Feral Beryl
#PVFF22, #PVFF19
Feral Beryl are variously, occasionally, in part or in whole, more than (but never less than) the beating of the excitingly unique and musically feral hearts of Sue Clare, Gemma White and Lucy May. Hard to pigeonhole, but appealing to audiences of all ages and sorts, the Beryls promise to emerge from their individual (and/or collective) musical undergrowths with performances wild with originality, joyfulness, poignancy and energy. (More about them after these quotes (which are 91.66% true):
Things what they said about the CD ‘Get it Righter’:
“Wonderful stuff. You girls sound amazing…beautiful harmonies” – Lynne Nash, Butler’s Boudoir Bluegrass, ukcountryradio.com
“…good…reminds of the McGarrigles” – fRoots
“More than a touch of the Be Good Tanyas” – FAOTMAD
“It’s a good record! Sue Clare writes some great songs. Great band!” – Sid Griffin, writer, bandleader, regular BBC Radio 6 guest, on his podcast ‘Call all Coal Porters’ (show 23)
“Feral Beryl, a sparky trio after my own heart in the harmony dept” – Charlie Dore
More about Feral Beryl
Originally influenced by Methodist hymn singing, by the age of ten, Sue Clare had already fallen in love with Paul Robeson, Maria Callas and Captain von Trapp (all in that order) and formed an obsession with Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy musicals. She took singing lessons with the late Maureen Lehane Wishart and has sung in various folk/blues/jazz outfits. Since then she has become a lover of Appalachian music, formed a new obsession with the Carter Family and currently sings, plays with and writes for Frome’s Buffalogals and Feral Beryl.
Gemma White learnt proper ‘classical’ violin to the end of college and played in a string quartet for just 2 very special gigs with The Stranglers. Realising she was never quite happy ‘just’ reading dots formed a blues band and played with other bands before meeting Sid Griffin as he set up the bluegrass version of the Coal Porters and got to play in all sorts of weird and wonderful places. Singing-wise Gem’s always loved doing harmonies and has a penchant for often uncomfortably tight vocal arranging. She met Sue in 2008 and formed a Thursday night music habit from which Feral Beryl was born.
Lucy May was introduced to Irish folk music at an early age by her Father and encouraged to join in with his band performances. Classically trained, she has been known to sing Puccini with a brass band. Her golden larynx has graced many folk clubs over the years. She co-founded a four-part female acapella group called Thrush (the songbird, of course) and also sang with Bath’s Fujabluso. She joined Feral Beryl four years ago, changing the dynamic from a duo to three-part harmonies, bringing much joy and many arguments.