Angela Goldthorpe began playing recorder at primary school and then flute at King Edward VI, Retford, playing in various ensembles; Redforde Early Music Consort, a wind quintet and the Nottinghamshire Schools Symphony Orchestra. She was introduced to folk music when asked to play flute for the ensemble of The Broadstone Morris. The morris dancing was done to ancient English tunes but the sessions to follow in the pub introduced her to the rich tune and song traditions of Ireland and Scotland.

 

In 1993 she met Andy Smith at Leeds Metropolitan University and through their event lighting partnership met Bryan Josh and in 1997 her Mostly Autumn journey began.

 

The next ten years took Angela to Europe, Mexico and the USA with Mostly Autumn and she joined the York flute ensemble, A Garland of Flutes as well as recording the acoustic album Offerings with Heather Findlay as Odin Dragonfly (an anagram of Findlay Gordon, Angela now Mrs Gordon after marrying childhood sweetheart Mark 'McKinty' Gordon in 2004).

In November 2007, Angela gave birth to Scarlett Lily Joan Gordon and decided to take time off from touring, with Anne-Marie Helder comfortably filling her MA shoes.

After a few years of full-time parenting and the occasional flute ensemble performance, Angela had an appetite for a little more music in her life and joined with Chris Johnson and a couple of Chris’ long-time music buddies to form Irish pub-band Stout Boots. This led her to take up the accordion and in exploring accordion traditions she discovered a taste for Eastern European gypsy and alternative-celtic music and before long, along with a group of like-minded musicians, formed the group Leather’o.

In 2015, Bryan offered Angela the opportunity to perform with Mostly autumn again . By Spring 2016, she was fully back in the game, performing with Mostly Autumn, Odin Dragonfly and The Heather Findlay Band as well as A Garland of Flutes, Leather’o, Stout Boots and even the occasional duo outing with Chris Johnson.

During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 Angela spent her time practising violin and making videos with Leather’o (check out angelagordon.co.uk) and has begun work on a second Odin Dragonfly album.