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Rebecca Barclay & John Steele
Rebecca Barclay & John Steele
Rebecca Barclay & John Steele
With the Night Fast
Approaching
CD cover art
Rebecca Barclay & John Steele
Wear Valley
Rebecca Barclay
Barclay & Steele
poster ART
Cinnabar
CD cover art
Duo - Barclay & Steele Art
Rebecca Barclay in the studio 2010 recording: With the Night...
Rebecca Barclay
Islet
CD cover art
Rebecca Barclay with fiddle
Rebecca Barclay
Rebecca Barclay
Rebecca Barclay
Rebecca Barclay
Rebecca Barclay
Rebecca Barclay LiveGladstone 2011
Rebecca Barclay
PHOTO: Tania Anderson
“…strangely mesmerising vocal … beautifully intricate
and exuberant picking. Intriguing and intense…”
fROOTS
“John's guitar work is very skilled indeed: both exuberantly intricate and understated,
gentle and yet percussive,
not exactly drawing immediate attention to itself
and yet intensely satisfying
to listen to both in isolation and in the role of accompanist.”
David Kidman of Folk Roundabout
“Female folk singers with a higher vocal range are plenty at the moment, so it’s
great to hear a more meaty performance delivered.”
Kate Lewis of Accoustic Magazine
And a comment on Rebecca's 2010 album CINNABAR, which resulted in a nomination for best Traditional Singer of Canada by the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
“Brilliantly creative,... outstandingly original,...
an intense and haunting experience,
definitely one of the most stimulating CDs
of traditional music I’ve heard this year.”
David Kidman of Folk Roundabout
"Different than the many." David Hintz of Folkworld
"One of several unique songs on Rebecca’s CD RAGING ZEPHYR combines a split-voiced tuba, highland bagpipes, saxophone and amazing vocal leaps with a 220 year old song, Woman of this Glen... with such creative musicians as Corey Manders on jazz saxophone and Colin Couch on tuba play joyful textures
in the weaving of an unusual sound... listeners are drawn into Rebecca’s restless passion through
her full ranging vocals, whether singing acapella or backed by a full band… using carefully chosen and original lyrics, she treats difficult subjects with courage, precision, and vibrant emotion..."
Steve Rowat, of Thought Transfer Music.
PHOTO: Graham Ashby
PHOTO: Tania Anderson
PHOTO: John Steele
Singer Rebecca Barclay ambushes you winningly, as she builds from her tumultuous rumbling-tumbling bass notes to her soaring nightingale highs, creating an original sound. Canada's own creative musician fills each musical offering with intensley detailed vocal colours.
The CD Cinnabar Rebecca's recent album released in June 2010 gathered a nomination by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in the category of Best Traditional Singer. Cinnabar continues Rebecca's interweaving of rhythmic roots instruments focused on traditional story telling songs.
Rebecca Barclay grew up in Toronto and has been an inspired singer since the age of 12 when she started actively researching folk traditions through the field recordings in a sound library near her junior school.
She has a particular interest in the stories of older songs, bringing them to life with ornamentation and rhythmical influences from a diverse range of cultural traditions. Her vocal style, firmly rooted in the tradition of English (UK) folk singing, draws for further inspiration from the classical and traditional singing of East India, Ireland, the Balkan harmonic singing and the percussive four part harmonies of South Africa. Each of these traditions she first studied at the "Worlds of Music" group in Toronto Canada. Rebecca Barclay has performed widely across Canada and now the USA and the UK, both as a soloist and as a compliment to an assortment of bands, from folk choirs to celtic rock.
In the early 80's Rebecca was a weekly presenter of the traditional celtic music radio show, Music of the Glen, at CKCU Radio in Ottawa. Rebecca has led the Irish song singing workshop for Toronto's annual Chris Langhan Irish Piper Festival.
Not afraid to mix a special blend to tell the story of a song, Rebecca's respect for cultural diversity derives from growing up Canadian, in a city that holds a wealth of culture brought to it by its diverse inhabitants. Rebecca's fearless and dedicated work as a musical seamstress, with a deep commitment to the older human stories, has earned her a place at the forefront of Canada’s new generation of traditional musicians.