Everywhere

Biography

Uiscedwr (pronounced "ish-ka-dooer"; means 'water' in Irish and Welsh) is a folk band which plays British folk music influenced by world music. The group started off as a trio and was originally based in Manchester. They won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2002. Founding members Welsh fiddle player/singer Anna Esslemont and Irish bodhran virtuoso Cormac Byrne met in Manchester in 2002, and soon afterwards formed the group. Byrne invited a friend from Ireland to play the guitar, and with the...

Uiscedwr (pronounced "ish-ka-dooer"; means 'water' in Irish and Welsh) is a folk band which plays British folk music influenced by world music. The group started off as a trio and was originally based in Manchester. They won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2002.

Founding members Welsh fiddle player/singer Anna Esslemont and Irish bodhran virtuoso Cormac Byrne met in Manchester in 2002, and soon afterwards formed the group. Byrne invited a friend from Ireland to play the guitar, and with the lineup fleshed out by Esslemont's younger sister they entered the BBC Young Folk Awards 2002, which they won. Despite the win, the guitarist left the group, and Esslemont called upon an old acquaintance, Ben Hellings.

As the trio of Esslemont, Byrne and Hellings, the group recorded Everywhere in 2003, which gained them a nomination for the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2005. By this time, Uiscedwr was mixing British folk music with a strong Celtic bias with other influences including jazz, European folk music and world music. Shortly before the 2005 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Hellings left the group and was replaced by guitarist Kevin Dempsey who also contributed vocals.

During 2005, Anna Esslemont was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia. Her illness meant the group had to reduce its touring commitments and delay work on the second album. Esslemont had a successful bone marrow transplant in December 2006 and Uiscedwr resumed touring in June 2007. Subsequently, Uiscedwr (and Esslemont in particular) has been active in fundraising for the Aplastic Anaemia Trust charity.

Dempsey left Uiscedwr in December 2007 to concentrate on other projects and was replaced by Shropshire guitarist James Hickman in January 2008.

At the beginning of 2008, Uiscedwr joined the roster of folk-and-acoustic music agency Iconic Music. Accordionist Karen Tweed guested with Uiscedwr during 2008 and early 2009.

The band's third album, Fish Cat Door, was released in May 2009. The title of the 11-track CD is a tongue-in-cheek aide mémoire on the pronunciation of the band's name.

In early 2010, Nick Waldock joined the trio alternating as guitarist with James Hickman.

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