About Hannah James
Hannah is a veteran of the folk festival and club circuit and it was during Hannah’s frequent appearances at SFF that she and Alan became friends.
With Kerfuffle, Hannah has released five albums and was a finalist in the BBC Young Folk Awards. When Kerfuffle split Hannah continued to perform with fiddle player, Sam Sweeney, and released the acclaimed album Catches and Glees. As a champion clog dancer, she was heavily involved with the development of Demon Barbers Roadshow Time Gentlemen Please. In 2015 for Songs of Separation Hannah joined nine other female folk artists on the Isle of Eigg recording works which reflected on the issue of ‘separation’ in its many forms, through traditional song.
Alan asked Hannah to be lead artist for Shrewsbury Folk Festival’s ‘All Together Now’ project, this was two years of work, involving ten Primary Schools and six different percussive world dance disciplines. The project culminated with a magnificent main stage premiere entitled ‘They Shall Not Pass’ in 2016.
Further, Alan championed Hannah’s concept work, Jig Doll, which she brought to premiere at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
Hannah is the founding Trustee of the Alan Surtees Trust, which enables young, emerging musicians to benefit form financial support. Hannah feels this is a special way of saying thank you to Alan for his support of her work as an artist, and a way to continue his work as a legacy.
