One sentence bio
Merlyn Driver is a singer-songwriter and nature-focused musician whose sound draws on folk, as well as other global and contemporary influences.
One paragraph bio
Merlyn Driver is a singer-songwriter and nature-focused musician whose sound draws on folk, as well as other global and contemporary influences. Born in Orkney, an archipelago in the north of Scotland and raised on a smallholding without electricity, Merlyn’s music is shaped by his sometimes unconventional Orkney upbringing, as well as a deep love of nature and many years of intercultural exploration.
Detailed bio
Merlyn Driver is a singer songwriter and nature-focused musician, whose sound draws on folk, as well as other global and contemporary influences.
Born in Orkney, an archipelago in the north of Scotland and raised on a smallholding without electricity, Merlyn spent much of his time outdoors and only started attending the local school in his teens. His critically acclaimed multi-artist album project, Simmerdim: Curlew Sounds (2022), released in partnership with the RSPB, received national UK radio play from BBC Radio 6, 3, and 2; and reviews from the likes of MOJO, Songlines Magazine (5 stars), and The Guardian.
Merlyn’s debut album, It Was Also Sometimes Daylight, will be released in October 2025. An intimate meditation on life, memory, nature, and childhood, it is shaped as much by acoustic folk and contemporary influences as by the rhythms and textures of the natural world.
Guests on the album include Owen Spafford (fiddle); Nathan Riki Thomson (double bass); Francesca Ter-Berg (cello); and various creatures including curlews, greenshank, blackbirds, wood sandpipers, barnacle geese, and multiple species of frogs and toads.
Selected quotes
“His atmospheric songs evoke the curlews of his native island, and the soaring vocal flights of Tim Buckley” - Songlines Magazine"
“Fascinating and unique" - BBC Radio Scotland
“Destined for great things as a songwriter” - Musicport Festival
"Haunting and beautiful" - Mark Radcliffe (BBC Radio 2)
"Expertly crafted songs ... expect to hear a lot more from this chap" - fRoots Magazine
"This is the dog’s bollocks! ... it knocked me sideways" - Alex Gallacher (Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Folk Radio UK)
"Totally beguiling stuff" - Roddy Hart (BBC Radio Scotland)
All social network tags: @merlyndriver
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