Spiers and Boden

Spiers and Boden
Background information
Genres	Folk music
Years active	1999–2014
Labels	Various
Associated acts	Bellowhead
Website	www.spiersandboden.com
Members	John Spiers, Jon Boden

Spiers and Boden were an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.

Biography

They began playing together in 1999 and their first album as a duo was Through & Through (2001). In 2002 they were both session musicians on Eliza Carthy's album Anglicana, and toured with her as part of her band The Ratcatchers. However it was their second album, Bellow, in 2003 that drew significant attention. The tunes and songs were mostly traditional, grounded in the Morris tradition. In the same year they won the "Horizon Award" in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, followed by the "Best Duo" category in 2004.

An album called simply Tunes came out in summer 2005 and another, Songs, followed in October of the same year. Their fifth album, Vagabond, was released in 2008.

The Works was released on 11 July 2011. It's an album of re-recorded tracks from their 5 albums made as a duo. The album features a number of special guests, including: Fay Hield, James Fagan, Nancy Kerr, Maddy Prior, Martin Carthy, Martin Simpson and Eliza Carthy.

In October 2013, they announced that their 2014 tour would be their last "for the foreseeable future".

Spiers and Boden were founding members of the folk band Bellowhead.

Discography

Spiers and Boden

• Through & Through (2001)
• Bellow (2003)
• Tunes (2005)
• Songs (2005)
• Vagabond (2008)
• The Works (2011)

Bellowhead

• E.P.Onymous (2004)
• Burlesque (2006)
• Matachin (2008)
• Hedonism (2010)
• Broadside (2012)
• Revival (2014)

Eliza Carthy and The Ratcatchers

• Anglicana (2002)
• Rough Music (2005)

Ian Giles, John Spiers, Jon Boden and Graham Metcalfe

• Sea Shanties (2002)

Jon Boden, Joey Oliver, John Spiers and Ian Giles

• Old Irish Jigs and Reels (2007)

Ian Giles, John Spiers, Jon Boden and Giles Lewin

• Wassail - A Country Christmas (also released as An English Folk Christmas (2003)

External links

• Spiers and Boden website
• Fellside Recordings