Biography
Tim van Eyken (born 7 March 1978) is an English guitarist and melodeon player of Belgian descent. From 1998 he was a member of the now defunct folk group Dr Faustus (with Robert Harbron, Benji Kirkpatrick, and Paul Sartin. He was a member of Waterson:Carthy from 2000-2007. In 2001 he recorded an album as Tim van Eyken & Robert Harbron. His recording of "Barleycorn" won the award for Best Traditional Track at the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Van Eyken first started playing penny whistle after seeing James Galway on television. He graduated to playing for his mother, then a member of the Beetlecrushers clog dance team. There was pressure from the team to play something louder, so he learned the melodeon.
He first came to prominence in 1998 when he won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award. In 2000 he was invited to become the fourth member of Waterson–Carthy, a position he held until May 2007.
His 2007 album "Stiffs Lovers Holymen Thieves" features Nancy Kerr on fiddle, Olly Knight (Lal Waterson's son) on electric guitar, Colin Fletcher on double bass, and Pete Flood on percussion. The version of the traditional English song "John Barleycorn", entitled "Barleycorn" on the album, won the award for Best Traditional Track at the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
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