Frank Underwood (English musician)
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Frank Underwood is an English folk and blues musician who is also known for his work in the early music field. He lives and works in Oxfordshire, England.
Biography[edit]
Musical activities[edit]
Frank Underwood learned classical piano as a boy and classical guitar in his teens. He also plays harpsichord, organ, lute and viola da gamba.[1] He was the leader of the 1970s London-based band Windsong, which featured Annie Lennox prior to her involvement with The Tourists and fame with the Eurythmics. In the early 1980s he played guitar and sang in a folk/ragtime/blues duo in north Oxfordshire, England, with fiddler David Favis-Mortlock, performing as 'Mortlock and Underwood'. From 1983 to 1986 he was singer, guitarist and harmonica player in the 'Band of Minstrels', a four-piece acoustic folk/blues/renaissance group in north Oxfordshire.
He plays and has taught guitar, harmonica and lute.[1] A strong interest in the cultural life of England at the time of Jane Austen led him to establish an Austen group[2] in Oxford,[3][4] and to team up with Gillian Tunley in an ensemble called 'Austentation',[5] since augmented by the addition of Angela Mayorga on guitar and voice, and other guests.[6]
Underwood studied lute in Oxford with Lynda Sayce and Edward FitzGibbon, and viol with Susanne Heinrich.[1] He played lute, harpsichord and viola da gamba in Oxford-based Early Music consorts Westron Wynd and La Joysance.[1] He has been invited over the course of several years to play keyboards at Jane Austen festivals in Bath, England.[6]
Underwood was commissioned to write and perform music to honour the 1980s UK visit of Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and has become known as a performer at festivals and cultural events in Oxfordshire.
Album releases[edit]
He has released three CDs of mixed folk, mediaeval material, blues and his own songs, recorded at Oxford-based Folly Bridge Records: "In Retrospect" (2000), "Highway Songs" (2001) and "Possession" (2003).[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Sleeve notes biography Frank Underwood". Follybridge.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- ^ "Jane Austen Project.org". Janeaustenproject.org.
- ^ "Oxford Times, December 2009". Oxfordtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "BBC radio interview, October 2009". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Oxford Times, Limited Edition Magazine". Oxfordtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Oxford Mail coverage". Oxfordmail.co.uk. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012.