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Finn Collinson is a recorder player, multi-instrumentalist, folk musician and composer based in Suffolk, UK.
Pioneering folk recorder player Finn Collinson returns with his third album Byway: an instrumental journey around the UK told through original and traditional melodies. His first release in three years, Byway showcases Finn’s acoustic roots with his celebrated and distinctive recorder style at its heart.
Joined once again by Archie Churchill-Moss on guitar (Seth Lakeman, Sam Sweeney) and Evan Carson on bodhran (Steve Knightley, Sam Kelly), Finn has drawn inspiration from his travels, telling powerful stories without a single word. Based on traditional dance tunes and structures, subtle influences from the Baroque masters, chamber music, indie rock and modern pop make this Finn’s most adventurous and personal music to date. Starting as a series of melodies composed and uncovered during three intensive writing weeks in 2024, the tunes have been moulded and augmented in collaborative arrangements with Finn’s illustrious band.
Across its nine tracks, mixed by award-winning folk innovator Jim Moray, the album’s journey takes Finn from his home in Suffolk – to Devon, Somerset, Wales, Cumbria, the Scottish Highlands and beyond. Strong themes of animals, nature and family history prevail, painting a vivid picture of Finn’s interests and experiences. From the pulsing groove of album opener Tara, to the dark and moody The Complaint, a wide range of musical colours and characters are explored. Hare of Twenty, a set of two self-composed jigs, delves into Welsh folklore, while Tune for the Linnet, the album’s only unaccompanied track, is a performance of an 18th Century melody recorded live in a single take in the church opposite Finn’s childhood home.
Since the release of Finn’s last album The Threshold in 2022, his band has toured nationally and performed at numerous renowned folk festivals. Finn has also toured with acclaimed ceilidh band Stroma, directed the music for a stage production of Ronald Blythe’s Akenfield with SHAKE Festival, and worked as a folk educator for organisations including Britten Pears Arts, Halsway Manor and FolkEast.
Performed on a range of beautiful handmade recorders, Byway is a thorough reinvention of the recorder’s place in English folk music. It finds Finn Collinson in his natural habitat, telling moving instrumental stories while gently forging a unique musical path.
“Collinson has both the chops and the vision to take his music in many directions” – RNR Magazine
Finn acknowledges generous support he has received from the SRP Walter Bergmann Fund, EATMT Ruddock Bursaries, EFDSS Micro Grants and Guildhall School Futures Fund.
A diverse performance career has seen Finn play on the main stages of many of England’s biggest folk festivals, and venues ranging from tiny 50-capacity arts centres to the Royal Albert Hall. Finn also performed in the orchestra for the English National Opera’s Olivier Award-winning production of Noye’s Fludde in July 2019.
As an educator, Finn works extensively with FolkEast (notably as curator of the festival's Youth Moot workshop programme). In 2022-23 he was a lead tutor on the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust’s youth showcase project.
Finn graduated from the world-leading Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2021. His classical training continues to inform his performance and composition within the folk world, where he often uses fragments of historical music and collaborates with a range of different performers from varied backgrounds.