Blending tradition, experimentation, and sheer nonsense in roughly equal measure, the Idumea Quartet deconstructs and reconstitutes Appalachian folk music, drawing strong influences from minimalist and experimental music. Using the traditional string quartet instrumentation while coming from a shared background in traditional music, the quartet seeks to bring the traditional repertoire into conversation with a chamber music aesthetic. When you add harmonized singing into the mix, the result is a high, lonesome and symphonic sound.

The band’s first unofficial performance came at the end of 2016 in a small pub in Kent; a serendipitous combination of people who all knew of each other, but had never all been in the same room before, let alone played together. The resulting gig and the unique conjoining of different styles and interpretations made each of them feel that there was something worth exploring. So, six months later, they met, performed again and started to shape more clearly the sound of Idumea Quartet. Debut album More Than One shows traditional Appalachian music in a new light, complemented and transformed by the aesthetic of a classical string quartet, in which there is no written music, where content is originally improvised and vocals also take a prominent position.

Musicians:

• Jane Rothfield: fiddle
• Ewan Macdonald: fiddle
• Becka Wolfe: viola
• Nathan Bontrager:  cello