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All Music Guide:
Not too many people could make an instrument as localized as the Northumbrian small pipes sexy, but that's exactly what Kathryn Tickell (who's also an accomplished fiddler) has managed. Along the way, in addition to many records under her own name, she's recorded with Sting and the Chieftains, and elevated her instrument to the international stage. Born in 1970 in Northumberland, her family was immersed in local traditional music and it was only natural that she'd become a part of it, taking up the small pipes when she was nine and winning every pipe competition by the time she was 13, in addition to making a name for herself on the fiddle. In 1984, she released her first album, On Kielderside, and was also named official piper to the Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and by the time she reached 16, she'd become a professional musician, putting out her second release, Borderlands (which included original as well as traditional work), and touring throughout Europe. The following year, she became the subject of a U.K. documentary, but rather than rest on any laurels, she pressed ahead with the album Common Ground. By 1990, she'd formed the Kathryn Tickell Band. In addition to more recording, she composed for local theater, hosted shows on BBC radio, and recorded with the Penguin Café Orchestra, Sting (another Geordie), and the Chieftains -- quite an accomplishment for someone barely out of her teens. The Gathering, her sixth album, was released in 1997 and garnered worldwide acclaim. But again, her head wasn't turned. Instead of using it as a stepping stone to greater fame, she instead issued The Northumberland Collection, which brought in many local musicians, and also began teaching in local schools prior to coming out with Debateable Lands, an album of music from the English-Scottish border, in 1999. 2000 brought a new venture, Ensemble Mystical, which crossed plenty of musical boundaries and resulted in the album Kathryn Tickell & Ensemble Mystical. That led to a live and recorded collaboration with saxophonist Andy Sheppard on Music for a New Crossing. The following year saw the Kathryn Tickell Band perform at the prestigious Promenade Concerts in London, the first time a traditional folk band had been invited there, and Tickell also took up a part-time position as a lecturer in folk and traditional music at Newcastle University, prior to releasing Back to the Hills, a traditional disc of solos, duets, and trios.
Wikipedia:
Kathryn Tickell (born 8 June 1967) is an English player of the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. She has recorded over a dozen albums, and toured widely.
Life and career
Tickell took up the smallpipes aged nine, inspired by her family—especially her father Mike, who was heavily involved in the local traditional music scene—and by the music of an older generation of traditional musicians such as Willie Taylor, Will Atkinson, Joe Hutton, Richard Moscrop, Billy Pigg and Tom Hunter. By the time she turned thirteen in 1980, Kathryn had won all the traditional open smallpipes competitions, and was also making a name as an accomplished player of the Shetland fiddle style which she learned from the Shetland fiddle master Tom Anderson at Stirling University's traditional folk summer school. Tickell has also incorporated the Border pipes into her traditional ensemble. Her family is from the North Tyne Valley area of Northumberland.
Her first album, On Kielder Side, was released in 1984. In the same year she was named the official piper for the Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Tickell turned professional in 1986. She has since toured Europe regularly and has recorded with international performers such as The Chieftains, The Boys of the Lough, and Sting.
In 1990 she formed the Kathryn Tickell Band. As of 2005, the band consisted of her father's stepson Peter Tickell (fiddle), Julian Sutton (melodeon), Ian Stephenson (guitar, acoustic bass guitar), and herself (Northumbrian pipes and fiddle).
Two ex-members of the north-eastern 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 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. Jazz saxophonist Andy Sheppard wrote a piece with her in 2001. It was premiered at the opening of the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
In 2002 Tickell became director of "Folkestra North", a project to develop young talented musicians, aged between 14 and 19.
In 2009, she was awarded The Queen's Medal for Music.
