Richard Grainger - Nanaimo house concert

A prolific and diverse artist, Richard is a singer, songwriter and musician who has been performing on the British Folk Scene since the 1980's.

'Widely respected songwriter and guitarist with a clear and 'captivating' vocal style'. His songs are performed widely by performers at home in his native England and abroad.

Born in Middlesbrough, an industrial town, on the North East coast of England, he was brought up in a musical family, and sang with them from a very young age.

From his early days, Richard was regularly heard in the folk clubs of north east England , forming a duo with Charles O'Connor later joined the popular 'Teesside Fettlers'. Richards songs achieved wider recognition in the process.

In 1984 his first solo album was released and Richard was touring throughout the UK at folk clubs and festivals becoming a frequent guest ‘live’ and on record, on BBC’s Folk Show on Radio 2.

Since 1995 Richard has been filling the role of artistic director to several festivals and has worked as a consultant to local authorities and arts organisations to help develop new events. He is always eager to promote the music he has carried with him all of his life.

In recent years he has also added several musical plays to his repertoire. Among the most notable of these is ‘The Journey Home’ – an adaptation of Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, which was premiered in Sicily at The University of Catania, in 2003.

That was preceded by the folk-opera 'Eye of the Wind' telling the tale of the world renowned navigator, James Cook. The play was also produced for radio by the BBC with Sir David Attenborough narrating.

Richard produces 'WASSAIL', an annual show featuring many voices from the local and national folk scene performing traditional and contemporary Christmas Songs and Poems, Drama and Dance.

His 11th album ‘WAR HORSE’ (no relation to the musical of the same name) released in January 2008 was described by folkradio.co.uk as: “a classic folk album that will stand the test of time”.

Richards latest theatre project is 'STORMBOUND' telling the dramatic story of the "Rohilla" Disaster in Whitby in November 1914. Written to commemorate the disaster and performed in Whitby to a capacity crowd one hundred years to the day on November 1st 2014.

The project titled 'Flithers & Swill" , so far unfinished, focuses on the unique dialect of the Yorkshire Coast village of Staithes..

Richards new 'studio' album titled 'Hard Road To Prospect Hill' was released at the end of 2015. It has been well received and you can read some of the reviews on the website.

In 2021 his first compilation album was released. Titled 'Blood of the Land ' It is now available from the online store.

Richard tours frequently from his base in Whitby, North Yorkshire

Host or Publisher Harbour City Concerts