English folk singer Hannah Sanders is fast building a reputation as one of the most exciting singers of folk song around. Her debut Charms Against Sorrow was released in February 2015 to critical acclaim, with Mike Harding hailing it “Absolutely fantastic... Every track is a pearl!” In 2016 she released Before The Sun with Ben Savage and in 2018 Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage released Awake, the duo's second studio album. 

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“Blessed with a peerlessly pure voice... Catch her while you can!”

★★★★ The Express

 

Hannah grew up travelling Europe singing unaccompanied folk songs in 4-part harmony with her family band, The Dunns. She then left music to pursue a career as a cultural anthropologist, becoming a leading expert on contemporary witchcraft and popular culture. She lived in the USA for several years where she returned to singing thanks to Liz Simmons (Low Lily).

 

“Refreshingly unafraid to take risks, delivering an intensely personal interpretation at all times. A force to be reckoned with.” fRoots

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Her recorded work showcases a voice of unaffected beauty, with a range, elasticity and purity so rarely encountered in the modern folk landscape. Equally adept at delivering love songs like I Gave My Love a Cherry with intimacy and simplicity as she is at telling a dark murder ballad like Lady Margaret with real intensity and drama; Hannah’s deep understanding and love of old songs shines through. Influences from her life on both sides of the Atlantic can be heard throughout her arrangements, which breathe new life into well-loved folk songs.

 

“A truly captivating vocal” Spiral Earth

 

Awake ( 2018) and Before the Sun (2016) , her 2 duo albums with Ben Savage were engineered and produced in Toronto, Canada with producer David Travers-Smith with a star studded cst of guests from both sides of the Atlantic including  Jon Thorne (bass), Evan Carson (percussion), Kevin Breit (mandola and guitar), Kat Gilmore (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Chris Coole (banjo),  Jim Causley (vocals), Oh Susanna (vocals), Jess Morgan (vocals) and Burke Carroll (pedal steel). In addition to airplay and live studio sessions on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6, Before The Sun was voted in the FRoots Critics Poll Album of the Year list 2016, and Awake has been voted top Folk Albums in the FRUK 2018 list and in Penguin Eggs Top Albums of 2018.

 

"Awesome... A supremely divine album" Americana UK

 

Hannah has sung in venues across the UK, USA Canada  both solo and with Ben Savage. She was invited  as Official Showcase Artist to showcase at Folk North Canada (2016) and Folk Alliance International (2018) with the support from British Underground/EFDSS thanks to the generous support of PRSF for Music. With Ben Savage, Hannah toured both the UK and Canada with Canadian singer songwriter Oh Susanna as part of Crossing Borders project. She continues to collaborate with storyteller Nick Hennessey and perform as part of 'Outside Emily', a multimedia experimental project on the work of Emily Dickinson with Sally Bailey, Nicole Panizza and Suzie Hanna.

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“Beautiful; Charms Against Sorrow is a joy to listen to.”

Bright Young Folk