TABITHA BENEDICT MUSIC
“The subliminal transatlantic touches through her playing are like Easter eggs,
keeping listeners on their toes, never quite sure what’s coming next.”
- The Bluegrass Situation
About
Hailing from County Armagh, Northern Ireland she could easily be mistaken for American-born-and-raised taking up banjo at age 12, but Tabitha has merely caught a musical wind from the west and made it her own. Tabitha has been nominated for the Instrumentalist of the Year at the IBMA Momentum awards in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2018. Tabitha was one of 16 chosen in 2018 and 2019 to attend the Savannah Acoustic Music Seminar, studying with world-class artists such as Julian Lage, Mike Marshall and Bryan Sutton and Darrel Scott. She can be heard performing with her two brothers in the Northern Irish band Cup O’Joe, as well as the all-female Anglo-Irish Bluegrass Band Midnight Skyracer.
As time went on with her family band Cup O’Joe, their unique mix of original compositions and re-imagined traditional songs paired with their lively performances gave them a growing presence in the acoustic music scene surrounding Ireland, The United Kingdom, Mainland Europe, and beyond. Along the way, they’ve been selected for such prestigious recognition's as being IBMA Official Showcase Artists, BBC R2 Young Folk Award Finalists, and appearances on several BBC documentaries and musical exhibitions.
They released their EP “Bluebirds” in 2016. They followed this release with their debut full-length album entitled “In The Parting” in January 2020. Throughout the 10-track album, the trio showcases their perceptive songwriting, virtuosic instrumental ability, and tight vocal harmonies.
Tabitha has been playing with the Anglo-Irish all-female quintet Midnight Skyracer since they formed in 2017. They have become festival favourites across the UK, Europe and Australasia, toured regularly at home and released a critically-lauded debut album. They also carry the distinction of being the first British act nominated for an award by the International Bluegrass Music Association, being 2018 nominees for the Band momentum Award. Following the release of their debut album Fire in February 2018, the band released a follow up album on Island Records. Shadows On the Moon, recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Wiltshire, is a scintillating mix of hard-driven bluegrass and mountain balladry, both edgy and infectious, tender and tough.