Phoebe Butler Recorders

Phoebe is no stranger to music, growing up in a musical family surrounded by classical early music and Celtic folk music.

Phoebe won an early music historic performance competition 2014 (performing with Bergamsca), the prize being a performance at the International Early Music Festival in London. Phoebe also won another Trinity prize in 2014 for her outstanding recorder playing.

Phoebe completed her Master’s on the recorder at The Royal College of Music in 2018.

As well as playing weaving the melody in and out and soaring with her recorders in Aartwork, Phoebe also plays electric bass guitar in other bands, including MonkeyFist.

Claire Cordeaux Acoustic Guitar/Vocals/LiveFX

Claire is native to Suffolk but started playing guitar and singing in pubs in Bristol before moving to London where she played bass guitar with 80’s band Heavens Gate.

After moving back to Suffolk, Claire played bass guitar with the English electric ceilidh band Workhouse for 12 years.

Claire also played bass with the Cambridge based singer songwriter Heather McVey and the Peterborough based band Isiah, with whom she recorded the album “In The Wings”.

Claire started writing lyrics and adding ambient vocals in 2014 adding a fantastic new dimension to Aartwork’s sound.

Merlyn Bruce Live Beats, Bass Synths, Keyboards & Electric Spoons

Merlyn Bruce is a multi-instrumentalist hailing from Woodbridge, Suffolk. Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. Merlyn began pursuing music at the age of 13. He studied jazz performance, after which he performed with various groups at gigs all around the world.

Merlyn began working with Aartwork in 2015 playing drums, but has recently switched to the role of beat-maker. The new setup allows him to stretch his musical abilities as he plays both percussion and synths.

Art Butler Fiddle/LiveFX

Hebridean born Art grew up in the Midlands. Art’s a self-taught fiddler with a style coming from Celtic and blues influences.

Art honed his skills busking around Scandinavia for three years in the early 80’s and has played in various bands, most notably fifteen years with the reggae influenced English ceilidh band Workhouse, recording the album “Tripping” with them in 1994. He’s played gigs across Europe as well as festivals in France, Spain, Norway and Bermuda.

Art started writing fiddle tunes in 1998. Currently, about 90% of Aartwork’s set is original music. Art plays fiddle using liveFX as instrumental breaks amongst the trad. style tunes, bringing a psychedelic, trancy feel to the Aartwork sound.