Concert: O’Hooley and Tidow

We are delighted to announce that much-loved Yorkshire folk duo Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow – writers of the hit theme tune to BBC drama’s Gentleman Jack – will be performing at St Bride’s this Autumn.

O’Hooley and Tidow were invited to come to St Bride’s by our Rector, Alison Joyce, who discovered their work during lockdown. Alison commissioned a song from them called Polly about former parishioner Mary Ann (‘Polly’) Nichols.

Polly is commemorated on a stone plaque at the back of church and today is tragically remembered as the first-known victim of the Victorian serial killer, Jack the Ripper. Listen to the song on Spotify.

Tickets: £25 (inc. booking fee and interval drink)

Biography

O’Hooley and Tidow were propelled into newfound fame for penning the theme tune to Sally Wainwright’s hit BBC1/HBO drama ‘Gentleman Jack’, earning them global admiration, an acting role for Belinda on the iconic TV drama Happy Valley, Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and concerts that sell out months in advance.

Belinda and Heidi’s boundless songwriting has been described by The Guardian as ‘exceptional’ and The Independent as ‘defiant, robust, northern, poetical, political folk music for the times we live in.’ Their first full studio album in seven years; ‘Cloudheads’ delves into the mindscapes, passions and inner worlds of two highly individual autistic women; Belinda and Heidi. Moving, melodic, dramatic and tender, from stories of parenthood, the call of a song thrush, to a portrait of the last days of a touching relationship between their neighbour Matthew and his beloved Alsatian, Ted, and even a collaboration with Gentleman Jack herself, Suranne Jones on ‘The Ballad of Anne and Ann’, they explore, consider and connect subjects and stories in a distinctive, inventive and memorable way.

Having the originality and skill to invite comparison with the most celebrated harmony duos, 6 Music’s Tom Robinson says ‘They sing together in the way families do. Normally, you only get that closeness in the voices with family bands like The Coppers or The Watersons.’

‘I have just listened to your track, ‘Beryl’, with tears in my eyes! It’s beautiful and brilliant.’ Maxine Peake

Nominated four times for BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ‘Best Duo’.

* * * * * The Guardian

‘Brave, beautiful and full of love.’ Martin Simpson

‘Insightful, determinedly left-field angles on the human experience.’
* * * * MOJO Folk Album of the Month

‘Have Belinda and Heidi done it again? Certainly.’
* * * * * R2

‘Dense, complex, beautifully performed.’
* * * * Songlines