The Rheingans Sisters are Fiddle-singers Rowan and Anna who hail from Sheffield and were raised in the wonderfully picturesque Peak District. There they were both exposed to traditional music from a young age and encouraged to pursue the fiddle by their father, a violin maker whose instruments they play today. He also makes that unusual and fascinating hybrid the BanSitar which I first saw Peter Coe play which you may well have also seen Rowan playing in the trio Lady Maisery alongside Hannah James and Hazel Askew who have a new album on the horizon.
Both sisters are in high demand as musicians and Rowan also plays in other projects including Nancy Kerr & The Sweet Visitor Band. Sister Anna is now based in the South of France where she is studying at the conservatoire in Toulouse. Both are well travelled and have also studied fiddle in Sweden, they also recently completed a French Tour.
Their influences are vast and stretch from trad to contemporary fiddle, but it is their captivating stage presence, innovation and fresh approach to fiddle music that makes them shine, they’re a duo you should all seek out. Their 2013 debut album ‘Glad Gold Hearts’ received many compliments but one of the most treasured was from old-time musician Bruce Molsky who said of the album “The best music is played in the moment, when the musicians are leaning into each other and outside of themselves. This is a lovely, evocative piece of work.”
They are on tour through May and June (details below) during which they will be making a number of appearances at venues and festivals across England and Wales including Gate to Southwell and Fire in the Mountain, but before that here they are performing ‘Cuckoo’ at Shakespeares in their hometown of Sheffield, also our Song of the Day.
Tour Dates
SAT 18 APRIL – Oxford Folk Weekend
SAT 23 MAY – WED 27 MAY – Kinnersley, Hereford
THU 28 MAY – Fitzhead Tithebarn, Taunton
FRI 29 MAY – SUN 31 MAY – Fire In The Mountain Festival, Aberystwyth
SAT 6 JUNE – Gate to Southwell Folk Festival, Southwell
MON 8 JUNE – The Slaughtered Lamb, London
THU 11 JUNE – The Royal Oak, Bath
FRI 12 JUNE – Unknown venue, Bristol (TBC)
FRI 12 JUNE – SUN 14 JUNE, GOWER FOLK FESTIVAL, Swansea
MON 15 JUNE – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
For more information visit: www.rheinganssisters.co.uk