The World's Music at Oxford: Jacken Elswyth

The World’s Music at Oxford welcomes in the spring with TWO concerts by one of the most exciting instrumentalists on the UK folk scene. For the first time, The World’s Music at Oxford presents a (mini) residency, as Jacken Elswyth joins us for two performances in St John’s College’s unique and intimate art-space The Barn – one in the evening (Saturday 1 March) and one in the afternoon (Sunday 2 March).

Jacken Elswyth is dedicated to the banjo. As a musician, she finds new directions for the instrument’s solo repertoire, deeply rooted in traditions from Britain and Appalachia, explored and extrapolated through experimentation with drones (supplied live by a foot-pumped shruti box), musique concrète, extended techniques and improvisation. Her art also extends past the banjo’s sound itself, as she builds and repairs the instruments, focussing on folk and vernacular techniques and creating her own designs, too. These dual experiences as instrument builder and musician inform each other, connecting craft and music with the same purpose and passion – heard most evidently in Jacken’s astonishing 2021 album Banjo with the Sound of its Own Making. Her most recent album – 2024’s At Fargrounds – was a critical success, with The Guardian placing it in their top 10 folk albums of 2024, and The Quietus proclaiming it #14 in their overall albums of the year. Look out for her limited-run CD and zine with poet CA Conrad, to be released on 6 February.

In her solo work as well as her wide-reaching collaborations and as a member of the pioneering Shovel Dance Collective, Jacken Elswyth uses the banjo to create a traditional music to resonate with the people and culture of the 21st century.

Timings: Saturday 1 March – doors 6:30pm, performance starts at 7pm

Sunday 2 March – doors 1:30pm, performance starts at 2pm.