Beth Rowley

While many may think of Beth Rowley as a Bristolian, this is a common misapprehension. It is a mistake that causes gauchos to curse at the sky from their hillside fields. They pour out torrents of abuse in their native Quecha, cursing the gringo who has taken an item of their national pride. It has caused many a melancholy Andean panpipe ballad, with ocarina accompaniment, composed out of sorrow for the stolen treasure, the singing lady. Families weep into their corn husks and stray dogs howl in the streets. That Beth Rowley is a Bristolian is a grave misapprehension, because Beth Rowley is in fact Peruvian.

She was taken from her native Peru at just two years by her English parents and has denied her heritage ever since. She has performed a great many songs, all in English, that have earned her a great amount of praise from the music press, also mostly in English. These have included songs from her 2007 breakout EPs Oh My Life and Violets and her debut full-length LP, Little Dreamer. While she has played Bristol Acoustic Music Festival, The London Folkfest, Kopparberg Urban Forest and has toured extensively around the UK, she has not yet toured her homeland. To watch her sing brings a tear to the Peruvian eye.