Carolyn Hillyer

Carolyn Hillyer is a composer of songs and raw inspiring chants, and a powerful performer in concert. She sings of ancient spirit and hidden memory, of ancestral roots and the deep experience of women in the weaving of courageous life paths. She has released albums, both solo projects and creative collaborations with Nigel Shaw. As well as playing many drums in her performances and recordings, Carolyn is a drum-maker, creating traditional frame drums from skins and other materials sourced both on Dartmoor and during her journeys to the Arctic. She makes many of the instruments that she uses in concert. Her work with the bands 'Riven' and 'Global', as well as her creative collaboration with Nigel in several projects demonstrates a wilder unleashed approach to both voice and lyrics. Carolyn is also a painter of life-size images of archetypal and mythological women. She writes powerful mythic stories that explain and expand on the symbolism in her paintings and songs: some of her writings have been published as collections and source books both within the UK and Europe.