A Platform for Ethnically and Culturally Inspired Music
ABOUT
Griselda Sanderson plays the fiddle and nyckelharpa - a Swedish bowed, keyed fiddle with keys and sympathetic strings. Her live act, The Radial Band, features guitar and cittern player Louis Bingham, Ricardo de Noronha from Portugal on percussion and ethnic wind instruments, and Dave Insua-Cao on percussion.
Her latest album 'Veer', a collaboration with Ricardo de Noronha, was released in May 2017, exploring the interplay between Nordic stringed instruments (Hardanger fiddle and nyckelharpa) and his hand-made flutes.
Her 2nd solo nyckelharpa album 'Radial' was released on Waulk Records on 1st October 2015. Inspiration for her repertoire is drawn from the folk traditions of northern Europe and beyond, including Swedish polskas, Irish & Scottish jig & reel sets, French dances, Moroccan Gnawa music, and original compositions. She performs solo or as part of a duo accompanied by guitar.
Griselda’s first solo album, Harpaphonics, featuring the nyckelharpa and fiddle, was released in 2009 to great critical acclaim. Guest musicians on the album included Max Moya Wright (Ojos de Brujo), James Dumbelton (Jackie Oates Band), Louis Bingham, Josh Stopford (Yes Sir Boss), & Riaan Vosloo. Harpaphonics was listed at number five in the Top Ten Best World Music Releases of 2009 in the Sunday Times.
Griselda Sanderson is one of six musical children of violin-maker Derick Sanderson, who resided in Clackmannanshire, Central Scotland. Her first band, Waulk Elektrik, was formed with her brother Larry, also a fiddler. They toured extensively in the 1990s, playing at festivals such as Cropredy, Towersey, Sidmouth, and WOMAD. The band released four albums and started their own label, Waulk Records, which has continued to this day. After her brother Larry was seriously injured in a road accident, she formed the trio Spyka with Mike Cosgrave and James Dumbelton (both of whom played in English folk singer Jackie Oates’ Band), based in the West Country. In 2010, she joined forces with Gambian riti player Juldeh Camara to form the group Julaba Kunda, and in 2011 they released a collaborative album, Traders, on the Waulk Records label that combined and contrasted their fiddle traditions from three thousand miles apart. Julaba Kunda were winners of World Music Network’s Battle of the Bands competition in 2012. She produced one album and played with Senegalese blues guitarist Amadou Diagne (Yakar, 2013) and has recorded and produced two albums for Moroccan Gnawa master Simo Lagnawi ('Gnawa London' on Waulk Records 2013 and 'Gnawa Berber', Riverboat 2014) with whom she also performs live. In 2014, she composed music for English poet Alice Oswald for her performance piece 'Tithonus'. Her latest project has been to record a double album of traditional Scottish, Scandinavian, and other northern European music with members of her family, including Orkney fiddler Sarah McFadyen, her brother cellist Joel Sanderson, guitarist & banjo player Louis Bingham, Frey Rae on flute and whistle, and Luke Jones on 12-string, due for release in 2015.
Her latest album 'Veer', a collaboration with Ricardo de Noronha, was released in May 2017, exploring the interplay between Nordic stringed instruments (Hardanger fiddle and nyckelharpa) and his hand-made flutes.
Her 2nd solo nyckelharpa album 'Radial' was released on Waulk Records on 1st October 2015. Inspiration for her repertoire is drawn from the folk traditions of northern Europe and beyond, including Swedish polskas, Irish & Scottish jig & reel sets, French dances, Moroccan Gnawa music, and original compositions. She performs solo or as part of a duo accompanied by guitar.
Griselda’s first solo album, Harpaphonics, featuring the nyckelharpa and fiddle, was released in 2009 to great critical acclaim. Guest musicians on the album included Max Moya Wright (Ojos de Brujo), James Dumbelton (Jackie Oates Band), Louis Bingham, Josh Stopford (Yes Sir Boss), & Riaan Vosloo. Harpaphonics was listed at number five in the Top Ten Best World Music Releases of 2009 in the Sunday Times.
Griselda Sanderson is one of six musical children of violin-maker Derick Sanderson, who resided in Clackmannanshire, Central Scotland. Her first band, Waulk Elektrik, was formed with her brother Larry, also a fiddler. They toured extensively in the 1990s, playing at festivals such as Cropredy, Towersey, Sidmouth, and WOMAD. The band released four albums and started their own label, Waulk Records, which has continued to this day. After her brother Larry was seriously injured in a road accident, she formed the trio Spyka with Mike Cosgrave and James Dumbelton (both of whom played in English folk singer Jackie Oates’ Band), based in the West Country. In 2010, she joined forces with Gambian riti player Juldeh Camara to form the group Julaba Kunda, and in 2011 they released a collaborative album, Traders, on the Waulk Records label that combined and contrasted their fiddle traditions from three thousand miles apart. Julaba Kunda were winners of World Music Network’s Battle of the Bands competition in 2012. She produced one album and played with Senegalese blues guitarist Amadou Diagne (Yakar, 2013) and has recorded and produced two albums for Moroccan Gnawa master Simo Lagnawi ('Gnawa London' on Waulk Records 2013 and 'Gnawa Berber', Riverboat 2014) with whom she also performs live. In 2014, she composed music for English poet Alice Oswald for her performance piece 'Tithonus'. Her latest project has been to record a double album of traditional Scottish, Scandinavian, and other northern European music with members of her family, including Orkney fiddler Sarah McFadyen, her brother cellist Joel Sanderson, guitarist & banjo player Louis Bingham, Frey Rae on flute and whistle, and Luke Jones on 12-string, due for release in 2015.
