Kathryn Tickell

Early life

According to, the only Kathryn Tickell born between June and September 1967, was born in Walsall, in the West Midlands. Her paternal grandfather played accordion, fiddle, and organ. Her father, Mike Tickell, sang and her mother played the concertina. Her first instrument was piano when she was six. A years later, she picked up a set of Northumbrian smallpipes brought home by her father, who intended them for someone else. Frustrated by fiddle and piano, she learned that the pipes rewarded her effort. She was inspired by older musicians such as Willy Taylor, Will Atkinson, Joe Hutton, and Billy Pigg.

Performing and recording

At thirteen, she had gained a reputation from performing in festivals and winning pipe contests. When she was seventeen, she released her first album, On Kielderside (Saydisc, 1984), which she recorded at her parents' house. During the same year, she was named Official Piper to the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, an office that had been vacant for 150 years. She formed the Kathryn Tickell Band, with Karen Tweed on accordion, bass, and guitar, and released the band's first album in 1991 on Black Crow Records. Later, the band comprised Peter Tickell on fiddle, Julian Sutton on melodeon, and Joss Clapp on guitar. In 2001, the Kathryn Tickell Band was the first band to play traditional folk music at the Promenade Concerts in London.

She formed Kathyrn Tickell and the Side, with Ruth Wall on Celtic harp, Louisa Tuck on cello, and Amy Thatcher on accordion. The group plays a combination of folk and classical music.

She recorded with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra when it was led by Simon Jeffes. She met Jeffes while she was in her teens, and he wrote the song "Organum" for her. After Jeffes's death, she played with the Orchestra again over a decade later when it was run by his son, Arthur.

Tickell has also recorded with The Chieftains, The Boys of the Lough, Jimmy Nail, Linda Thompson, Alan Parsons, and Andy Sheppard. She has performed live with Sting, who is also from Newcastle upon Tyne, and has recorded with him on his albums The Soul Cages (1991), Ten Summoner's Tales (1993), Mercury Falling (1996), Brand New Day, (1999), If on a Winter's Night (2009), and The Last Ship (2013).

Two ex-members of the North East England traditional music group the High Level Ranters have appeared on her albums: Tom Gilfellon on On Kielder Side and Alistair Anderson on Borderlands (1986). The latter album included to a tribute to the Wark football team. Several other pipers have appeared on her albums: Troy Donockley on Debatable Lands, Patrick Molard on The Gathering and Martyn Bennett on Borderlands. Debatable Lands included "Our Kate", a composition by Kathryn Tickell dedicated to Catherine Cookson.

Other projects

In 1987, the early part of her career was chronicled in The Long Tradition, a TV documentary. Kathryn Tickell's Northumbria, another documentary, appeared in 2006. In 1997, Tickell founded the Young Musicians Fund of the Tyne and Wear Foundation to provide money to young people in northeastern England who wanted to learn music. She founded the Festival of the North East and from 2009–2013 was the artistic director of Folkworks.

• Official Piper for the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1984
• Musician of the Year, BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, 2004, 2013
• The Queen's Medal for Music, 2009
• Best Traditional Album, Spiral Earth Awards, Northumbrian Voices
• Order of the British Empire, 2015
• Honorary Degree, Open University, 2015
• Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, 2015
• Honorary Degree, Durham University, 2017

• On Kielder Side (Saydisc, 1984)
• Borderlands (Black Crow, 1987)
• Common Ground (Black Crow, 1988)
• The Kathryn Tickell Band (Black Crow, 1991)
• Signs (1993)
• The Gathering (Park, 1997)
• The Northumberland Collection (Park, 1998)
• Debateable Lands (Park, 2000)
• Ensemble Mystical (Park, 2001)
• Air Dancing (Park, 2004)
• The Sky Didn't Fall (Park, 2006)
• Strange But True (2006)
• Instrumental (Park, 2007)
• Durham Concerto (2008, with Jon Lord)
• What We Do (2008, with Peter Tickell)
• Northumbrian Voices (Park, 2012)
• Kathryn Tickell & The Side (Resilient, 2014)
• Water of Tyne (Resilient, 2016)

With Sting

• 1991 The Soul Cages
• 1993 Ten Summoner's Tales
• 1996 Mercury Falling
• 1999 Brand New Day
• 2009 If on a Winter's Night
• 2013 The Last Ship

With others

• 1987 Wide Blue Yonder, Oysterband
• 1991 The Bells of Dublin, The Chieftains
• 1993 Union Café, Penguin Cafe Orchestra
• 1993 You Hold the Key, Beth Nielsen Chapman
• 1995 The Shouting End of Life, Oysterband
• 2000 Stamping Ground, Rod Clements
• 2002 Fashionably Late, Linda Thompson
• 2003 25th Hour, Terence Blanchard
• 2003 Echo of Hooves, June Tabor
• 2006 Reunion, Daniel Lapp
• 2011 A Matter of Life, Penguin Cafe
• 2012 California 37, Train
• 2013 Wintersmith, Steeleye Span
• 2016 River Silver, Michel Benita