Fleecey Folk: Ruth Eliza - Tues 28 April 2026, 8pm, £17
- TheFleeceInn
- Feb 8
- 1 min read
Ruth Eliza is a clawhammer banjo player and singer-songwriter, joined for her album launch tour with Matthew Ord & Tom Kimber.
Drawing on her love of old-time Appalachian folk music and contemporary Bluegrass and Americana, she creates a fresh take on Anglo-Folk-Americana. Her delivery of open, honest and raw yet well-arranged songs and tunes, combined with her unique banjo style, captivates audiences. From lively energetic numbers to gentle flowing tunes, her set is varied and contoured, taking the listener on a journey.
Her debut album, While The Light Shines, has a strong focus on simple, honest songwriting, producing effective, evocative and timeless results. Subject matter includes reflections on her own life, such as the search for identity growing up in an ex-mining community in the Midlands, being a self-taught musician from a working-class background, and parenting, as well as some classic songs of love and heartbreak. She joins forces with Matthew Ord, guitarist (Assembly Lane, Cloth-Eared Mule), to put together the arrangements, plus mandolinist Tom Kimber (Assembly Lane, Pons Aelius), Swedish fiddler Adam Bülow (Bülow’s Kvartett, New Valley String Band) and double bass player Eleanor Wilkie (Midnight Skyracer, Sapphire Storm, Charlotte Carrivick Band). The fresh Anglo-Folk-Americana sound produced by the band brings a new flavour to the table, with most songs led by clawhammer banjo, in Ruth’s unique style, developed through studying old and contemporary banjo players. It was recorded by Josh Clark at Get Real Audio and is due to be released in March 2026.
