The Poozies
| The Poozies | |
|---|---|
| Genres | folk music |
| Years active | 1990-present |
| Associated acts | Sileas |
| Website | |
| Members | Sally Barker, Mary Macmaster, Eilidh Shaw, Mairearad Green |
| Past members | Kate Rusby, Patsy Seddon, Karen Tweed, Jenny Gardener |
The Poozies is an all-women band that produces folk music from the English and Scottish traditions. The band performs traditional and self-composed material. Contemporary songs written by Sally Barker are featured heavily in the current live set. The band recorded a new album, “Yellow Like Sunshine,” in the Spring of 2009, and launched it at the Acoustic Music Centre at St Brides in Edinburgh on August 18, 2009, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe
Biography
The Poozies formed in 1990. Mary Macmaster (harp) and Patsy Seddon (harp) were performing together as the duo Sileas and worked with Sally Barker (guitar and vocals) on her solo album. Together they decided that an all-women folk group was a good idea, and when Barker met Karen Tweed in Hong Kong she agreed to join the project. Fiddler Jenny Gardener was the original fifth member of the group but left before the band recorded their first album (on which she appears as a guest on the track 'Foggy Mountain Top').
After the release of Dansoozies (1993) and Chantoozies (1995), Barker left the group in 1996 in order to start a family. Kate Rusby joined the band as lead vocalist, and this lineup released one EP, Come Raise Your Head (1997), and a full-length album, Infinite Blue (1998). However, as Rusby's solo career took off, she was replaced on vocals by Eilidh Shaw, also an accomplished fiddler.
In 2000 the band released Raise your head: A Retrospective to celebrate ten years of The Poozies, and in 2003 released Changed Days Same Roots. In 2006 Barker rejoined the group to make it a five-piece again, and they toured with this lineup until December 2007. Tweed left the band in December 2007, and was replaced by Mairearad Green from the band, the Unusual Suspects. Original member Patsy Seddon left in April 2012.
Current lineup
- Sally Barker (guitar, vocals)
- Mary Macmaster (electro-harp, metal-strung harp, percussion, vocals)
- Eilidh Shaw (fiddle, vocals)
- Mairearad Green (piano accordion, pipes, vocals)
Discography
- Dansoozies (1993) - Hypertension
- Chantoozies (1995) - Hypertension
- Come Raise Your Head (EP) (1997)
- Infinite Blue (1998) - Compass
- Raise your head: A Retrospective (2000) - Compass
- Changed Days Same Roots (2003) - Compass
- Yellow Like Sunshine (2009) - Greentrax
External links
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