Pioneering English traditional folk powerhouse, Eliza Carthy, first assembled the Wayward Band in 2013 in order to explore and celebrate her long and varied career in folk music; 'the last truly underground music scene'. To do this Eliza put together a team of hugely talented people from across the UK, and set out on the road to promote her ‘Best Of’ compilation, Wayward Daughter (Topic Records), which coincided with a biography of the same name. Since then the band has become a festival favourite, and Eliza has been awarded the MBE for services to folk music. Eliza and the Wayward Band loved playing together so much it seemed natural and inevitable, as well as characteristically ambitious, that this 12-piece would set about recording an album. Early in 2016 they did just that. ‘Big Machine’ is the result and the renowned Real World and Rockfield Studios are where it all happened. ‘Big Machine’, produced by Jim Sutherland, will be released on 3rd February 2017.