Garden & Gowers

Two of the hottest young prospects on the UK folk scene have joined forces to bring us this fantastic new duo. Ellie Gowers and Alex Garden.

Ellie Gowers is certainly not new to the music scene, quietly brewing her self-penned songs in folks clubs for a while. She has been regularly performing music that embeds a fierce energy that echoes that of the 60's folk revival scene and although she may be small, Ellie manages to hold pride of place on stage with her strong vocals. Her songs are built through an early love of literature and traditional folk song as well as the notable observations she makes on the zeitgeist narrative of today's society. She has garnered support slots with critically acclaimed artists up and down the UK, enticing watchers with her poetic lyrics and rhythmic guitar playing.

Fresh out of BIMM Bristol, Ellie has graduated with a music degree and shows no signs of slowing down.

Alex Garden (The Drystones) is a fiddle player with a unique sound born out of traditional Scottish and English styles. Growing up in Somerset, he was classically trained from childhood, providing the technical scope to explore other genres. His family roots lie in Scotland and he visits the North West Highlands every year, immersing himself in the landscape and traditional music of the area.

Back home playing with Ford, his love for folk music has blossomed.

A music degree at the University of Southampton provided the opportunity to be taught by internationally renowned fiddle player John Dipper and to hone skills in composition, production and live sound.

Alex also teaches fiddle, takes part in collaboration projects such as ambient/electronic producer Barnaby Carter's LP 'While It Still Blooms' and works as a ceilidh musician. This new duo is a combination of Ellie's songwriting and Alex's traditional fiddle playing, creating and revising luminous arrangements of songs old and new.