band, Gordon Lightfoot, Jez Lowe, The McCalmans, Peggy Seeger and the list could go on. These days we are simply impressed by the growing number of exceptional young musicians, who are both an influence and an inspiration.
Sounds Like
Acoustic, original Folk music at its best, plus an infusion of American Old Time with percussive dance thrown in for good measure. We also feature our special versions of English Traditional songs, using our many and varied instruments. We specialise in vocal harmonies throughout our songs. We sound like us, which means that we've stopped trying to sound like anyone else.