Nuada

Nuada are...

Ruth Bramley: Hurdy gurdy, vocals, guitar, banjo, Appalachian dulcimer and percussion.
Sam Burke: Vocals, bouzouki, guitar, laud, percussion, chalmeaux, lute and crumhorn.
Ferris Jay: Bagpipes, recorders, flutes, whistles, gemshorn, ocarina and vocals.

Nuada...

the Duo: is Sam and Ferris, playing a wide range of traditional Irish, Celtic and Folk music.
the Trio: has more emphasis on the French, Folk and Early music.

Nuada play...

...a combination of Medieval, Celtic and Folk music on an ever-widening array of instrumentation, including pipes, hurdy gurdy, bouzouki, recorders and lute, to name but a few. They weave traditional material with self-penned tunes and songs to create a rich and varied tapestry of music. Nuada’s performances are rapturously received whether they are at folk clubs, festivals, medieval events or private/corporate functions.

History

Sam and Ferris have been playing together since the early 90s as a duo and with various bands, mainly playing traditional Irish music. Ferris brought her love for Irish music which then expanded into the wider world of Folk, discovering exciting things like bagpipes and recorders. This led to a distinctively more ‘Celtic’ influence. The band expanded in 2001 to include Ruth Bramley - as Ferris’s pipes fell in love with Ruth’s hurdy gurdy - hence the trio was born (well, who can stand in the way of true love!). The trio also brings a new dimension to the Folk material, with Ruth also bringing her vocal, guitar and percussive skills. The trio also play for ceilidhs, with Ruth calling the dances.

Biographies

Ruth Bramley: Ruth’s first public performance was whilst still at school, in North London, playing guitar and singing with a group of classmates. She discovered real Folk music when she went to university and was soon a regular performer at the Folk clubs around the Coventry area. Since those early days, she has played in a very popular ceilidh band, Lollypops and Bullseyes, as half of the duo Big Apple Pie, who specialise in children’s entertainment, and in the band Fizzadity. Ruth started playing hurdy gurdy comparatively recently, having fallen in love with the instrument back in the early 1980s. She also sings and plays bodhrán, banjo, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer. She is very involved in the Cambridgeshire Folk scene, as organiser of the Ely Folk Club, and also a regular helper at the Cambridge Folk Festival and Ely Folk Weekend.
Sam Burke: Known to everyone as Spam, he is an avid musician and was a mainstay of the North London Acoustic Network in the late 80s and early 90s. He met Ferris in 1992 and was introduced to the wonders of real Traditional Irish Music. He likes nothing better than to spend the day trying out new songs or strange medieval instruments or relaxing at a session with a few drops of the black stuff. Spam also runs the successful “Sleeping Toad” recording studio, where Nuada recordings are made.
Ferris Jay: Born and bred in Dublin, Ferris was introduced to traditional Irish music, on the flute, in her late teens and never looked back, playing sessions and busking around the country before moving to the UK in 1992. When she met Sam her range broadened to incorporate English traditional music and later European Folk and Early music and once she discovered the wonders of bagpipes a whole new repertoire of possibilities opened up. She has also recently started playing the harp.

Band biographies