BIOGRAPHY
Beth is a well known cellist on the UK folk and acoustic music circuit. She studied Music and Dance in Bath where she also explored the open mic nights and the folk scene, widening her musical knowledge and improvisational skills. Being one of few cellists playing outside the classical genre, although classically trained, she soon proved to be in demand in Bath, Bristol and the South West of England. Once on the road with various bands, it wasn’t long before her name reached other parts of the UK and she was drafted in for gigs and recording sessions with the likes of Newton Faulkner, Eliza Carthy, The Unthanks and The Heavy. She is known for her versatility, sensitivity, reliability and ability to improvise/compose beautiful, intuitive and supportive cello lines for songwriters, folk, rock and pop music She also has a knack of finding the perfect harmony line and uses her voice and cello alike.
She has played and sung with Eliza Carthy for eight years in various line ups, the current one being a 12 piece Folk Big Band - Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band. She writes songs and plays in The Bookshop Band with her husband Ben Please and is a member of Red Carousel, a string quartet who write and play original music. She also has her own songwriting project, Beth Porter and The Availables.
While playing cello with various artists, she developed a dream of writing songs and singing them herself. She thought ‘if they can do it, why can’t I?!’
This was aided by the gift of a ukulele one Christmas, and although she had written and composed before, this was the trigger that provided the confidence to play her first song at an open mic night. It went surprisingly well and her passion for writing and singing increased until she had written enough songs for her first album (with a couple of preceding EPs) Open Doors, under the name Beth Porter and The Availables, released in 2015. Her voice has been described as fragile yet pure and likened to Joanna Newsom, The McGarrigle Sisters, This Is The Kit, Feist and Joni Mitchell.
She writes equally on the cello and baritone ukulele and is always being creative and innovative in the use of these instruments with her voice which soars above the mellow sounds. Her music has an unmistakeable Britshness to it and her songs have been compared to The Beatles, The Kinks, The Incredible String Band, Radiohead and Kate Bush!