Two fantastic Shetland singer songwriters, Sheila Henderson and Freda Leask have individually graced many a Shetland stage over the years and in the last few years have combined their talents, enlisting the support of some of Shetland’s best musicians. Audiences can expect strong vocal harmonies and tremendous musicianship that draws on their shared folk/country influences.
Whether solo acoustic, or with her band, Sheila is a diminutive, musical tour-de-force. Although Shetland is famed for its fiddle heritage, when it comes to straightforward country or more challenging "Americana" Sheila is in a class of her own. Sheila possesses a terrific voice which has graced two critically acclaimed albums and been heard extensively on the UK mainland via touring and national radio play.
Sheila has already made her mark on the national country scene through appearances at the Wembley Country Music Festival and the Big Country Festival, as well as a number of other appearances in the UK, Norway and further afield. She has also provided excellent support slots for the likes of Steve Earle on his visit to Shetland.
Originator of highly acclaimed Shetland folk group 'Shoormal', Freda Leask is another Shetland born singer/songwriter whose material is a blend of contemporary and traditional music, where cover songs mix with original self-penned material. A keen promoter of the Shetland dialect, many of her own compositions are sung in the local tongue but range in style from contemporary folk to country to gospel.
As a singer and writer Freda released early solo albums before becoming part of the successful ‘Shoormal’ collaboration releasing 3 much-celebrated albums, one of which brought a nomination for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
