Huw Chidgey (guitar) and Catherine Handley (flute) are two of the rarest talents to emerge on the UK folk scene in a long long time. But you don't need to believe everything you read, .................. just listen. 

Buy this album now   CD: £12.00 + p&p

Huw Chidgey and Catherine Handley are a South Wales based acoustic folk duo comprising the formidable talents of two of the country's finest musicians. Their recently formed partnership has resulted in a top class CD "In the Tradition" which has been received with much critical acclaim and radio play on the BBC. Their repertoire is based on the traditions of the British Isles, either directly, in their arrangements of traditional material, or indirectly from the work of contemporary writers working in the Folk idiom.

Huw Chidgey has been a professional musician for five years - the first four as bass player for the Hanky Panky Band on the Irish circuit, and latterly playing solo or with various members of the Raglan Band on the folk circuit. In the early eighties he ran the Lanch Poly Folk Club in Coventry - following Bill Caddick and Steve Knightly among others, and followed this with a spell as resident at Dingles folk club in London. He resumed his music career in 1998 after working for fifteen years in the film industry, and this collaboration with Catherine Handley is a natural progression. Huw has recorded 5 cd's - two with the HP band, one solo and one with Raglan, and most recently 'In the Tradition' with Catherine Handley.

Catherine Handley was brought up in a musical family in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and learned to play the piano at a very tender age. Taking the flute as her first instrument she studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and after graduating pursued a successful career in the classical world as both performer and teacher.

Catherine has had a varied career which encompasses orchestral and chamber music. She is principal flute of the Welsh Sinfonia, West of England Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly Bristol Philharmonic Orchestra) and plays with the BBC National orchestral of Wales, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Concert & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.

She has recorded for HTV and ABC Radio in Australia where she was invited to perform a recital broadcast of music by twentieth century British composers including Bax & Goossens. Recent appearances in festivals include Crickieth, St. Asaph, South Glamorgan & Hereford with her flute & harp duo and The Bay Trio.

A relative latecomer to the British folk music, scene Catherine brings a polish and a passion with her playing. A chance meeting with Huw Chidgey at a session in South Wales led to a few tentative rehearsals, and from there, their set developed with 'In the Tradition' being the result. This passion and her classical sense of disciplined playing combines uniquely with Huw's largely chaotic approach to life in general and singing in particular.