Folk - The Askew Sisters

"As they started to play it was apparent that I was looking at a talent greater than their years and equal to some of the best performers I have recorded.” For the Askew sisters, praise of this kind is not new. Both musicians have given the folk scene more than a shot of young blood. Maybe it has something to do with how they began. Emily Askew first found her folk feet at the impressionable age of three. She joined the ‘Hobby Horse Club’ and found herself dancing and singing with other toddling folk. ‘We’d sing about simple things like pigs and socks!’ she admits. Well I suppose you would when you’re three. Not to be outdone by her sister, Hazel stored up the regular visits to Sidmouth Folk Festival before unleashing a talent for music at the age of seven. She picked up the recorder, piano flute and harp.
Their music creates a flurry of melodeon and fiddle with Hazel singing a collection of traditional ballads for good measure. Her voice has character and verve although sometimes lacking that final edge of individuality. But that’s part of the excitement. These sisters are not done. Expect some interesting surprises in the form of a polka/hornpipe combination and Eleanor Rigby making an imaginative appearance in a Morris set. Already the sisters have been finalists in the New Roots Competition, winning the top prize of Towersey, Sidmouth and Oxford Folk Festivals amongst other gigs. Who says time is wasted on the youth? EM