About Bob Berry
Bob and Gill first meeting in 1983, at the Lamb Ale Festival in Bob's home village of Kirtlington, Oxfordshire, heralded the start of a partnership that has gone from strength to strength. When not singing, they are busy in organisational roles with the Devizes Folk Club which they started in 1992 and after 13 years, now resides at the Lamb Inn Devizes; also the Wiltshire Folk Arts organisation which is involved in several projects based on and around the folk song, music, dance, customs and traditions of Wiltshire (www.wiltshirefolkarts.org.uk). However, Bob and Gill are probably best known as the principal organisers of the Chippenham Folk Festival which started in 1972. They got involved in 1988 and took over the reins in 1997. It is one of the biggest and most respected traditional folk festivals in the country, bringing singers, musicians and dancers from all over the UK and beyond to celebrate the rich heritage of folk. To anyone who hears them sing, it is obvious that there is a great musical bond between them, both in their approach to songs and in their choice of material, which ranges from unaccompanied close harmony to instrumentally backed contemporary folk songs. Gill has a truly stunning voice and Bobs harmonies and sensitive accompaniments are always supportive, never detracting from the song, which is the essential element of their performance. Bob is a good singer in his own right and has a great way of putting over a song, drawing on influences from the many traditional singers he has listened to from childhood. He is the son Len and Barbara Berry; also stalwarts of folk music. Unfortunately the tireless work Bob and Gill do for folk music in general had stopped them from performing as much as they should. So it has been a pleasure to record this current album for them