Seth Bernard Lakeman is an English songwriter whose music has a distinctly Irish sound… Considered one of the rising talents on the English-speaking scene, Seth Lakeman collaborates with some of Ireland’s biggest names, and sometimes does so as a family, with his brothers, affectionately nicknamed the “Lakeman Brothers”, with whom he will form a band…
Seth Lakeman was born on March 26, 1977, and spent a quiet childhood in the Devon village of Buckland Monachorum. Born into a family of musicians, Seth discovered music at an early age with his parents and 2 brothers, Sean and Sam.
After a musical education, the Lakeman brothers decided to record their first album, “Three Piece Suite”, in 1994.
This first album was well received by the critics, and gave them the opportunity to tour Portugal with 2 other singers: Kathryn Roberts and Kate Rusby. Here, Seth Lakeman discovers the joys of the stage, and manages to enter into true communion with the audience, who don’t hesitate to get up and dance and sing along.
Seth uses mostly Irish instruments in these tracks, including the bodhràn, the tin whistle and the fiddle, an Irish violin he never leaves.
The 5-piece band is now up and running smoothly. So much so that he signed a contract with Time Warner in 1995, one of the hottest record companies of the moment… Between 1996 and 2000, they recorded 3 promising albums:
Tour after tour, Seth Lakeman decides to collaborate on another album, that of singer Cara Dillon, none other than his brother Sam Lakeman’s wife. Seth plays violin and guitar, and also contributes vocals… Their collaboration on the album“Cara Dillon” was so promising, in fact, that the 2 artists won 2 BBC awards.
In 2002, Seth Lakeman decided to try his hand at a solo career, and released the album “The Punch Bowl”, followed by “Kitty Jay” in 2004, “Freedom Fields” in 2006 and Poor Man’s Heaven in 2008. Not a single one of his albums has met with negative reviews: the whole profession seems to recognize in Seth Lakeman a great talent for Irish folk music. His perfect mastery of fiddle, guitar and banjo allows him to push his Irish inspiration further and further down new paths…
