Spiro (band)
British instrumental musical group
Spiro is an English instrumental musical group based in Bristol, England, consisting of Jane Harbour (violin, viola) Alex Vann (mandolin) Jason Sparkes (piano accordion) and Jon Hunt (guitar). To date they have released four albums on the UK label Real World Records.
History
The band was formed in 1993 by violinist Jane Harbour, who quickly became the group's main composer and whose classical and electronica influences met with the punk influences of Vann and Hunt. Their early experiments centred around reworking traditional folk tunes, particularly those of the North of England, but Harbour's growing fascination with minimalist systems began to impact on the group and were evident by the time of the independently released Pole Star (1997), which fused both influences. The album was critically well received, and the band continued to play live, including writing and performing for theatre. However no further albums were released until the BBC's use of several Pole Star tracks brought them to the attention of manager Alan James and Real World Records, for whom they have recorded three further studio albums, Lightbox (2009), Kaleidophonica (2012) and Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow (2015). The latter two in particular largely feature original melodies and more intricate composition. Real World also re-released Pole Star (2014), a vinyl-only compilation album Repeater (2016) and a mini-album, The Vapourer (2013), with live recordings by the group and Moog versions of two of their compositions by Portishead's Adrian Utley. The band have toured internationally, and in 2016 received nominations for the BBC Folk Awards and Songlines Awards.
Harbour's solo work included writing for theatre, live film and TV, and for other ensembles including the experimental project The Small Mammal Mirror.
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