Northumberland singer-songwriter Frankie Archer has won the Christian Raphael Prize 2023. Launched in 2018, the award is run in association with the Cambridge Folk Festival, and previous winners include Mishra, Katherine Priddy, Nick Hart and, in 2022, Angeline Morrison.
Responding to the award on her socials, Frankie said:
“Performing for the first time at Cambridge Folk Festival was very special; I’m still glowing from the wonderful connection with the audience. On top of that, to have been nominated and to have won the Christian Raphael Prize, it’s incredible news, and I’m really grateful to Christian, his family and the rest of the panel who believe in me and my music. I’ve been working hard to share my music with people, so this support is very welcome, and I’m sure it will lead to exciting things!”
Earlier this year, we premiered a video for Frankie’s single, ‘Lucy Wan’, which you can watch below. She delivers a welcome twist on this dark murder ballad, giving Lucy power and a voice with a haunting soundscape and piercing words.
Talking about the song, Frankie shared:
As a female folk musician, it is irritating and boring when, in song after song, women are murdered, raped, deceived, burned – you name it – by men. Lucy Wan is a perfect example of this. Man impregnates woman, man murders woman, lies about it to his mother, runs away and ultimately gets away with it. What is the moral of the story?
Folk songs don’t need to have morals, of course, but this story is a harmfully overused archetype. I wanted to give a voice to Lucy in my version of the song because in most renditions, Lucy cries and tells her brother he has made her pregnant, and that’s all we hear from her before he swiftly kills her. I gave Lucy Wan power and a voice in the song, just as she and endless other women in endless other folk songs deserve.
Last year, the Christian Raphael Prize went to Angeline Morrison, who, in a Folk Radio interview, shared how much of a difference such an award made:
I could not have been more surprised and delighted. Christian Raphael is an amazing young man. He has complex learning disabilities, he’s a blogger, and he’s a true advocate of music. What’s more, he funds this incredible prize for an artist each year, where Christian and his family provide financial support and industry mentoring for twelve months; PR, publicity, really those incredibly valuable things that most artists (including me) just haven’t the money to pay for. It’s going to make such a difference to my music-making.
The prize contributes £300 per month over the following year to help the winner with their career. The winner is guaranteed a spot on Stage 3 at the next Festival, plus she is able to benefit from PR advice from roots publicist Richard Wootton. The runner-up receives £250.
Rebecca Stewart, Cambridge Folk Festival Manager, said: ‘The Festival is thrilled for Frankie, her performance was something special, and we’re excited to see what happens next for her. The prize is important to us, and we love that it has started to receive industry recognition. We couldn’t do it without the Raphael family, whose support of the prize and Festival means so much.’
Christian’s mother, Vicki Raphael, said: ‘It’s wonderful to see the partnership between Cambridge Folk Festival and the Christian Raphael Prize entering its fifth year, and clearly playing a vital part in enabling such talented artists to make the next important steps in their careers. Seeing the success of previous winners like Angeline and Katherine has been very rewarding, and a musical legacy so individual and fitting for Christian and his love of music.
‘We’re delighted that Frankie Archer is the recipient of this year’s prize. Her music is beautiful and so original in its particular blend of contemporary and traditional. We wish her every success and look forward to seeing what the year brings for her.’
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