Billy Bragg, of Burton Bradstock and leading British folk enthusiast was delighted when he heard that Eliza Carthy is coming to the Marine Theatre, "Eliza Carthy has one of the most beautiful singing voices I have ever heard,”  he smiled, “and she can wring emotion from her fiddle like no-one I know. That she is coming to play at the Marine Theatre is a real treat and not to be missed." he added.

On Saturday 7 April Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers bring their unique sound to the Marine at 8.00 p.m, doors opening at 7.30. Tickets will be £12.00 in advance from Lyme Tourist Information Centre 01297 442138 and £14.00 from the door. One of the most dazzling and recognised folk musicians of her generation, Eliza Carthy is the daughter of the legendary Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Even with such folk roots she has established herself as an individual talent and is only just beginning to reach the heights of her musical powers. She has made folk music relevant to new audiences and has captured the most hardened of dissenters with her intelligent, charismatic and boundary crossing performances,.

Margie Barbour, the Marine Theatre Artistic Director  said, “We are excited by this show! Our website at  www.marinetheatre.com shows that the Theatre has steadily been expanding the range and quality of performing arts for Lyme Regis. I have heard Eliza playing and developing over the last ten years and was delighted when I heard she would be able to fit the Marine Theatre into her current tour with the Ratcatchers.”

Yorkshire-born and now Edinburgh-based, Eliza Carthy grew up immersed in the world of traditional music. She divides her time between touring and recording with her legendary parents, and numerous pioneering solo and band projects. These include collaborations with The Ratcatchers; with celebrated English musicians John Spiers and Jon Boden; and Scottish producer/guitarist/viola player Ben Ivitsky, (all of whom feature on Rough Music, accompany her on tour and received a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Nomination for Best Live Band - 2006).

Eliza's new musical partnership is with Saul Rose who has been a long-term musical collaborator with Eliza, being a key player on Red Rice album, featuring on the more traditionally-based "Rice" tracks.  He was Tim van Eyken's predecessor in Waterson:Carthy as well as making his mark in Kings of Calicutt with his driving melodeon sound.  

Eliza’s much anticipated (fifth) solo album, Rough Music, was released on Topic Records on 18th April 2005. Taken from The Book of Days, the term ‘Rough Music’ describes a form of rough justice instigated by the local community. Eliza’s new album brilliantly provides an ancient echo from our collective past with music that doesn’t conform to the metronome so much as it beats with the sound of human experience and passions. The press is effusive in their praise of her work. “Eliza Carthy is one of the figureheads of the English folk revival and this album, demonstrates why; Compelling” – Evening Standard, ‘An album of boundless warmth, verve and spirit’ said fRoots and ‘A gloriously natural singer’ writes Q magazine.

Twice-nominated for the prestigious Nationwide Mercury Prize (‘Red Rice’ –Topic/1999 and ‘Anglicana’/2003) – Eliza is also the winner of an unrivalled seven BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2003 she became the first traditional English musician to be nominated for a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music (for Anglicana).

In March 2005, Eliza co-presented the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards with Benjamin Zephaniah – an event that was also broadcast on BBC Four. She continues to be a regular guest on the BBC Radio 2 Mark Radcliffe Show and ‘Later with Jools’, has presented her own four part series on the history of English Folk on BBC Radio 2 and was recently the subject of an hour long ITV documentary (‘Heaven & Earth’). She has performed and recorded with a startling array of musical heroes including Joan Baez and Paul Weller, to name but a few and from an early age was championed by John Peel and Billy Bragg.

This year alone, Eliza has performed at a huge number of live events, benefits and collaborative concerts including, ‘Daughters of Albion’ and Patti Smith’s ‘Meltdown’. Last summer Eliza made appearances at Wychwood and Glastonbury Festivals, and has spent the Autumn touring New Zealand and North America.

Describing herself simply as a ‘modern British musician’, Eliza Carthy is only just beginning to reach the height of her musical powers. Though she’s just turned 30, during a 14-year career she has become one of the most dazzling and recognised folk musicians of a generation. She has revitalised and made folk music relevant to new audiences and has captured the most hardened of dissenters with intelligent, charismatic and boundary-crossing performance. ‘Seriously impressive’ said the Telegraph