Ninebarrow

Event information

We are pleased to welcome Ninebarrow back to Harwell.

Ninebarrow (Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere) are a multi-award-winning folk duo, who are impressing audiences across the country with their innovative and captivating take on the folk tradition. Described by Mark Radcliffe as sounding ‘like two halves of one voice’ and by Mercury Music Prize nominee Kate Rusby as ‘absolutely amazing’, Jon and Jay combine breath taking vocal harmonies and melodies, delivering original songs that are inspired and rooted in the landscape and history of the British Isles. As well as crafting unique and engaging original material, Ninebarrow also take a wide-range of traditional folk songs and rework them in their own, distinctive way.
Jon and Jay relinquished their respective full-time jobs as a teacher and GP back in 2016 and took a leap of faith into the music business – a gamble that almost immediately paid off. In 2017, they were nominated for a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award: one of the highest accolades in the world of folk music and clear recognition for their outstanding harmonies, high production values, poetic lyricism and magical instrumentation.

Named after Nine Barrow Down in Dorset’s Purbeck hills, the duo have produced four critically acclaimed albums with their 2021 record, ‘A Pocket Full of Acorns’, released to a raft of four and five star reviews in the folk and mainstream media. This arboreal-titled album brought with it a very special initiative which saw the pair planting 1,000 native English trees (half of them oaks) and 200 shrubs to form The Ninebarrow Woodland on three acres of land near Gillingham in north Dorset – today the young woodland is burgeoning, alive with myriad avian visitors and a flower glade.

Never short of ideas, the duo embraced the COVID lockdown period with a run of technically astute streamed gigs in indoor and outdoor settings (they continue today) which, at their peak, saw more than 2,000 people tuning in as well as masterminding a special collaboration with two choirs (Hart Voices and Chantry Singers) to produce the charity single The Hour of the Blackbird which raised funds for mental health charity MIND. Keen walkers, they have also penned two books of Dorset walks (with a third on the way) and for the past few years have run incredibly popular ‘musical walking holidays’ on Dorset’s magical Isle of Purbeck.

As they celebrate their first decade and prepare to release their fifth studio album, it is clear that the name of Ninebarrow has become synonymous with one word – quality. The highly atmospheric ‘The Colour of Night’ (release date: 1st September 2023) is their first release in two-and-a-half years – and is a record that takes their remarkable success story to yet another level.

Says Jon: “This collection is released in the tenth year since we picked up a ukulele and decided to have a go at singing some songs together. We feel like we’ve come a long way since then - we’re packing a few more instruments in the car for a start! The world has certainly felt a bit topsy-turvy since our last album but we are lucky to have received wonderful support that kept our spirits high – some of the songs here reflect that sentiment.”

Engaging, charismatic and humorous - Ninebarrow are winning new fans wherever they go. See them live, and you’ll quickly understand why.

There is no support for this event - Ninebarrow will be on at 7:30pm

Doors and bar 6:45pm, music at 7:30pm