BIOGRAPHY
Evergreen
Evergreen are Ben Lander on guitar, violin and vocals and Evelyn Hansell on vocals, violin and foot percussion. With their blend of pure vocals, lively fiddle and deft guitar playing, the duo put a contemporary spin on traditional songs and tunes, as well as delighting audiences with their original compositions rooted in their upbringing immersed in the folk world.
Ben grew up learning violin, piano and guitar, and as Evelyn says is “one of those annoying people who can pick up any instrument and get a tune out of it”. His background in classical violin particularly informs his dexterity and ease in playing both the violin and guitar. Evelyn also learnt the violin as a child and her experience growing up singing in the theatre lends itself to her clarity and musicality in their duets both on the violin and singing in intricate harmony.
A bit more about us...
In typical folk music fashion, both Evelyn and Ben inherited their love of English folk songs and tunes from their parents. The duo grew up surrounded by folk music and dancing - at ceilidhs, folk festivals, music sessions, morris and step dancing events up and down the country.​ In fact, Ben and Evelyn first met as children running around a ceilidh hall - Ben’s parents were organising the event, and Evelyn’s were the ones on stage. Needless to say, the two absorbed the love of bouncy English folk tunes and jumping around a dance floor to them from a very early age.
In their early teens they both joined the National Youth Folk Troupe of England (NYFTE). During their time in NYFTE, their knowledge of and proficiency in dancing many traditions, playing trad tunes and singing folk songs grew, as did their friendship. After graduating from NYFTE, the pair decided to further explore their musical collaboration, and “Evergreen” was born, debuting at the Gloucester Folk Trail in 2024.
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Evergreen have since played at folk clubs all over the country and at some of the best renowned folk festivals on the English folk scene - Sidmouth Folk Festival, Whitby Folk Week, and Dartmoor Folk Festival to name but a few. The duo recorded and released their first few singles “Anne of Lochroyan” and “St Alexis Hand” with the help of wonderful up-and-coming sound engineer Albert Hansell, and have plans to collaborate again soon on an album.
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This summer, Evergreen will be hitting the road again to play at numerous folk festivals and venues across the country. Head to the gigs page to find out more!