hi, i'm ailsa mair fox (a.k.a. hughes)

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Classically trained and wholly untamed...

 

Having studied and identified mainly as a cellist from age 7, over the last decade I have found myself falling deep into the realm of Stories, collaborating musically with many other storytellers and more recently doing the storytelling bit myself.  I thrive as a musical improviser and write songs with the cello, influenced by musical traditions from all over the world, and fuelled by my own intuitive connection with the land in which I roam and live.

 

I work as much as possible outdoors, having done a lot of site-specific performance all over Britain, including years of touring with aerial circus company Whispering Woods, collaborating with dancer & choreographer Denise Rowe on Dartmoor, various bands and solo and in collaboration with my duo Tinc y Tannau in Wales. 

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I am currently studying on the new MA Arts & Place at Dartington School of Arts.

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Just starting to get gigs in the diary after this crazy year of pandemic pandemonium - keep an eye on my Events page for details...

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If you like you can find loads more about me in two interviews I did in 2020:

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one with writer Leslie Tate here:

 https://leslietate.com/2020/05/9599/

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...and one with Folklife presenter Caitlin Tan for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, about a project I've collaborated on with storyteller Peter Stevenson, called The Moon Eyed People: 

https://www.wvpublic.org/post/folktales-and-music-bring-life-wva-welsh-connection?fbclid=IwAR2Kcm2iQWkuh5M7FYOSmX03uQqbX0g76QqbUW55JaGjG2U3F3iug-y_K1Y#stream/0

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some nice things people have said about my work...

 

"One of the most heart-felt singers i have ever met, Ailsa literally gives me tingles down my spine. Her musical ability is astonishing and transcendental"

- Musician, sound healer, Artist Stu Hampton

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"You sound like a full-grown fairy and my Mum loves you"

- fan at the Green Gathering

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"Beautiful Cello Witch"

- fan

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Past Collaborations &projects include:

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Tinc y Tannau - duo of viol beauty and mischief with Sianed Jones 

https://www.tincytannau.co.uk

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Whispering Wood Folk - magical family aerial circus/storytelling shows set in the woods:

http://whispering-wood-folk.co.uk/

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Ombiviolum - Zimbabwean/Celtic fusion band, Devon: http://www.ombiviolum.com/

Dancer & choreographer Denise Rowe - 'She Who Walks'; 'Enter the Circle'

https://www.earthdances.co.uk/

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Peter Stevenson (illustrator, storyteller, writer) - MANY shows with this amazing being!

http://cabinetofcuriosities.moonfruit.com/

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Georgia Ruth (Welsh Music Prize winner) - cello parts on 2020 album 'Mai': https://georgiaruth.co.uk/

Tingle - cosmic reggae in West Wales: https://www.tingleme.uk/about

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Mackerel Sky - magical duetting with the extraordinary Pixy Tom

https://www.facebook.com/pixytomsmusic/

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Ayla Schafer - visionary songwriter (inc. EP 'Words and Wolves' )

https://aylasong.bandcamp.com/album/words-and-wolves
 

Joanna Bond -  performance art piece: 'Inseparability of Human and Nature'

www.joannabond.co.uk

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Sacred Activists' Sanctuary - Co-holding of this beautiful zone at The Green Gathering Festival

 http://www.greengathering.org.uk/

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'Pan, Miss Mae, & their Pole of Disarray - with Kitty O'Blitherin a.k.a Cath Rigler as part of Machynlleth Comedy Fest 2019 (funded by Articulture)

https://kittyoblitherin.weebly.com/