Bridie Jackson & The Arbour are from Newcastle Upon Tyne. They launched their début album, Bitter Lullabies, with a sold-out show at The Sage Gateshead in January 2012.

Bridie has a unique voice “that despite its strength and power has a whisper like quality that draws you in with its gentle intimacy and bewitching melancholy” (The Crack Magazine). Her voice and “inventive guitar playing that instantly intrigues” (Head Scaffold), are complemented by ‘The Arbour’, a talented group of musicians who provide rich layers of vocal harmonies alongside combinations of cello, violin, and bell plates.

The instruments are used sparingly; “working up magic from seemingly simple elements” (Narc magazine), in a set which varies from entirely a capella to riotous, stomping bluegrass-tinged new folk.

The breadth of influences that can be heard in their music ranges from gospel music to flamenco, as well as the more contemporary echoes of artists such as The Fleet Foxes, Goldfrapp and Feist. This is music that proves impossible to define, yet is instantly engaging, as Bridie’s “casual, kick-off-my-shoes confidence draws the audience in” (Laura Fraine, Journal Culture).

The Band

Bridie Jackson – Guitar, Piano, Lead Vocal

Jenny Nendick – Cello, Bell Plates

Carol Bowden – Vocals, Percussion, Bell Plates

Rachel Cross – Vocals, Violin, Bell Plates

Additional Musicians

Sofia de Castro – Vocals, Bell Plates

Tom Cronin – Vocals, Mandolin, Bell Plates

Nathalie Stern – Vocals, Bell Plates

Alexandra Healy – Violin, Vocals, Bell Plates

Ed Alcroft – Bassoon, Vocals, Bell Plates

Eleanor Mooney – Vocals, Bell Plates

Selected Press Quotes

“Strong, passionate and totally absorbing”

- Generator NE

“A unique record of startling beauty.”

- Manifesto magazine

“Really quite splendid”

- Gideon Coe, BBC 6 music

“Ethereal and entirely beautiful music”

- A New Band A Day

‘Extraordinary, haunting vocals and deep, poetic lyrics create a challenging, thought provoking listening experience’

- Maverick magazine