Nancy Elizabeth

Nancy Elizabeth
Born	5 December 1983 (1983-12-05) (age 27)
Origin	Wigan, Lancashire, England
Genres	Contemporary folk, Folk rock, alternative
Occupations	Singer/songwriter
Instruments	Voice, guitar, piano, Harp, Khim
Years active	1997–present
Labels	The Leaf Label
Website	nancyelizabeth.co.uk

Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe (born 1983) is a folk singer-songwriter from Wigan in Lancashire, England. She tours extensively in the UK, Europe and further afield. She is an active member of Sōka Gakkai.

History

Early years

Nancy was born in Billinge Higher End, near Wigan, and learned piano and guitar at an early age, the later being entirely self-taught. By the age of 18 she had made one EP, Basis, and one LP, Fly Alley, both of which were recorded, produced, manufactured and distributed by Nancy using home equipment. Around this time Cunliffe started to experiment with other instruments and acquired a Khim from Thailand and a Celtic Harp. Having initially started playing on the Wigan folk scene, she attended Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and moved to playing regularly in Manchester, Liverpool and around England.

The Wheel Turning King

Nancy's first EP, released in 2006, was recorded in an old Corinthian-style church on the outskirts of Liverpool and is named after the concept of an ideal ruler in ancient Indian mythology.^[1] Recorded at night to reduce traffic noise interference, some distortion can be heard when listening carefully: in particular on the aptly named "Waiting for Cars". The record was released by Manchester-based Timbreland.^[2]

Battle and Victory

The first LP, Battle and Victory ^[3] was released 24 September 2007 and licensed to The Leaf Label. This marked the first record where Cunliffe was dropped as a performing name. The album was critically well received ^[4] and drew favourable comparisons with music by Joanna Newsom,^[5] Josephine Foster ^[6] and many others.^[7] The release of this album went hand in hand with an increase in the number of live performances, and she started to tour both the UK, Europe and further afield with regularity.^[8]

Wrought Iron

The second album Wrought Iron was released on 5 October 2009,^[9] again with The Leaf Label. It received excellent reviews,^[10] prompting an article to be written by Laura Barton in The Guardian.^[11] Drawing inspiration from natural sounds of the Faroe Islands (her grandmother’s birthplace), rural Spain and the Lake District, the album was recorded in a remote corner of North Wales. Described as a "sparse album, dusted with piano, breathy vocals and harmonies, and touches of acoustic guitar, horns and accordion"^[12] this work moves away from the multi-instrumental previous works to concentrate mainly on the piano, guitar and vocal arrangements. Track 4 of the album was released as a single with an accompanying video, shot in Portishead lido.^[13]

Third Album

A third album is currently in production.

Collaborations

Cunliffe has collaborated for many live shows and records, including touring with Tunng, A Hawk and a Hacksaw and James Yorkston. More recently a UK tour with James Blackshaw and Hauschka saw her perform live pieces written specifically for the tour, which features a headline show in the main hall of the Barbican Centre.^[14] She has also worked with Susumu Yokota^[15][16] and is in production with Paul White^[17]

Discography

Singles

"Hey Son" (2007)

"I Used to Try" (2007)

"Feet of Courage" (2009)

Extended Plays and Albums

• The Wheel Turning King EP (2006) ^[18]

1. "Place to Shelter"
2. "Waiting for Cars"
3. "Sense"
4. "Wildfire"
5. "The Moving Sand"
6. "The Wheel Turning King"

• Battle and Victory LP (2007) ^[19]

1. "I'm Like the Paper"
2. "I Used to Try"
3. "Off With Your Axe"
4. "The Remote Past"
5. "Coriander"
6. "8 Brown Legs"
7. "Electric"
8. "Hey Son"
9. "Weakened Bow"
10. "What is Human"
11. "Lung"
12. "How Can I Stop?"
13. "Battle and Victory"

• Wrought Iron LP (2009) ^[20]

1. "Cairns"
2. "Bring On The Hurricane"
3. "Tow The Line"
4. "Feet Of Courage"
5. "Divining"
6. "Cat Bells"
7. "Canopy"
8. "Lay Low"
9. "The Act"
10. "Ruins"
11. "Winter, Baby"

External links

• Nancy Elizabeth on The Leaf Label

References

1. ^ The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism
2. ^ Timbreland Recordings
3. ^ Battle and Victory
4. ^ BBC review of Battle and Victory
5. ^ Boomkat review of Battle and Victory
6. ^ Guardian "New Band of the Day" review
7. ^ NME review of Battle and Victory
8. ^ Increasing number of live shows
9. ^ Wrought Iron by Nancy Elizabeth
10. ^ BBC Music review
11. ^ Guardian Review of Nancy Elizabeth
12. ^ Review
13. ^ Youtube Feet of Courage
14. ^ Barbican - Kept Impulses
15. ^ Susumu Yokota Mother
16. ^ Youtube 12 days, 12 nights Susumu Yokota featuring Nancy Elizabeth
17. ^ Paul White featuring Nancy Elizabeth announced
18. ^ The Wheel Turning King on iTunes
19. ^ Battle and Victory on iTunes
20. ^ Wrought Iron on iTunes

Persondata
Name	Cunliffe, Nancy Elizabeth
Alternative names
Short description	Musician
Date of birth	5 December 1983
Place of birth	Billinge Hospital, Wigan, Lancashire
Date of death
Place of death