Craig Fortnam
{{Short description|English composer, conductor and musician}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Craig Fortnam
| image = DM 238 - North Sea Radio Orchestra - 25318238099.jpg
| landscape = yes
| caption = Fortnam performing with NSRO in 2016
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Craig Edward Fortnam{{Cite web |title=Record Transcription: England & Wales Births 1837-2006 |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BMD%2FB%2F1967%2F3%2FAZ%2F000478%2F087 |access-date=3 February 2023 |publisher=Findmypast}}
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1967|9}}
| birth_place = Oxford, Oxfordshire, England[https://www.nme.com/artists/north-sea-radio-orchestra NME entry on North Sea Radio Orchestra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130114318/http://www.nme.com/artists/north-sea-radio-orchestra |date=30 November 2011 }}, accessed 14 July 2009
| occupation = {{hlist|Composer|conductor|musician}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Sharron Saddington|2003}}{{Cite web |title=Record Transcription: England & Wales Marriages 1837-200 |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=BMD/M/2003/8/94328797 |access-date=3 February 2023 |publisher=Findmypast}}
| genre = {{hlist|}}
| label = {{hlist|Onomatopoeia|Believers Roast}}
| instrument = {{hlist|Guitar|bass guitar|vocals|keyboards|percussion}}
| current_member_of = {{hlist|North Sea Radio Orchestra|Arch Garrison|Cardiacs}}
| past_member_of = {{hlist|The Grown-Ups|Lake of Puppies|Shrubbies|Knifeworld|Panixphere}}
}}
Craig Edward Fortnam (born September 1967) is an English composer, conductor and musician. As a boy he lived in Blewbury Oxfordshire, moving to Kingston-Upon-Thames in 1977. Fortnam is a skilled guitarist and bass guitarist, specialising in nylon-string acoustic guitar (which he plays in a style drawing on classical and African techniques and the work of Nick Drake) and also sings. He is best known as the leader, conductor and principal composer of the North Sea Radio Orchestra, but also leads the smaller band Arch Garrison and was previously a key member of several other bands, most notably the Shrubbies and Lake of Puppies.
Career
=Musical education and early years in rock bands=
Fortnam trained in composition and guitar at Dartington College, England before moving back to London in the early 1990s to seek work as a musician. During this time, he played with several rock and folk bands connected with the cult English rock band Cardiacs, striking up a long-lasting relationship with several of the band members. Among the bands Fortnam played in was Lake of Puppies (a "psychedelic acoustic" band led by former Cardiacs keyboard player William D. Drake), in which he met his future wife and long-term collaborator Sharron Saddington (later to be known as Sharron Fortnam). Fortnam and Saddington went on to form a similar pop group called the Shrubbies with two more ex-Cardiacs, saxophonist Sarah Smith and drummer Dominic Luckman.{{Cite web |last=Marmoro |first=Gianfranco |date=13 July 2019 |title=North Sea Radio Orchestra – Gap Species :: Le Recensioni di OndaRock |url=https://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2019-northsearadioorchestra-gapspecies.htm |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Ondarock |language=it}}{{cite book |author=Davis |first=Steve |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPD5DwAAQBAJ |title=Medical Grade Music |last2=Torabi |first2=Kavus |date=15 April 2021 |publisher=Orion Publishing Group |isbn=9781474619509 |location=London |author-link=Steve Davis |author-link2=Kavus Torabi}} Note: Search "Shrubbies".
During this time, Fortnam wrote a wide variety of music including some contemporary classical compositions which were performed by ensembles including the Kreutzer Quartet and the Britten Sinfonia.
=North Sea Radio Orchestra=
{{Main|North Sea Radio Orchestra}}
Craig and Sharron Fortnam formed North Sea Radio Orchestra (also known as NSRO) in 2002 as a vehicle for Craig's more classically inclined compositions and Sharron's voice (an unusual soprano blending elements of folk, rock, and classical music). The ensemble grew from an octet to a twenty-person grouping including a vocal chorus and has released four albums of original compositions – North Sea Radio Orchestra (2006), Birds (2008) and "I A Moon" (2011) and 'Dronne' (2016). NSRO has received a large amount of critical acclaim and played a wide variety of venues including many historic London churches and the Roundhouse.
=Arch Garrison=
Fortnam founded a more folk-influenced project, Arch Garrison, in 2010 as a duo of himself on voice and nylon-string guitar and James Larcombe on keyboards. The debut Arch Garrison album, King of the Down, was released by Double Six records on 22 February 2010, followed by I Will Be A Pilgrim (The Household Mark, THM003) in 2014 and The Bitter Lay (Believers Roast, BR24) in 2020.
=Work under his own name=
Since 2021, Fortnam has been releasing a mixture of song-based and instrumental music under his own name, beginning with Ark (Onomatopoeia) in 2021, and Instrumental Music 1 (Believers Roast) in 2022. A series of Bandcamp single releases put out over 2022 on a schedule based on the lunar calendar were compiled as Lunar One A Sides (Full Moon Releases Oct 2021 – Sept 22) and Lunar One B Sides (Full Moon Releases Oct 2021 – Sept 22)both released in November 2022 on Believers Roast and Bandcamp.
=Work as session musician/instrumentalist=
Fortnam was a featured musician on the soundtrack to the film A Mighty Heart (2007), playing both guitar and bass guitar.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2878594/ IMDB reference], accessed 14 July 2009 and also played guitar on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Shifty (written by Molly Nyman and NSRO member Harry Escott).[http://www.fringereport.com/0810filmshifty.php Fringe report page on Shifty], accessed 14 July 2009
Discography
=With [[Shrubbies]]=
- The Shrubbies EP (1997, Merlin Audio)
- Memphis in Texas (1999, Merlin Audio)
=With [[North Sea Radio Orchestra]]=
Albums
- North Sea Radio Orchestra (2006, Oof! Records)
- Birds (2008, Oof! Records)
- I a Moon (2011, The Household Mark)
- Dronne (2016, The Household Mark)
- Folly Bololey – The Music of Robert Wyatt NSRO/Greaves/Barbazza (2019, Dark Companion)
- Gap Species (2019, The Household Mark)
Singles and EPs
- "North Sea Radio Orchestra" (2003, private release)
- "The Flower" (2005, Oof! Records)
- "The End of Chimes" (2007, Oof! Records)
Compilation appearances
- Folk Off: New Folk and Psychedelia from the British Isles and North America (2006, Sunday Best Recordings – NSRO contributes "Guitar Miniature")
- The Arctic Circle Presents: That Fuzzy Feeling (2007, Arctic Circle Records – NSRO contributes "O Come O Come Emanuel")
- Leader of the Starry Skies: A Tribute to Tim Smith, Songbook 1 (2011 – Believers Roast – NSRO contributes 'March')
=With [[Knifeworld]]=
- Dear Lord, No Deal EP (2011)
=With Arch Garrison=
- King of the Down (2010, Double Six)
- I Will Be A Pilgrim (2014, The Household Mark)
- The Bitter Lay (2020, Believers Roast)
=Solo=
- Ark (2021, Onomatopoeia)
- Instrumental Music 1 (2022, Believers Roast)
- Lunar One A Sides (Full Moon Releases Oct 2021 – Sept 22) (2022, Believers Roast)
- Lunar One B Sides (Full Moon Releases Oct 2021 – Sept 22) (2022, Believers Roast)
- Bespoke Guitar Pieces (2024, Believers Roast)
- Bespoke String Trios (2024, Believers Roast)
=Collaborative=
- The Exquisite Corpse Game (2013, Believers Roast)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.myspace.com/northsearadioorchestra North Sea Radio Orchestra @ MySpace]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717022208/http://www.theorchestrapit.com/files/audio/Full%20Circle%2011%20-%20Craig%20Fortnam.mp3 Craig Fortnam guests on the Orchestra Pit radio show, 7 October 2004]
{{Cardiacs}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortnam, Craig}}
Category:20th-century English classical composers
Category:21st-century English classical composers
Category:21st-century English male composers
Category:English male conductors (music)
Category:English classical guitarists
Category:English rock guitarists
Category:English rock bass guitarists
Category:English male guitarists
Category:English male classical composers
Category:20th-century English guitarists
Category:21st-century English guitarists
Category:20th-century English conductors (music)
Category:21st-century English conductors (music)