Groups

Rob Harbron & Emma Reid
Rob Harbron • English concertina, guitar and vocals
Emma Reid • fiddle, viola, vocals

Rob Harbron and Emma Reid are renowned instrumentalists and compelling performers. Their duo performances combine their individual characters and influences with their shared roots in English traditional music, and also incorporate other styles and traditions including Emma's expertise in the music of her motherland, Sweden. Their performances together are fresh, spontaneous and engaging.

Rob Harbron is a sought-after multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, and a uniquely skilled player of the English concertina. He has recently composed for, recorded and toured with Sam Sweeney’s acclaimed Made in the Great War project; he is also part of the new trio Leveret with Sam and Andy Cutting, and has performed with The Full English, Fay Hield and the Hurricane Party, Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings, Kerr Fagan Harbron, and others. He was Musical Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2013 production of The Winter’s Tale, has recently been commissioned to write music for the British Silent Film Festival, the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the Royal Geographical Society, and has recently produced recordings by Fernhill, Three Cane Whale and Duotone.

Emma Reid grew up in the northeast of England and started playing the fiddle at the age of three with her Swedish mother. She has graduated with a Music Performance BA and Master of Music from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and Newcastle University respectively. In 2006 Emma became National Fiddler in Sweden, where she is now based. Today Emma is an established artist with an impressive catalogue of performances and collaborations. She tours, records and teaches extensively throughout Scandinavia and Britain with amongst others Rob Harbron, Methera, Ian Carr, John McCusker, Ellika Frisell, Roger Tallroth and Daniel Reid. She often collaborates with storytellers and dancers, and has worked as theatre musician at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.

Together Rob and Emma bring their natural, uplifting sound to bear on a varied repertoire which includes their own new music alongside traditional songs and tunes. The core of their repertoire is in the dance tunes of England, which they bring to life and adapt to the stage, inspired by archive recordings and contemporary musicians to expose the vitality, swing, lift and articulation at the core of each tune. This is honest, upbeat, optimistic music to listen to in an intimate, acoustic setting — where the audience can enjoy the intricate details, spontaneous harmonies and arrangements that stem from a close interplay between the players, and the ongoing dialogue between artist and audience. 2015 sees the release of the duos' second album FLOCK & FLY, in which they playfully explore similarities between Swedish and English dance forms.

Review
"Emma and Rob play in such a studious, musical, intuitive fashion, they strip the tunes of their tradition, their background and context. Whether they introduce a piece as a traditional dance tune or a self-penned ditty about swimming, they force you inside the music itself. What’s clear from their body language and reaction to each other’s playing is that they’re listening for the outcome as much as we are, creating an air of genuine spontaneity and honest interpretation… Each journey through an old tune is just as exciting as the last, full of possibility, surprises and new pleasures."
- The Living Tradition

MP3 tasters
From the album New Dogs, Old Tricks, 2006:
The Rose Tree, trad. morris dance tune
Tombigbee Waltz, trad.

High res photo
Interested in hosting a house concert?
www.robertharbron.co.uk

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