Kate Rusby

Kate Rusby has managed to make quite a name for herself on the British folk scene, and cram a great deal into a short space of time. In addition to three solo albums, the latest of which is Little Lights, she's worked in a duo with Kathryn Roberts, and been a member of the Equation, and the Poozies. From Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, she's very much her own woman, even releasing her albums on her own label, Pure Records, which is run by her family - a real cottage industry. She's grown up in folk music, and has become one of the best, warmest, and most natural interpreters of traditional songs, as well as a writer of fearsome ability.

"My dad's a sound engineer, which he's done at festivals for years and years. So we always got taken there. But they both play and sing. My mum plays piano accordion and sings, and my dad plays banjo and mandolin and stuff like that, and also sings. So from a young age I was always exposed to the music - there was always instruments around the house, and people coming round and singing and playing, so it was a normal thing.

"My dad taught me three guitar chords when I was 15 or 16, and I used to sit and put them to any song I could."

The norm is that parents try and force their music on the kids, and the kids run in the opposite direction, but that never happened to us, and we kind of fell in love with it from the festival side. Because we went to the festivals, we had our own friends there, and up to the age of 10 or something we weren't even aware of the concerts; it was all sort of subliminal. So we were absorbing it by osmosis, without realizing, going to kids' workshops and hanging out with our friends and stuff. I started playing fiddle when I was about seven, so I could learn some tunes and play with my parents, because they had a ceilidh band. So we went along and played tunes with them there, and it was a way of keeping us quiet in the car that they sang songs and taught us songs. We'd all get our own little harmonies, and we'd perform them sometimes at the ceilidh when people were tired and they needed a break. So I was doing it without being forced, and it was all fun.

So when I was 16 I already knew loads of songs that I'd never actually sat down and learned. My dad taught me three guitar chords when I was 15 or 16, and I used to sit and put them to any song I could. I didn't know what I was going to do when I was older, and I never thought about the music side of it. When I was 17, a friend of ours who runs Holmfirth Folk Festival came to the house. I was bashing away on the keyboard, and she asked if I wanted to do a small spot at the festival, and I was like, ‘Okay.' Then I was like ‘Oh no, it'll be awful! What am I doing that for?' Anyway, I went, and it was the worst thing I've ever done in my life, and I vowed I'd never do it again. Then other people came along said asked if I could do things at their festivals, and it built from that, really. When I finished school, and it was university time, I still didn't know what I was going to do, so I thought I'd have a year out. And in that time I got lots of festivals and folk clubs and stuff, so I decided to have another year out, and in the end it just kind of went from there.

I knew the Lakeman brothers for a while. They were a trio of musicians looking for a singer, and they phoned me up, asking if I wanted to join them. I was working with Kathryn Roberts then, and it was going well. So I suggested we both join, which we did for a little bit, and that was the Equation. Then the boys' mother said she'd arranged for this guy from Warner Brothers to come to a gig down south. I wondered what he was coming for, but he wanted to sign us, and have a meeting. I was just sat there going, ‘What's going on here, I don't want to do all that!' But they wanted to go down the pop path, and I'd never wanted to do that. So I didn't sign. So I ended up going solo.

My parents run my record label. It seems to work really well, although people seem to find it strange that we work together. But I think that because of the music we're a very close family anyway, and we have this common interest. And we're all making a living from it now - my older sister works with us, and my younger brother does the sound. It's very much a family thing, and I love it. It's really nice having all those people around you that you trust, and they enjoy the challenge and being involved in the music.

I'm not the kind of writer who can just write. It starts off with a little story, and I've got a little tune in my head, and I'll work on it for a few nights. The writing's just kind of snuck in there really. It came from changing the old songs, because there were bits I didn't like, and that's how the writing started. I've always done that, so doing my own songs isn't a radical extension for me."

Kate Rusby

"My dad taught me three guitar chords when I was 15 or 16, and I used to sit and put them to any song I could."

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