Shirley Collins

Shirley Collins is a renowned English folk musician whose career started in the 1950s. Born and raised in Hastings, East Sussex, she grew up in a musical family and along with sister Dolly, she began learning traditional songs from her grandfather and aunt at an early age.

A meeting with American folk music collector Alan Lomax in 1954 led to a romantic relationship between the pair. They travelled to the United States in 1959, embarking on a six-month trip collecting and recording folk music in the Southern states, resulting in Atlantic Records release Sounds of the South. Some of this music was featured in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Back in Britain, Collins pursued her own singing career, and was instrumental in the 1960s revival of English folk music. Significant recordings include 1964’s Folk Roots, New Routes, with guitarist Davy Graham; The Sweet Primeroses, recorded with Dolly and released in 1967; and 1969’s Anthems in Eden, considered by many to be her seminal album. Anthems in Eden featured traditional instruments such as the viol, the sackbuts and crumhorns.

She gave up recording studio albums after releasing As Many As Will in 1978, but continues to lecture on and champion traditional music. Accolades include a Gold Badge from the English Folk Dance and Song Society, awarded to Collins in 2004; an MBE for services to music in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2007; and an honorary degree from the Open University for a ‘notable contribution to education and culture’, awarded in 2008.

She is the current president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society and has published a book about her travels in America with Lomax, called America Over the Water (SAF Publishing, 2004).

Website: www.shirleycollins.co.uk