Sam Lakeman

Having started playing at festivals, regattas, and village fetes as part of a family band, Sam and his fellow siblings formed the ’Lakeman Brothers’ in the early 1990s - with Sam on piano, Seth on violin, and Sean on guitar. The trio wrote and produced the album ’Three Piece Suite’ (1994).

Kathryn Roberts was a guest singer for two tracks on Three Piece Suite, and as a result of this collaboration, when asked to play a tour of Portugal in September 1994, Kathryn and Kate Rusby asked the Lakeman Brothers to accompany them as a backing band. On their return to the UK the five agreed to form a permanent band and ’Equation’ was born.

However, it was to prove a fairly short collaboration for both Kate Rusby and Sam. Kate left in 1995, to be replaced by Cara Dillon. The following year saw the completion of the band’s debut album, Return To Me, but days before the album’s release in 1996, Warner decided to shelve it citing a lack of hit singles. At the record company’s request the band experimented with a more ’commercial sound’ but ten days of painfully difficult sessions split the group and Sam and Cara Dillon left to pursue their own musical direction.

The pair signed for Warner as a duo, Polar Star. They recorded several albums with top songwriters and producers in the UK and San Francisco, but none of their work was released - the record label stating that the recordings showed no hit single potential. Having decided by 2000 that they would never be able to give the label what they wanted, Dillon and Lakeman ended their five year relationship with Warner Music Group and signed to Indie label Rough Trade.

Since then Cara’s solo career has taken off, beginning with her first solo album released in 2001. However, they are effectively still a duo. Sam Lakeman has continued to collaborate with Cara, both in terms of songwriting and playing keyboards, as well as producing her albums. This is perhaps not surprising given the couple married in 2002.