June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer. Her earliest public performances were in the Fox and Vivian pub in Leamington Spa, England in the mid 1960s. She attended St Hugh's College, Oxford University and appeared on University Challenge in 1968, as captain of the college team. She joined the Heritage Society at Oxford University and sang with a group called Mistral. An appearance at Sidmouth Folk Festival led to folk club bookings and she contributed to various records.
Tabor stopped performing professionally for a time after working for decades as a singer, although she made some guest appearances with Fairport Convention during this period. During this time, she worked as a librarian and, with her then-husband David Taylor, ran a restaurant called "Passepartout" in Penrith, Cumbria, England before returning to music professionally in the 1990s to record with The Oyster Band.
Solo Work: In 1983 the BBC TV series "Spyship" was broadcast, with Tabor singing the title song. In 1997 she appeared on Ken Russell's "In Search of English Folk Song" broadcast by UK's Channel 4. Tim Winton, author of the 2001 novel "Dirt Music" which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, made a selection of music to echo the themes of the novel. The CD "Dirt Music" (2001) includes "He Fades Away" by Tabor, a painful tale of the slow death of a miner. (The song originally appeared on her 1994 CD "Against the Streams.") In 2002 the "Passchendale Peace Concert" in Flanders had Tabor sharing the stage with Coope Boyes and Simpson. On 30th June 2006 BBC Radio 3 broadcast "Night Waves" to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. It was broadcast live, with World War I songs sung by Tabor, and a discussion with Michael Morpurgo and Kate Adie.
An original interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice"
with Huw Warren on piano.
Over the years she has worked in various genres including jazz and art song: and from an a cappella version of the Beatles "In My Life" to an Elvis Costello song "All This Useless Beauty" written specifically by him for Tabor, which she recorded for her album, Angel Tiger.
Awards: In 2004 she was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2011 Ragged Kingdon was named "Album of the Year" in the fROOTS critics poll,and once again, in 2012 Tabor won the Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
(Wikipedia). (Photo/Videos/Music: Copyright Control)
