Live music at The Tuppenny: māsa

māsa (formerly known as Currer Bell) channel the essence of folk narrative into contemporary songwriting elevated by an array of instruments, soundscapes, and their sister harmonies. From an early age, Faron and Merle were homeschooled, which gave them the space to create a shared imaginary world brimming with characters and scenes to fill their storytelling songs. The importance of this sibling bond is behind the name: māsa means sister in Latvian, the language of their great-grandmother, whose extraordinary life-story and vivid imagination remain a treasured legacy for the duo.

māsa have toured as a support act, played festivals such as HowTheLightGetsIn, and worked on a variety of multimedia projects. They retold folktales and invented new ones with Kerchief Theatre, and resurrected forgotten laments and rhymes for We Are All Sonambulists, an immersive guide to their Somerset hometown. The Tower, a song from their debut album, was used in the Apple TV series Dear Edward.

In 2021 they released their debut EP as Currer Bell, Lullabies for an Apocalypse, “a breath-stilling set of five songs, threaded with rare intelligence and poetic imagery”- From the Margins. Inspired by classic writing and myth, featuring renowned drummer Gary Husband, and exploring the theme of catastrophes ranging from the personal to the planetary, Lullabies for an Apocalypse spins timeless tales to address modern issues. Listen here. 

In 2022, māsa successfully crowdfunded and released their first album, Sailors and Insomniacs, “an amazingly assured debut that draws you into their utterly distinctive imaginative world” - Telegraph.