Dorothy Carter

Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Dorothy Carter performed traditional and medieval songs in a singular way, influencing many psychedelic folk, experimental, and new age musicians. She skillfully played several stringed instruments, including hammered dulcimer, zither, and hurdy-gurdy, and interpreted Appalachian, Celtic, and French folk songs in a hypnotic, freewheeling manner, sometimes resembling droning ragas. She self-released two albums during the 1970s, including her best-known work, 1978's Waillee Waillee. Later in her life, Carter achieved fame as a founding member of the successful British ensemble Mediæval Bæbes, and recorded a third solo effort, Lonesome Dove (2000). Following her death in 2003, her music developed a cult following, and Waillee Waillee, acknowledged as an avant-folk classic, received its first official reissue in 2023.