Already a respected interpreter of traditional material, Nancy Kerr’s emergence as a writer of rare style has drawn comparisons to William Blake in her reawakening of a radical folk mythology as a backdrop for contemporary narratives about love and conflict, motherhood, migration, hardship and jubilation, and the tensions between rural and urban life.
Awards
Nancy is one of the most celebrated folk musicians of her generation, winning six Folk Awards from BBC Radio 2:
• FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR 2015
• HORIZON AWARD 2000 with James Fagan
• BEST DUO 2003 and 2011 with James Fagan
• BEST GROUP 2014 with The Full English
• BEST ALBUM 2014 with The Full English
Nominated Best Original Song 2011 for Queen of Waters.
Winner Best Album 2011 (Spiral Earth) for Twice Reflected Sun (Navigator041).
Biographical details: Nancy Kerr’s Wiki Page
Research
Nancy is Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded research project ‘Music, Heritage, Place: Unlocking the Collections of England’s County Record Offices”: Music Heritage Place
As heard in series 1 and 2 of The Song Detectorists on BBC Radio 3: The Song Detectorists
And featured in The Guardian: Guardian article on MHP
Other collaborative project outputs include:
Eighteenth Century Political Participation and Electoral Culture (Newcastle University)
EEPPEC
100 Ballads (Belfast/Warwick)
100 Ballads
2026: Crimean War Poetry Project The Demon War (Exeter)
Previous Research Partnerships:
Transmitting Musical Heritage (University of Sheffield 2013 AHRC-funded)
Mastering Creativity (Leeds Conservatoire Staff/Alumnus HE Research Project 2019)
Selected UK commissions:
2012 The Olympic Games Radio Ballads Going for Gold – Commissioned BBC
Radio 2
2013 The Full English – Commissioned EFDSS; Winner: Best Album and Best Group BBC Folk Awards 2014
2014 The Elizabethan Session – Commissioned Hatfield House
2015/16 Sweet Liberties – Commissioned Houses of Parliament
2017/18 Shake the Chains – Commissioned Folk by the Oak
2019 Garrick’s Jubilee – Commissioned Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
(Funding bodies include PRS Foundation, Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund)
2020/21 British Tunnelling Society 50th Anniversary – Commissioned British Tunnelling Society – included release of an original EP “Tunnellers”: Tunnellers on Bandcamp
2022 Sheffield Lakeland Song Project
2024 Peace Through Folk (Carol of the Skies)
Education Work
Nancy is currently Lecturer in Folk & Traditional Music and Postgraduate Taught Admissions Tutor at Newcastle University.
Nancy is a folk educator with over 25 years’ teaching experience in both formal and informal education settings. She qualified in Clinical Music Therapy with Professor Leslie Bunt at Bristol University, and continues to practice as a therapeutically-informed community musician in a range of settings. Nancy has led workshops and choirs and taught 1:1 at festivals, residential courses, schools and universities in the UK, Australia, Canada, Europe and Asia. Her music psychotherapy background informs her practice as a facilitator of client-led music-making throughout the lifespan. Nancy was awarded Professor of Composition & Performance at Leeds Conservatoire in 2021. At The University of Sheffield she facilitated Music Masterclasses at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, examining the reception of personal narratives via song-writing with final year medical students. She has been guest tutor for the National Youth Folk Ensemble (NYFE) and workshop leader/adjudicator for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award. She has been a Stagecraft Mentor for English Folk Expo and Brighter Sounds UK as part of their emerging artists support schemes. Her community engagement work for Music, Heritage, Place (AHRC/RHUL/Newcastle) has featured music and song workshops for hundreds of participants of all ages.