Megson

Event information

Combining the talents of northerners Stu Hanna and Debbie Hanna-Palmer, the duo Megson is fast becoming “hot property” on the British folk and roots scene. Their three albums, On The Side, Smoke of Home and Take Yourself a Wife have chronicled that blossoming creative talent.

Originally from Teeside, the husband and wife duo met singing in the local Cleveland Youth Choir. At the time they both had very different musical career paths ahead of them. Middlesborough born and bred Debbie has been singing since she could speak. She trained to be a classical singer, taking a degree in Music at Leeds University followed by post-graduate success at Trinity College, London, gaining a distinction as a classical soprano. She plays violin, piano, whistles and concertina.

Billingham, Teeside born and bred Stu was playing in a pop-punk band run by an American manager who had big ideas for the band. They soon found that neither of these worlds was ultimately for them and, shortly afterwards joined creative forces in Megson.

Since the duo’s genesis in 2004 the couple have played up and down the country at numerous folk clubs and festivals, initially supporting bands such as Show Of Hands and Seth Lakeman but more recently selling out their own extensive tours. Their formidable talent was recently recognised with a nomination as Best Duo in the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The Guardian also gave their latest album Take Yourself a Wife a 4 star lead review in the Jazz, Folk and World section of its Friday Arts supplement and followed this with a major feature on Megson (both written by leading music critic Robin Denslow). Songlines magazine also gave the new album a 4 star review and the Independent has listed Megson in their “5 gigs to see” section on no less than 3 occasions.

In addition to his role in Megson, Stu’s talents as a producer on the folk scene are very much in demand and he has produced albums for Benji Kirkpatrick, Faustus, Mawkin:Causley and Show Of Hands.

With another year ahead of them Megson look set to deliver on the promise inherent in fellow star Seth Lakeman’s endorsements: “For my money says Seth “Megson are amongst the most exciting trailblazers of British Contemporary Folk”