Eliza Carthy
Background information
Born	August 23, 1975
Genre(s)	English folk music
Occupation(s)	Performer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, fiddle
Years active	1987-
Label(s)	Various
Associated acts	The Waterdaughters, Nancy Kerr, Waterson:Carthy, Blue Murder, Richard Thompson, The Ratcatchers
Website	www.watersoncarthy.com

Eliza Carthy (born August 23, 1975) in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of legendary English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.

At the age of thirteen she formed the Waterdaughters with her mother, aunt (Lal Waterson) and cousin Maria Knight. She has subsequently worked with Nancy Kerr, with her parents as Waterson:Carthy, and as part of the "supergroup" Blue Murder, in addition to her own solo work.

Eliza Carthy lead the vocals as a member of Blue Murder on the song "I Bid You Goodnight" found on the CD tribute to the music of Joseph Spence & the Pinder family called "Out On the Rolling Sea" (1994) (Green Linnet). Along with Eliza are Lal Waterson, Norma Waterson, Jim Boyes, Martin Carthy, Barry Coope, Lester Simpson and Mike Waterson.

She has twice been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for UK album of the year: in 1998 for Red Rice, and again in 2003 for Anglicana. Eliza was a guest on the album "Mermaid Avenue" by Billy Bragg and Wilco. Eliza and Billy also recorded together on the song "My Father's Mansions" which appeared on the Pete Seeger tribute album called "Where Have All The flowers Gone" (1998).

In 2003 Eliza swept the boards at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, winning Folk Singer of the Year, Best Album (for Anglicana) and Best Traditional Track (for Worcester City, on the album Anglicana).

In 2004 she was part of Oysterband Big Session, a collaboration with numerous folk artists brought together by Oysterband. They produced an album The Big Session Volume One, and the group as a whole were awarded Best Group at the Folk Awards in 2005.

In 2006 she contributed one song to Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, produced by Hal Willner. Performing as a duo with Richard Thompson, she contributed "The Coo Coo Bird" to a boxed set called "The Harry Smith Project" (2006) also by Hal Willner. As a duo with Bob Neuwirth, she sang "I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground" by Bascom Lamar Lunsford on the same boxed set.

On May 29, 2005, Eliza took part in a tribute to Peggy Seeger at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. A double CD "Three Score and Ten" (2007) contains highlights on the concert.

Solo Discography

• Heat, Light & Sound (1996)
• Eliza Carthy And The Kings Of Calicutt (1997)
• Red Rice (1998)
  • Red Rice is a double album, it is also available separately as Red and Rice. The original double album came in a boxed set.
• Angels & Cigarettes (2000)
• Anglicana (2002)
• Rough Music (2005)

External links

• Waterson:Carthy Official Website
• Unofficial Eliza Carthy homepage
• Eliza Carthy's MySpace page