Lupen Crook

Lupen Crook (born Matthew Pritchard) is a British singer-songwriter and musician who has been part of the underground folk scene since 2004. Crook began writing his own songs on his twelve string acoustic guitar after he formed many unsuccessful bands. Early demos surfaced showcasing Lupen's twisted take on traditional folk music.

Based in Chatham, Kent, Lupen began to play live locally at venues such as The Tap & Tin, at which bands among the likes of The Libertines had performed concerts at. In the summer of 2004, a 3 track CD was given to Dean Fragile who was A&R for Tap'n'Tin records by a friend of Dean's called Sam Hayes, the three tracks was recorded on a Fisher Price tape player and was the first versions of songs 'Matilda V' 'Staghead & Monster' and 'Lucky 6'. The CD cover was handmade and was coloured in using Lupen's girlfriend's makeup. Dean called the phone number on the CD that very day and it turned out to be the Dan Pritchard who he went to the same school as. Later that year he signed a record deal to Tap'n'Tin Records who he has released an album, EP and three singles under.

The first official release of Crook's career was the 'Petals Fresh From Roadkill' EP. He followed this with 'Halloween' and 'Love 80'. Pritchard's debut album, Accidents Occur Whilst Sleeping was released on June 24, 2006 and gained critical acclaim from NME and The Fly. The second single to be taken from the album was 'A Silver Boot For Sam', released in October of the same year.

Late 2007 saw the release of 'Matthew's Magpie' as Lupen Crook & The Murderbirds [taken from the forthcoming album 'Lupen Crook and The Murderbirds].