Hilary James

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Hilary James is a British musician. She plays guitar, mando-bass (bass mandolin) and is a singer, and songwriter. She lives in Reading and works mostly in the UK with her partner Simon Mayor and with their ensemble the Mandolinquents.

Spiritually rooted in folk song she may be, but her superb voice easily crosses the great musical divides and is equally impressive singing blues, torch songs and classical pieces by Fauré and Handel. Her albums have now been played across the media from Radio 3 and Classic FM to Radio 2 and The BBC World Service as well as appearing on playlists on stations from Latvia to Seattle.

Apart from her fine singing Hilary James is an accomplished double bassist, guitarist and mando-bassist - her enormous bass mandolin is now her trademark. She appears in concert regularly with long-time partner, mandolin virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist, Simon Mayor. You’ll usually find them as a duo, but they’re also half of Britain’s first, and groundbreaking modern mandolin quartet, The Mandolinquents.

It was during a four year spell studying Fine Art at Reading University that her interest in music broadened and blossomed. Running the University Folk Club, she acquired a vast and diverse repertoire of traditional ballads, country blues, swing, bluegrass and classical songs. Her taste for the stage was further whetted by spells fronting the University Big Band and performances at the Edinburgh Festival with the University Drama Society. Student days over, she embarked upon a musical career which would find her touring throughout Europe and as far afield as Vancouver and Singapore.

Her highly acclaimed debut album, Burning Sun was a magical and atmospheric blend of folk songs and originals with haunting words and melodies. It reached the top ten play list on BBC Radio 2. Plays followed on BBC Radio 1, World Service and stations as far afield as Los Angeles and Latvia. The album led to a video shoot in Hollywood with MTV award winning editor/producer Dan Lebenthal (Dan’s previous projects include editing videos for M C Hammer!).

Love Lust & Loss, her follow-up, was an all traditional affair, a collaboration with improvisatory pianist Beryl Marriott. It prompted an equally appreciative press. Q Magazine described it as "A powerful combination of improvisation and musical rigour" while Dirty Linen (USA) effused: "An exquisite piece of work... a total joy”.

While these early recordings had been hailed as milestones in the interpretation of British folk song, her third album, ‘Bluesy’, was a daring departure and represented a side of her repertoire that had so far been largely neglected on CD. The supporting cast was extensive and included drummer Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson Band and Jethro Tull), legendary blues guitarist Ian Campbell as well as her long-time collaborator Simon Mayor on mandolin, violin and guitar.

In tandem with her life as a professional singer, Hilary has always been keenly involved with music for children. After University she gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and, with Simon Mayor, began writing and recording the Musical Mystery Tour series of albums. These five albums have achieved true cult status among the young and not so young alike. The Musical Mystery Tour show began to tour internationally and recorded a couple of extended Christmas ‘specials’ for Singapore TV.

In 1986 she began a six year period (alongside regular concert work) of presenting and writing for BBC Schools Radio and children’s television. Spin offs were frequent and varied! On more than one occasion she found herself writing topical songs simultaneously for such diverse outlets as Newsnight and Play School. She has now written over sixty songs for children and the Musical Mystery Tour series has reached its fifth album.

Although she chose music as her career, she is still a keen artist and illustrator and her cartoons adorn the covers of these CDs. She also illustrated her own song book for Faber Music.

The experience in radio proved invaluable to the independently minded James (she and Simon Mayor were among the first musicians to set up their own label back in 1979), and in 1996 the pair set up their own production company to produce the acclaimed series Marooned with a Mandolin, described as "the best programme on Radio 2 this week" by Gillian Reynolds in the Independent.

For her latest CD Laughing with the Moon (a return to her roots with a mix of traditional and original songs and tunes) the plaudits have pretty much gone off the scale. Although it’s her fourth solo album, it features Simon Mayor's mandolin on four instrumental tracks. Her new CD for children (with Mayor), Lullabies With Mandolins has received similar glowing press notices.