Kate Rusby at Underneath The Stars Festival 2017
Chris Horkan
Together with her family, Kate Rusby is responsible for creating Underneath The Stars – with the festival itself named after her 2003 album.
As a musician, Rusby’s career now spans a full 20 years – and has featured collaborations with Seth Lakeman, Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble and even Billy Connolly, contributing to the soundtrack of his documentary World Tour of New Zealand.
Rusby, who is is one of the few folk artists to be nominated for the Mercury Prize, for her second album, 1999’s Sleepless. Named one of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century the same year, she has gone on to release a further 10 solo album (plus three Christmas records) – and pick up four BBC Folk Awards in the process.
Originally a series of concerts held on Cannon Hall Farm to raise funds for local charities, Rusby and her siblings Joe and Emma – who are from the same South Yorkshire area – have cultivated their event into one of the festival calendar’s highlights.
