Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell met as teenagers, as part of the first cohort of the National Youth Folk Ensemble. Since forming their duo in 2018, they have: supported Martin Hayes; been nominated for the BBC Young Folk Award; released their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘You, Golden” and had national airplay on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4 alongside RTE1 in Ireland and BBC Scotland. Their EP ‘102 Metres East’ was be released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World X in March 2024.
As their music has developed, the duo have drifted away from the expectations of an English folk fiddle and guitar duo, with dynamic range, atmosphere and intimacy becoming more present in their own compositions, re-examining what it means to be ‘authentic’ as two male, middle-class English folk musicians.
The duo allows Owen and Louis to distill their love of traditional and experimental music into powerful, intricate and intimate music. Their music manages to orbit many different sound-worlds from traditional English dance tune to chamber music and post-rock with influences ranging from field recordings, to The Gloaming, Bill Frisell, Ravel and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
They display a mastery and vision that, for a debut, is truly remarkable.
Folk Radio UK
Beautiful, swirling, modern English folk music
Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
Watch them play their track “102 Metres East” below.