Angeline Morrison is a vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Morris dancer based in Cornwall, who believes in the inherent beauty of sad songs. Angeline’s homespun sonic aesthetic, deeply emotive writing and layered vocal harmonies are all stitched together to make small, tender, often dark stories in song.
In July 2022, Angeline became the fourth recipient of the prestigious Christian Raphael Prize, which generously supports the development of emerging talent in the folk genre.
Her latest album The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience, has been described as “a gift and landmark folk album,” by Folkradio.co.uk
Produced by Eliza Carthy and featuring some of her beautiful, soaring string arrangements, The Sorrow Songs is a work of what Angeline calls ‘re-storying’
“The traditional songs of the UK are rich with storytelling, and you can find songs with examples of almost any kind of situation or person you can think of. But whilst people of the African diaspora have been present in these islands since at least Roman times, their histories are little known – and these histories don’t tend to appear in the folk songs of these islands.”
Angeline Morrison began to wonder if she could discover more about the lives of these ordinary and extraordinary Black ancestors, with the help of Arts Council National Lottery funding, Angeline began what became a year of research into this neglected area of Black British history. The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience is the result – released in October 2022 to commemorate Black History Month, this powerful record honours these Black ancestors, and acts as a gift to the folk community.
The support for this event will be Marie Bashiru, a singer-songwriter from South East London who has made frequent appearances on BBC Radio 4 and Reprezent Radio
