The Lakeman Brothers Seth Lakeman grew up with his two brothers,
Sean Lakeman and
Sam Lakeman, in the village of
Buckland Monachorum in
West Devon, England. He began playing music with his parents and brothers at an early age. As
the Lakeman Brothers, the three brothers released their debut album
Three Piece Suite in 1994. Later that same year they were invited by two Yorkshire based singers
Kathryn Roberts and
Kate Rusby to join them as a backing group on a tour of
Portugal. After the tour the five musicians became a permanent group and called themselves
Equation. The group were signed in a record deal with
Time Warner in 1995. After three full albums (
Return to Me in 1996,
Hazy Daze in 1998, and
The Lucky Few in 2000), and tours in the UK, Europe and the United States, Lakeman left Equation in 2001. He joined his brother Sam and Sam's wife
Cara Dillon and appeared on Dillon's
eponymous debut album, which featured Lakeman on fiddle, guitar and vocals. The album won two awards at the 2002
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Solo work In 2002 Lakeman released his first solo album,
The Punch Bowl, produced by elder brother
Sean Lakeman which received wide critical acclaim including a review in
fRoots magazine which said: "The songs don't just glide smoothly by.....they get their claws into you".
Kitty Jay, Lakeman's second solo album, was released in 2004. This was also produced by brother
Sean Lakeman in his kitchen. The title track of the album tells the story of
Jay's Grave, a well known location on
Dartmoor. The album was recorded for a cost of less than £300. The album reached silver status in the UK. That same year he collaborated with Devon singer-songwriter
Steve Knightley and young local singer Jenna Witts on the album
Western Approaches. A UK tour in Autumn 2005 followed his
Mercury Music Prize nomination, after which Lakeman and his band (regularly brother
Sean Lakeman (guitar), Ben Nichols (bass), Andy Tween (drums)), toured extensively with folk-rock band the
Levellers, who took to closing their set with a "fiddle off" between Lakeman and Levellers' fiddler Jonathan Sevink. Other support tours with
Billy Bragg and
Jools Holland brought Lakeman's music to a wider audience. In March 2006 Lakeman began a UK tour to promote his new album
Freedom Fields which was released on
iScream. Produced again by
Sean Lakeman, he signed to a new major record label,
Relentless Records, promptly releasing a new single "Lady of the Sea" in early August 2006. This record went gold making it one of the biggest selling traditionally based folk records ever in the UK. His fourth solo album, ''
Poor Man's Heaven'', was released on 30 June 2008 with an accompanying tour. It introduced a rockier edge to the folk of the previous albums. It was also the last album to be produced by
Sean Lakeman and it was awarded silver levels of sales in the UK. Lakeman's fifth album,
Hearts & Minds, was released on 19 July 2010. Produced by studio veteran
Tchad Blake Lakeman released his sixth album called
Tales from the Barrel House on 18 November 2011. In 2014 the
Word of Mouth album was released. In 2018 Lakeman released another album,
The Well Worn Path. His eleventh studio album,
Make Your Mark, followed in November 2021. The title track "Make Your Mark" was playlisted at
BBC Radio 2.
Sea Song Sessions is a collection of British maritime folk songs and sea shanties, performed by
Jon Boden, Lakeman, Ben Nicholls, Emily Portman and Jack Rutter. The artists celebrated the release of the album in September 2022 with a run of on-board and harbourside performances which they sailed to and from by ship. Lakeman recorded on
Van Morrison's album
Moving On Skiffle in 2022 and he collaborated with
Public Service Broadcasting and performed with them at the Royal Albert Hall. Lakeman has previously worked and toured extensively with
Robert Plant with his band the Sensational Space Shifters. in June 2023 After a limited vinyl pressing for Record Store Day 2023,
The Somerset Sessions was given a wider release on Lakeman's own label Honour Oak Records in July 2023. The album features original, unreleased session recordings from Lakeman featuring Ethan Johns, Jeremy Stacey, John Smith, Nick Pini and Alex Hart that were recorded at the Bert Jansch Studio in Frome. 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of
Kitty Jay and following the 20th Anniversary tour in February there will be a standing tour in October with the band including long-time collaborators
Benji Kirkpatrick, Ben Nicholls, Cormac Byrne and Alex Hart. The February Kitty Jay Tour opened with a sold out concert at
Exeter's Corn Exchange on 20 February 2024. Lakeman's father Geoff made a guest appearance on spoons. in 2008 == Awards ==