June Tabor
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June Tabor (born 1947) is an English folk singer.
She worked as a librarian and as a restaurant manager before finally becoming a full-time singer in the 1990s. Like many others she was inspired to sing by hearing Anne Briggs. In 1965 June heard the EP Hazards of Love. "I went and locked myself in the bathroom for a fortnight and drove my mother mad. I learnt the songs on that EP note for note, twiddle for twiddle. That's how I started singing. If I hadn't heard her I'd have probably done something entirely different." Her breakthrough occurred in 1976 when she recorded the album Silly Sisters with Maddy Prior and had her own first album. She later joined again with Prior, this time using the name Silly Sisters for their duo.
Over the years she has wandered into areas that some might call jazz or art-song, but always with a sparse and sombre tone to it. Her 2003 album An Echo of Hooves marked a return to the traditional ballad after an absence of several years, and was highly acclaimed. "Always" (2005) is a boxed set of 4 CDs, spanning her whole career and containing rare recordings.
In 2004 she was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Discography
- Airs and Graces (1976)
- Ashes and Diamonds (1977)
- A Cut Above (1980)
- Abyssinians (1983)
- The Peel Sessions (1986)
- Aqaba (1988)
- Some Other Time (1989)
- Angel Tiger (1992)
- Against the Streams (1994)
- Aleyn (1997)
- A Quiet Eye (1999)
- Rosa Mundi (2001)
- An Echo of Hooves (2003)
- Always (2005)de:June Tabor