“I've always loved it - the freedom on the cut.”
Rhiannon, who performs music as The Brewers Daughter, describes herself as “a working, touring, independent DIY musician,” who is a “second generation” liveaboard boater and lives “alone in the wild.”
For Rhiannon, living on a boat was not a choice – it was a cultural travelling lifestyle she was born into.
“I'll always only make music that just comes from my heart, comes from the soul, and comes from my experiences,” says Rhiannon.
“I always, I often have a struggle as a musician, especially as a solo acoustic folk musician. You're telling the stories of the people. And a lot of the time you'll get a gig on a Friday night in a pub where people are drinking and they don't necessarily want to think about social issues or serious stuff, subject matter, but I’ve always just gone there.”
Rhiannon describes boat-life as tough, particularly if – like her – you are living your life out in the sticks and staying true to your life and ethic and not making much money – made mainly through busking, gigs and the sale of her music on streaming apps like Bandcamp and Spotify.
“What I'm most proud of is probably the perseverance,” says Rhiannon. “There's so many times where it gets difficult and you’ve got no power, the electrics fail, the winter comes in, the nights draw out, and you just have to figure stuff out by yourself because you're alone in the middle of nowhere,” she adds.
“I've got solar now, but in the past, I always relied on the engine (to power the 12v electric system), so if you have any trouble with your engine, it means you can't move, you can't drink, you can't see at night, your life is so limited. Yeah, it'd be so easy to give up. There are so many times where you just think, this is just ridiculous, but I've always loved it - about the freedom on the cut.”
“I find myself alone almost all the time, and then maybe we'll make a special effort say if it's the solstice, a few boaters might gather at a certain location just for a few days, to sit around the fire and share our music. It's difficult, but then you manage to just get a lovely day together, playing around the fire, sharing your songs, sharing your stories, that's everything.
Rhiannon’s stage name is The Brewer's Daughter and you can find her music available on YouTube, Bandcamp, and also on Spotify. Rhiannon prefers the streaming app Bandcamp because they pay the artist more than You Tube or Spotify – but better still watch out for her gigs!
Interview by Liza Mortimer at this year’s Atchin Tan at Glastonbury Festival
(Photographs by Eszter Halasi)
*The Travellers’ Times is predominantly for Romany Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, but sometimes we like to catch up on the UK’s cultural travelling communities like - in this article - the itinerant boaters who live on the navigable canals and rivers.