Jackie Oates - The Joy of Living (2018)

Born and raised on folk music, Jackie Oates started her career as a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards in 2003. Since then she has been nominated for twelve BBC Folk awards; at the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards she scooped Best Newcomer and Best Traditional Track on the same night.

Her 7th studio album 'The Joy of Living' features songs made famous by folk greats including Ewan McColl, Lal Waterson and Davey Steele, as well as carefully picked songs from artists such as John Lennon and Darwin Deez - all interpreted in Jackie's inimitable style.

The album covers an intensely personal period of her life, in which she celebrated the birth of her daughter Rosie and bid an emotional and loving farewell to her beloved father. She collaborated with fellow 'Imagined Village' alumni and producer Simon Richmond (Palmskin Productions, Neneh Cherry, Imagined Village, The Bays) to create this intimate, touching and uplifting collection. The album also features performances by friends from the world of folk including Mike Cosgrave, Barney Morse Brown (Duotone, The Imagined Village), John Parker, Jack Rutter (Seth Lakeman) and John Spiers (Bellowhead, Eliza Carthy). Matt Allwright (Watchdog, The One Show) also made a quick appearance playing pedal steel on this record.

Originally a member of The Mercury-nominated The Unthanks she has since carved out an astonishing solo career. She has toured with EMI-signed folk-pop star Seth Lakeman. She is also an established member of the all-star multi-cultural folk band Imagined Village alongside Eliza Carthy, Chris Wood, Martin Carthy and more. In recent years, Jackie has provided vocals for the soundtrack to Michael Woods' 'The Great British Story, A People's History' on BBC2, appeared on ITV's 'Ade in Britain' and in Midsomer Murders' episode 'The Ballad Of Midsomer County'. The cosmetics firm Lush developed a skin tint named after her which is sold in over nine hundred shops globally.