Artisan

Artisan was an English vocal harmony trio from Yorkshire, England, who sang a cappella from 1985 to 2005. They consisted of songwriter Brian Bedford, his wife Jacey Bedford, and Hilary Spencer. History Artisan formed in 1984 when Jacey and Brian Bedford invited Hilary Spencer to sing with them at a concert at Birdsedge Village Hall near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Prior to this Spencer had been trained for opera, singing coloratura soprano as an amateur singer with local operatic societies in Sheffield. Brian Bedford had attended Huddersfield School of Music (1970–72) and Bretton Hall College of Education (1972–73) and after learning 'cello as a first instrument had entered the teaching profession, teaching primary children at Crofton Shay Lane Junior and Infants – later Crofton Shay Lane Infants (Wakefield MDC education authority) during which time he had responsibility for music throughout the school. Jacey Bedford had no formal musical training beyond school choirs (Barnsley Girls' High School 1962–1969). Artisan's early repertoire was a mixture of traditional and contemporary songs, all performed a cappella (i.e., without instruments) and in three-part close harmony, broadly within the folk genre, though with a cappella versions of some pop standards included. Their trademark sound was developed with Spencer singing strong lead in a much lower range than her original coloratura, with Jacey's softer voice providing a lighter (usually higher) harmony and Brian's voice often being used at the top end of his bass-baritone range so that Hilary and Brian's voices were fairly close together in range, 'glued' together by Jacey's. After five years of performing at UK folk clubs part-time, Artisan went full-time in July 1989 when trio members gave up their day jobs. After that their first European work followed (Belgium, Okapi Folk Festival, Lokeren, and Bokregdag, 1990). In 1994, came their first transatlantic tour to Canada playing the Owen Sound Summerfolk Festival and the Mariposa Folk Festival, followed by a return to Canada and a first tour to the US in 1995 playing Bethlehem Musikfest in Pennsylvania.