Megan Henwood (born 29 October 1987) is an English singer-songwriter from Oxfordshire.

Early life

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Born Megan Rosemary Henwood in Reading, Berkshire, England, Henwood grew up in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Her first public performance was at the age of 9 at the Henley Youth Festival. As a teenager she performed both as a solo artist and with her band on the local live circuit.[1] At the age of 18, she travelled around Europe, Thailand, India, Malaysia, and Nepal – returning to the latter twice to record and perform with some of the country's musicians. She has since supported the London-based Child Action Nepal charity by donating profit from record sales.[citation needed]

Career

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Henwood has contributed to music therapy sessions and in 2010 she was awarded a Sue Ryder Care "Woman of Achievement" award as Performer of the Year.[2]

In 2009, Henwood – along with her saxophonist brother Joe – won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award.[3] She has performed at events such as the Cambridge Folk Festival,[4] and Fairport's Cropredy Convention, and performed at Glastonbury Festival 2010.[5]

Her first album, Making Waves, was released on 4 July 2011 on Dharma Records, ahead of various festival appearances including Larmer Tree, Cambridge Folk Festival and Secret Garden Party.[6] The album features musicians such as Peter Knight, Andy Crowdy, Joe Brown, Sam Brown, Mollie Marriott, Barriemore Barlow and Nick Fyffe.

Her second album "Head Heart Hand" was released in July 2015. The album was produced by Tom Excell and featured Pete Thomas, Matthew Holborn, Matthew Forbes, Rich Milner, Jackie Oates, Tom Sibley, Sam Wilkinson, Tom Michell and Steve Jones. Singles from the album were featured on various BBC Radio 2 shows and Henwood performed a live session on The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe.[7] The video for Love/Loathe, the first single from the album, was premiered on The Telegraph in May 2015.[8]

Henwood's third album, "River" was released in the Autumn of 2017. Working again with producer Tom Excell, she experimented with a more electronic sound, contrasting from her last two acoustic releases. The album was praised by The Guardian who described it as 'a worldly, mature work'.[9]

She has written with/for a number of artists including Brother Strut and has been commissioned as a songwriter for Arts Council England and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Discography

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Albums

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  • Making Waves (2011)
  • Head Heart Hand (2015)
  • River (2017)
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  • "Blind Eye" (Track 4) on the album First Strut Is The Deepest (2013) by Brother Strut

References

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  1. ^ "Megan Henwood". Moseley Folk Festival. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  2. ^ "Henley on Thames News | Top honour for woman who raised Ł650,000 for charity". Henleystandard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  3. ^ Lester, Paul (27 August 2009). "Megan Henwood (No 616)". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Artist Lineup Announced". Cambridge Folk Festival. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  5. ^ "The 2010 line-up is revealed!". Glastonbury Festivals. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  6. ^ [1] Archived 3 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Megan Henwood in Session, The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe – BBC Radio 2". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Megan Henwood premieres Love/Loathe video". 2 May 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  9. ^ Spencer, Neil (2 October 2017). "Megan Henwood: River review – a worldly, mature work". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
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