Beck Siàn was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her mother is Welsh, and her father was born in England, but is from an Irish family. With Welsh and Irish blood, it seems only natural that Beck was going to be drawn to all things Celtic – everything from the Celtic artwork and mythology, Druidic reverence for nature and trees, tales of banshees, wraiths and faeries, to the musical instruments and haunting singing-styles. Her grandmother was Hannah Bush‘s sister.
Beck Siàn arrived in the UK in mid 2006 for her first British tour, and returned home to the forest-covered mountains of the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, Australia in late 2016.
Beck Siàn was the winner of the Ranges Folk Festival Songwriting Award 2004, for her song ‘Under Thunderous Skies’, featured on her ‘Unfurling’ album. ‘Unfurling’ (2005) is Beck’s debut album. It was followed by the albums ‘Luminous Wings & Unseen Things’ (2009) and ‘Ye Olde Silent Inn’ (2012). The latter featured the track ‘Lady Of The Wind’, a collaboration with John Carder Bush.
In 2014 she released the album ‘In the Winter Dark’. 2014 was also the year that saw Beck traveling across Europe in a van with acclaimed guitarist Jonathan Kershaw, to perform at the largest Gothic festival on the planet: the Wave Gotik Treffen. With Kershaw, she recorded the album ‘By These Words, We Are Haunted, Vol. 1.’, a collection of Victorian and Edwardian ghost poems set to original music.
During live shows, Beck Siàn has performed Wuthering Heights.
Beck Siàn about Kate Bush
Kate Bush is my second cousin. She’s been the biggest influence on my music. When she was first making it and making Wuthering Heights I was four, which was a very important age, and every time she releases a CD it has shaped my music. But I don’t think she’s aware of that. We’ve had a little bit of contact. I lived in Australia and Kate’s in England and she doesn’t like flying, but she came over once and stayed with us. And I came over to the UK in 1995, when I was 21, and saw her then. We send each other Christmas cards, but I think to get close to Kate would be very hard. She’s very private and very busy. (Music helped Beck get life back on track, Eastern Daily Press, 14 September 2006)
