Rachel Newton

Singer and harpist Rachel Newton specialises in interpreting traditional folk songs in both English and Gaelic as well as writing and arranging her own music. A skilled collaborator, Rachel is a founder member of Heal & Harrow and The Lost Words: Spell Songs. Her previous solo releases are The Shadow Side (2012), Changeling (2014), Here's My Heart Come Take It (2016), West (2018), To The Awe (2020) and Sealladh (2024). Rachel was awarded Instrumentalist of the Year 2016 at the Scots Trad Music Awards and Musician of the Year in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017. Her albums To The Awe and Here's My Heart Come Take It were shortlisted as one of Scotland's top 10 outstanding albums in the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award 2017 and 2021. She was awarded a Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for Best Music and Sound in 2009. Co-founder of The Bit Collective, a group focusing on equality and diversity in folk and traditional music, Rachel has organised various campaigns and events, including the Trad. Reclaimed: Women in Folk festival at Kings Place, London in 2019. 'A beauty' **** Observer 'Haunting and compelling' **** The Guardian 'Harp and strings blur the border between worlds' **** The Financial Times 'This is the sound of modern Scotland, as surely as draws on folklore and tradition, Newton's singing and harp at the heart of a singular vision.' **** The Herald