Lunatraktors

Live Music in the Theatre at Horse + Bamboo from Lunatraktors

Lunatraktors are a collaboration between choreographer and percussionist Carli Jefferson (she/her) and vocalist and researcher Clair Le Couteur (they/them). Starting in 2017 with an apocalyptic question – What’s left when we’ve lost everything? – the project strips down folk to the basics of rhythm and voice. Jefferson’s hybrid of tap dance, flamenco and body percussion, developed after touring with STOMP (2001-2004), meets Le Couteur’s self-taught overtone singing and 3+ octave range. Building on this foundation of somatic sound, their ‘broken folk’ style expands from harmonic singing and dance into eclectic acoustic beats, accordion, whistles and analogue synth basslines.

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Reimagining Anglo-Celtic folk music through a shared love of trip-hop, flamenco and post punk, Lunatraktors reveal that 1800s broadside ballads can feel just as personal and urgently political today. A double act in the old fashioned sense, Le Couteur channels the voices of multiple tragi-comic characters, matching Jefferson’s hyper-expressive performance style. Jefferson’s compulsion to dance while drumming prompted Lunatraktors’ custom percussion kit, providing both rhythmic and melodic elements to their sound.