Saul Bailey

Saul might be a newcomer to the Nerdy Gurdy world, but he certainly isn’t new to the traditional music scene. Growing up as a Morris Dancer, Saul has always had a love for both traditional and trad-inspired tunes, many of which he plays on his diatonic accordion and English Concertina. Check out his YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@SaulBailey

When asked about his venture into the hurdy gurdy, he says “I’d seen gurdys being played a few times, and I suppose it’s my love of unconventional things that drew me to it. They’re like pieces of functional art.” He goes on to say “Obviously, it’s difficult to get into without having the right connections but a friend told me about Nerdy Gurdy and I couldn’t really resist, could I?”

Saul has just finished building his first Nerdy instrument, a 4-string Basic, from a kit purchased at nerdygurdy.nl. He has completely amazed the Nerdy Gurdy Builder’s Group on Facebook with his early offerings (see my FUN page for another of his recent videos).

Even as a long-time building mentor, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take to the gurdy as naturally has Saul has done. He even made an awesome video where he plays both the gurdy and his Concertina together (above).

While Saul hopes to eventually have a luthier-made gurdy, much of his time and money go toward his Oxford education where he is starting his Master’s program in Medieval Literature. He has his eye on a future PHD and perhaps a career in teaching at the University level.

But these lofty aspirations don’t mean that he will leave music behind. He plans to fit in as many music gigs as time allows and just see where his path takes him.

In looking at Saul’s social media, I’m guessing that he also has a great love of theatre and seems very much at home on stage.