BARBAROSSA (‘Red Beard’ in Italian) is the alter-ego of London basedsinger-songwriter James Mathe – a man blessed with an incredibly emotive voice, yet cursed with a (well-trimmed) fiery-ginger beard. Barbarossa first came to the attention of Fence Records in 2004, with a 3 track EP produced by ADEM (Domino Records) – and he has since released a mini-album (entitled Sea Like Blood) as part of the Collective’s ‘Picket Fence’ series.

At its core, Barbarossa is one man and a guitar – but live, James’ harmonies and arrangements are literally fleshed out, with a troup of like-minded friends joining him on-stage. Sometime band members include his girlfriend Montse (harmonies), Seven Sang (harmonies, electronics and guitar), Fawzilla (harmonies and harmonium), Johnny Flynn (violin), Howard Monk (drums / percussion) and, most recently, Talvin Singh (tabla). Performances over the past year include slots at the Fence Collective’s Homegame festival in Anstruther, The Green Man festival in Wales, the Barbican’s Folk Britannia festival, A Fistful Of Twisted Folk festival at the London Arts Depot and, just last month, the inaugural End Of The Road festival in North Dorset.