The Unthanks

The Winterset

The sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank grew up in Ryton, Tyne and Wear. The band was called Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, after Rachel, who is about seven years older than Becky, then still deciding whether to pursue music. Its first gig was at the Holmfirth Folk Festival on May 7, 2004. Early members included Belinda O'Hooley, Jackie Oates and Stef Conner, with Adrian McNally on piano. Cruel Sister (May 11, 2005, RabbleRouser) was Mojo's folk album of the year, and The Bairns (August 20, 2007) was nominated at the 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, where they won the Horizon Award, and was reported as runner-up for the 2008 Mercury Prize, though the official site says only a nomination. In 2009 they became the Unthanks, with McNally and Chris Price joining as members, and Here's the Tender Coming (September 14, 2009) was folk album of the year for the Guardian and Mojo.

Last (March 14, 2011) reached 40 in the UK, and a Diversions series followed: songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony and the Johnsons (2011), a record with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band (2012), Songs from the Shipyards (November 5, 2012), the songs and poems of Molly Drake (2017) and Live and Unaccompanied (2020). The BBC Four film A Very English Winter: The Unthanks aired on December 16, 2012, and Rachel and Becky sang on Sting's The Last Ship in 2013. Lines (February 22, 2019) was a three-part work, Sorrows Away came out on October 14, 2022 and In Winter on November 29, 2024. After a three-record deal with EMI was not renewed they became self-managed. They played Prom 27 on August 3, 2018, composed the music for Worzel Gummidge for the BBC, and marked their 20th anniversary with Royal Northern Sinfonia in 2026.