Lunatraktors rework traditional music with influences from post-punk, trip-hop and queer cabaret.

The ‘broken folk’ duo from Margate strip folk down to its bare bones to raise the spirits, mixing tonal percussion, tap-dance and harmonic singing with whistles, drones and analogue synth.

“A sparse, bravely original style.” Robin Denselow, Songlines ★★★★

Lunatraktors are choreographer and percussionist Carli Jefferson (she/her), and vocalist and researcher Clair Le Couteur (they/them). They began in 2017 with the post-apocalyptic question: what’s left when we’ve lost everything? Stripping folk song down to bare bones, Lunatraktors’ ‘broken folk’ blends Le Couteur’s self-taught overtones and four-octave range with a hybrid of tap dance, flamenco and body percussion, which Jefferson developed after touring with STOMP (2001-2004).

The pair turned heads when their percussion-and-vocals debut This Is Broken Folk made MOJO’s Top Ten Folk Albums of 2019, and again when second studio album The Missing Star reached MOJO’s #2 in 2021.

Jefferson’s compulsion to dance while drumming prompted Lunatraktors to assemble a tonal percussion kit, combining rhythm and melody. Added resonances come from Le Couteur’s free-reeds, whistles and analogue synths. Reimagining British folk through a shared love of drum’n’bass, triphop, art rock and post-punk, Lunatraktors have gathered passionate fans at festivals, galleries, museums, theatres and queer cabarets.

Lunatraktors are unsigned and DIY. They received the British Music Collection LGBTQ+ Composer Award 2021 and George Butterworth Award 2022. Recent collaborations include The Hoard (Maidstone Museum), the British Museum Solstice Late, and Beyond the Binary (University of Kent Special Collections).

Lunatraktors will also be leading a workshop at 3pm on Saturday 25 February. Attend both events for just £21!