2009 marks the bi-centennial of the birth of Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury’s most famous son.

Amongst the celebrations that are taking place around the world, the Shrewsbury Folk Festival has organised the Darwin Song Project, a songwriting retreat in rural Shropshire. They invited 8 artists from the UK and US to come together for a week to write songs that have a resonance and relevance to the life of Darwin.

The 8 Darwin artists are Chris Wood, Karine Polwart, Mark Erelli, Rachael McShane, Jez Lowe, Stu Hanna, Krista Detor and Emily Smith.

The retreat started on March 13th, and there was a concert premiere in the brand new Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury on March 19th.

The concert will be recorded, and the artists will get together again at the end of August for a performance at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival.

Rachael McShane:
A graduate of the folk and traditional music degree from Newcastle Universlty, Rachael is a member of Bellowhead and will release a solo album in 2008. An accomplished and high profile young musician, Rachael is used to playing in both large and small groups, and the perfect versatile artist for the project.

Stu Hanna:
Stu Hanna is one half of PRS Foundation Atom winners Megson, who with his wife Debbie are blazing a trail as the young pioneers of the new British acoustic folk movement. Three albums in and multi instrumentalist Stu is gaining a reputation as not only an excellent writer, musician and singer, but also as a sought after producer and performer on albums from other artists.

Emily Smith:
Emily's work is a blend of beautiful Scottish traditional material and her own songs, and as an artist who has drawn inspiration from history she’s perfect for the project. Her musical skill on piano and accordion is well recognised throughout the folk world, add this to her beautifully clear vocals and she's the perfect artist to be part of the Darwin Song Project.

Chris Wood:
An uncompromising, but gentle writer and performer, he is an intelligent and perceptive artist, and these skills saw him win the BBC’s Folk Awards ‘Song of the Year’ in 2006. Chris is an accomplished musician on both guitar and violin, and has experience of working with others on musical projects, and has recently worked on musical commissions from Radio 3’s Late Junction and the Arts Council, and was part of the high profile Imagined Village in 2008.

Mark Erelli:
Mark is a superb multi-instrumentalist renown for both his solo work and as part of Lori McKenna’s touring band. His own songs cover varied musical ground, and his lyrics are often fuelled by politics and emotion, and he deservedly won the International Songwriting Contest in 2005 with a powerful song. Mark has a Masters Degree in Evolutionary Biology, which makes him uniquely qualified to be part of the Darwin Song Project.

Krista Detor:
US artist Krista is a stellar pianist, accomplished arranger and a beautiful singer, her songs are moving, melody led pieces that are both easy on the ear and full of lyrical depth – her ability to write intelligent ‘character’ songs that connect with the listener is well documented over the course of her three solo albums and her inclusion on the Darwin Song Project should deservedly raise her profile in the UK.

Karine Polwart:
Karine is one of the finest songwriters in the UK, with an interest in both contemporary and historical subjects; her degree in philosophy, alongside her beautiful vocals and guitar work make her the perfect artist for the project. She was one of the few artists selected by the BBC to contribute to their important Radio Ballads series in 2006.

Jez Lowe:
Jez has a formidable reputation as a writer and performer, and has gained the respect of both audiences and peers alike with his honest lyrics that often relate to the social history of people from his native North East. He has a common touch is his writing, and conveys characters and feelings exceptionally well – he is a multi-instrumentalist on guitar, cittern, harmonica and piano.

Official site: www.darwinsongproject.com/

Shrewsbury Folk Festival: www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk/