Jim Causley from Devon, Lauren McCormick from Derbyshire, and Emily Portman from Somerset first met during a trailblazing four-year folk and traditional music degree course at Newcastle University in 2002. McCormick played piano and flute from a young age, Causley (who'd already completed a music course at Exeter College) was an accomplished accordion player, and Portman was adept on piano and concertina, but they rarely use any of these talents in the Devil's Interval -- for while others mostly specialized in instrumental music, forming semi-formal groups out of the thriving sessions that were a natural consequence of the university course, Causley, McCormick, and Portman took inspiration from their vocal tutors Sandra Kerr and Chris Coe and found their forté in a form that had largely been neglected and gone out of fashion in recent years: unaccompanied harmony singing.

McCormick and Portman had already forged a promising duo together and Causley had made the first steps into a solo career when they united as a mostly unaccompanied trio, Causley's baritone voice proving a deft foil for the intimate style of McCormick and Portman. The striking contrast between the texture of their voices, their thoughtful and sensitive vocal arrangements, and their youthful vivaciousness -- plus a willingness to vary the nature of the harmonies to meet the context of their material -- made them instantly attractive to festivals and folk clubs. They were collectively featured on five tracks on the second volume of Martyn Wyndham Read's Song Links comparing English traditional songs with their American counterparts, though only once united as the Devil's Interval on The Cuckoo, sometimes claimed to be the oldest song in the world. Their reputation was enhanced by appearances at Sidmouth, Towersey, Oxford, and Whitby festivals, with a broad range of material largely drawn from the English tradition -- often from the collections of Sabine Baring-Gould -- though McCormick also wrote songs and their version of Silver Dagger was learned from a Dolly Parton record.

In 2006 they released their debut album, Blood and Honey (Wildgoose Records), to enthusiastic reviews, earning them a Horizon nomination for best new act at the 2007 BBC Folk Awards. They were also championed by Waterson:Carthy, guesting on their 2006 album Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man and joining them on their Frost Fire Christmas tour performing ritual/ceremonial songs. Causley also released two solo albums, Fruits of the Earth (2005) and Lost Love Found (2007), and in 2007 teamed up for a tour with young Essex band Mawkin. ~ Colin Irwin, Rovi