Anna Ryder

Elks Jumping High is annA, Carol Whitworth and Nicky Cure. annA plays all her usual instruments. Carol plays stick bass, trumpet, glockenspiel, parpy things, other stuff and sings. Nicky who joined annA on their award-winning Fat Chance Show, plays all sorts of percussion. Together they are Elks Jumping High singing songs and having fun. They did their first gig at Brubl in November and had such fun they wanted to do more stuff! annA is this: AUDIENCE QUOTE: “Where have you been all our lives! We enjoyed the show so much! Your songs are so original, personal, yet for everyone.” “A multi-talented ball of energy” Julianne Regan [ALL ABOUT EVE] annA rydeR is a musical dynamo; an original and inventive singer-songwriter whose exuberant humour and joyful presentation is matched only by her outstanding musicianship. Her songs are simultaneously thought-provoking, poignant and humorous. Her stage is adorned with a spectrum of instruments from piano to trumpet, guitar to accordion and she sometimes plays them more than one at a time. An evening with annA is always rich and uplifting. MORE DETAIL: annA is a musician’s musician who has played with and for many different artists including Fairport Convention, Eddi Reader and Julianne Regan (All about Eve). Fairport Convention recorded and performed her songs ‘Bring Me Back My Feathers’, ‘Sailing Boat’ and ‘The Crowd’. In 2019 annA performed at Cropredy Convention as part of the unique 11-piece ‘Fairport Extension’ for which she arranged the brass parts and played keyboard, accordion, trumpet and French horn. annA 's albums, including Paper Girl, Pockets On Fire and The Art Of Making Faces, of original ‘songs that demonstrate a rare originality’ (MOJO) and often feature such musicians as Dave Pegg, Gerry Conway, Rabbit Bundrick (The Who keyboards), Simon Nicol and Clive Bunker (ex-Jethro Tull). annA's FAT CHANCE SHOW, created with artist Nicky Cure, is a combination of her own songs and dedicated handmade films (art, stop-motion, cartoons and live-recorded action) making for a truly unique, multi-sensual experience,“Quite simply, unforgettable”. During 2022 and 2023 Fat Chance Show played 3 uk tours. 2017 saw annA get together with talented singers and musicians Sally Barker and Marion Fleetwood to create IOTA. This trio combine to make original songs which are poignant, quirky, thought-provoking and humorous with sublime harmonies and top class musicianship – described by Julie Matthews as "Three brilliant musicians, singers and writers exuding an infectious joy of music. A force to be reckoned with." Sally and annA got together as a duo and released their album of original material ‘When I Wake Up’ in the autumn of 2019. annA was invited to join the reformed Fotheringay with original members Gerry Conway and Pat Donaldson in 2018 to play a fundraiser for Jerry Donahue. This then evolved into The Sandy Denny Project of which annA was a member up until 2023. From the end of 2020 and into 2021 annA broadcast live on Facebook doing her daily show ‘Elevenses’ which went for 63 days almost continuously.