They have played more than 3,000 gigs, appeared on over 100 albums, written hundreds of original songs and reached millions of people around the world. Now, 30 years after their debut, they sound as fresh and vital as ever.

They are two of the best and most hard working musicians on the world folk roots scene, both are highly regarded producers and they record everything that they are involved in at their own studio in a small Pennine town far from the Londoncentric music industry. They truly are inspirational women.

Chris While (vocals, guitar, banjo, dulcimer, bodhran and percussion.

Julie Matthews (vocals, piano, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki) are renowned for their seamless harmonies and affinity for each other on stage, they are stunning singers, songwriters, musicians and performers whose energy and commitment to their craft and their audience is boundless.

​

Chris and Julie have been nominated ten times in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in the 'Best Song, Best Duo, Best Live Act' categories, winning Best Duo in 2009 but it is their longstanding and devoted growing fans that they care most about.

​

They have performed several times at the Royal Albert Hall, most noteably alongside Boo Hewerdine, Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker, O'Hooley and Tidow and Kris Drever performing songs from the Ballads Of Child Migration project.

​

To mark 25 years as a duo, Shrewsbury Folk Festival (one of the largest and beloved festivals in England) commissioned a celebratory ‘While & Matthews’ takeover in August 2019 for which the duo curated the Sunday on fabulous  Pengwern stage featuring friends and collaborators such as Eddi Reader, Blair Dunlop, Charlie Dore, IOTA, and Burden Of Paradise with lead singer Helen Watson and their other Daphne's Flight sisters Mel Harrold and Christine Collister.

 To finish off the day was of course The While and Matthews Big Band including, Kellie While, Belinda O'Hooley, Dave Bowie Jr, Johnny Heyes and Neil Marshall, long standing ovations were given in honour of the beloved duo.

​

In 2023, Chris While & Julie Matthews are more powerful than ever and remain at the very top of their game. This year (2023) they returned to Australia to tour for the 13th time in a country that they love and are much loved in return.

They were awarded  ‘Artists of the Year’ at the prestigious Port Fairy Music Festival in 2018, one of the the biggest events of its kind in Australasia and loved their return visit. They have also toured in New Zealand, Africa, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Italy.

​

Though internationally acclaimed, they continue to be a leading force on the UK's acoustic/roots arts circuit. Their songs cover life as they see it, from injustice and freedom to matters of the heart and everything in between. Their songs are covered by many singers the world over but it is While & Matthews' musical partnership and obvious joy of performing together that really brings their songs to life. As performers they are unrivalled and their audiences leave their concerts having travelled an emotional journey.

​

Recordings

They already have twelve studio albums together, two live albums and two 'Best Of' collections, all produced by them except Quest which was produced by Ghanaian Musician, Kwame Yeboah.

Their latest album Women Of The World was released in October 22 to critical acclaim. Theyhave spent the first half og this year writing for their 13 studio album and that will be released this summer (2024).

​

They also have a songbook to their credit and Julie has three solo albums while Chris has 5.

They also appear as leading songwriters and singers during their time in the Albion Band on several albums (1990 to 1997).

All in all in they have appeared on over 100 albums during the course of their career.

​

Chris and Julie also write and perform music for Television and Radio, notably 'Tales from the Towpath' (BBC Radio 2), 'The Ridgeriders' (Meridian TV) Where Chris along with Phil Beer and Ashley Hutchings wrote and performed over 40 songs about England's Ridgeway region and it's folklore, the BBC Radio Ballads for which Julie wrote eleven of the songs and Chris performed several of them. The latest project is The Ballads Of Child Migration, their songs from this project were a key feature in Michael Morpurgo's reading of his best selling book 'Alone On A Wide Wide Sea' which was aired on Radio 2 in 2018 and as part of the exhibition of the same subject held at The Victoria & Albert's Museum Of Childhood in London.

​

They were soloists alongside Jez Lowe, Bob Fox, John Tams, Jim Boyce and the late Barrie Coope performing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 'The Ballads of The Great War Live' on Friday Night Is Music Night, BBC Radio 2. presented by Michael Morpurgo.

​

In 2025 (Chris and Julie alongside Helen Watson Melanie Harrold and Miranda Sykes) Daphne’s Flight​ will be touring in the UK

​

Every December St Agnes Fountain, (Chris, Julie and Chris Leslie (Fairport Convention) 

tour the UK to sell pit audiences on their annual sell-out tours.

Here are this year's dates