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ROBIN AND BINA WILLIAMSON











Robin and Bina Williamson play harp, guitar, fiddle, bowed psaltery, autoharp and long necked dulcimer. “This is real music, magical, simple, funky and true”

Robin is a worldwide legend as the founder and creative force behind the Incredible String Band. He has been nominated twice for a Grammy: for his 1995 live album with John Renbourn ‘Wheel of Fortune’, and for the 1968 ISB album ‘The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter’. Bina is an inspired and gifted singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in her own right.

A powerful endorsement comes from Robert Plant: 'What Robin and Bina do is pure beauty through simplicity'.

More quotes:

"An evening of enchanting entertainment," Edi Stark, Radio Scotland, Celtic Connections

"Enthralling musicianship" Glasgow Herald

"Miss them at your peril!" Glastonbury 2007

"Superb" Rowan Williams

“This is real music, magical simple funky and true. Robin and Bina work together so well because they create a perfect balance of voices….incorporating the best parts of the Incredible String Band and distilling it  into a new and unique form of musical creativity. They blend original lyrics and melodies with folk, old-timey, spirituals and blues with large helpings of Celtic and Indian influences." Steve Andrews Pulse Cardiff 2010

“The whole of Robin and Bina's performance was enchanting and companionable." David Kidman Birdsedge Hall 2009

“I have to say for me the highlight of the whole weekend was watching Robin and Bina Williamson on the Saturday afternoon .They were simply marvelous!” Magpiebridge Blogspot  National Acoustic Festival 2012 

Extracts from Wikipedia

Robin Williamson was 15 when he left education to become a professional musician. At first he performed in local jazz bands before turning to traditional music as a singer and guitarist. By 1961 he was sharing a flat with Bert Jansch, and in 1963 they travelled together to London to play the metropolitan folk circuit. By 1965, he had returned to Edinburgh and formed a duo with Clive Palmer, specialising in fiddle and banjo arrangements of traditional Scots and Irish songs. Joe Boyd signed them to Elektra Records in 1966, by which time they had recruited third member Mike Heron. As resident band at Clive’s Incredible Folk Club in Glasgow, they called themselves the Incredible String Band. Between 1966 and 1974 the Incredible String Band, based around the duo of Williamson and Heron, released some 13 albums, becoming in the UK one of the most popular, best-loved and influential groups of the era.

After the band split up in 1974, he moved to Los Angeles. By 1976 he had formed The Merry Band with Sylvia Woods (Celtic harp), Jerry McMillan (fiddle), and Chris Caswell (flutes, and wire-strung harp). They toured extensively for three years throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, and released three albums "Journey’s Edge", "American Stonehenge", and "A Glint At The Kindling". After the breakup of the Merry Band, he returned to the UK and started to tour solo, offering sets dominated by traditional stories set to song. Releases of this period include "Songs of Love and Parting" and "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers". He has also written a tutorial book of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes (ISBN 0-8256-0165-7) as well as one for the penny whistle (ISBN 0-8256-0190-8).

In the late 1990s he took part, with Palmer and Heron, in a reformed Incredible String Band. He left in 2003 and resumed his solo career, notably on record with a series of albums for the ECM label: "Seed-at-zero' (2000), 'Skirting The River Road' (2002), 'The Iron Stone' (2006), and 'Trusting in the Rising Light' (2014). As well as his own words these albums feature material from the likes of Dylan Thomas, William Blake, and Walt Whitman.



http://www.pigswhiskermusic.co.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williamson
https://www.facebook.com/RobinAndBinaWilliamson/
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