Music of Somerset

The county has a well-documented and still vibrant folk music heritage, It was studied by one of the earliest British musicologists, Cecil Sharp.

Sharp began his career of collecting folk songs in Somerset in 1903 with the editorial help of his friend Rev Charles Marson, vicar of Hambridge.

The folksinging tradition in Somerset centers on solo, a cappella singing and playing—at home, at work, and at gatherings, small or large.

Ange Hardy and Reg Meuross, are from the county, as well as Kitty McFarlane, Mary Bateman, Hannah Cumming and Johnny Dyer, and The Leylines.

The best known folk act to come out of Somerset is undoubtedly the Wurzels, who brought the region's association with cider and farming to the international stage.

The choir gave its inaugural concert in June 1947 in Bath Abbey, a performance of J. S. Bach's great Mass in B Minor.

Well-known musicians from Somerset include Acker Bilk, a jazz musician from Pensford (who formed the Paramount Jazz Band), Weston-super-Mare-born Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and local folk artists Adge Cutler and The Wurzels (simply The Wurzels after Cutler's death), who were the most prominent Somerset band in the Scrumpy and Western music scene.

[6][7] Gabrielle Aplin lives in Bath in Somerset and gained major popularity from her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Power Of Love' that reached number one in the singles charts in 2012.

[8] Apart from the founding of a national theatre, they envisaged a summer school and music festival based on utopian principles.

The Festival has more than 50 Sea Shanty and Folk Music bands from all over the British Isles across more than 14 venues in the town and along the seafront.

It is a 3 day festival held on the second weekend in July and has been running for over 30 years featuring high quality folk artists from across the world and many up and coming stars.