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Line Up
Bromyard Folk Festival
Featured artists and guests of the festival.
This year's detailed line up: COMING SOON!
This year we've got a great line-up of the most outstanding local, national and international traditional folk musicians performing in concert, ceilidhs and displays.
If any details below are incorrect please email us.
John Spiers & Jon Boden, The Mighty Doonans, Session A9, The Copper Family, David Francey, Vin Garbutt
Tom McConville & David Newey, Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, Dave Webber & Anni Fentiman, Cupola, Allan Yn Y Fan, Keith Donnelly, Colvin Quarmby, The Hut People, James Findley Trio, Lori Watson and Rule of Three, Elbow Jane, Martyn Harvey, Dancecupola, Peeping Tom, Vicky Swan & Jonny Dyer, Maggie Boyle & Paul Downs, Dr Sunshine, The Askew Sisters, Emma Heath, Pilgrims Way, Inlay, Rob Halligan, Graeme Knights, Jim Mageean, Paul & Liz Davenport, Ursula, Holden Gill, Lydia Noble, Infinite Cherries, Dave Bordewey & Dave Young, Becky Wolff & Steamchicken, Hand To Mouth Theatre, Samuel Walter, Jason Hinchey, Mick Holditch, Speake & Lowe, 'The Ancient Legacy' +more...
Below is the previous 2011 line up - new details coming soon
Dervish
Their colorful career has taken them to every corner of the globe and has seen them share centre stage with such names as James Brown, The Buena Vista Social Club, Oasis, Sting, REM, Beck and many more. Dervish are one of the most respected acts of modern time in World/Roots music worldwide. Their musical genius and innovative approach will ensure that they will be always be a leading force in Irish music bringing the world the joy and excitement and fun that is, traditional Irish music.
Martin Simpson Band
There is no doubt that after 35 years as a professional musician Martin is, right now, better than ever. Widely acknowledged as one of the finest acoustic and slide guitar players in the world, his interpretations of traditional songs are masterpieces of storytelling. His solo shows are intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving.
Martin has been nominated an astounding 23 times in the eleven years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards - more than any other performer - with 9 consecutive years as nominee for Musician of The Year, which he has won twice. 2008 saw an incredible 5 nominations for "Prodigal Son' and 2 wins, whilst in 2010 he had an unprecedented 6 nominations for his CD, "True Stories" and a win for Best Traditional Track, "Sir Patrick Spens".
John McCusker Michael McGoldrick John Doyle Trio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McGoldrick
Michael McGoldrick: "His pedigree is immaculate and traditional music is very evidently in his blood. Yet in his swooping style there is also a very real sense of the impromptu and willingness to explore areas beyond the natural roots." FRoots
John McCusker: "I was once asked, during an interview, to describe John McCusker. Once I'd filtered the immediate stream of rudeness and cheap comedy from my mind..the answer I gave was "he's a musician's musician." Phil Cunningham
John Doyle: "John developed a style all his own and is now inspiring a new generation of guitarists." --Helene Northway, RootsWorld.
The Once
From unaccompanied ballads layered with "vocal harmonies thick enough to stand on" to exquisitely arranged shanties featuring bouzouki, banjo, bodhrán and more, The Once has quickly become the pride of Newfoundland and Labrador's folk music scene. Their subtle yet haunting folk sound has sold over 4,000 copies of their release in less than a year.
Calan
www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/calan
Calan are a new, vibrant five-piece folk band who are breathing new life into traditional Welsh music.
Sparkling melodies, foot tapping tunes and a spirited and energetic performance of Welsh step dancing. They blast their way through some of the old favourite reels, jigs and hornpipes with fast paced and uplifting arrangements before melting into some of the most beautiful and haunting songs.
Four of the members met up in Sweden in 2005 while taking part in Trac's Wales-Sweden exchange programme, visiting the Ethno summer school. They are all in their teens and early twenties, and come from different parts of Wales - the Lleyn Peninsula, Swansea, Bryn Mawr, Newport and Bangor.
Patrick Rimes - fiddle, pipes and whistle - twice junior Celtic fiddle champion he is a multi instrumentalist who's been called the rising fiddle star in Wales.
Bethan Williams-Jones - accordion, piano, vocals and champion step dancer. Nominated in 2007 for the coveted Bryn Terfel Scholarship.
Llinos Eleri Jones - learned her craft from the traditional players in Wales giving Calan that magical ingredient - the sound of the Welsh harp.
Angharad Sian Jenkins - is not only folk player. Her talents are also being sought out by rock bands and singer songwriters. She recently toured Ireland, Holland and Brittany.
Chris ab Alun - brings a mixture of traditional rhythms and a hint swing guitar to give the over all sound and racy feel.
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman
www.kathrynrobertsandseanlakeman.co.uk
With an eclectic repertoire of traditional song alongside favourites from the likes of Tom Waits and Suzanne Vega, Kathryn and Sean wear their roots and influences proudly on their sleeves. Kathryn Roberts and fellow Equation partner Sean Lakeman return to the British folk clubs.
Hannah James & Sam Sweeney
Recently nominated for the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Hannah James and Sam Sweeney are clearly a duo on the rise. But they are no strangers to each other having performed together since their teens in established four-piece Kerfuffle. In 2009 they quickly cemented their reputation as rising stars with debut album Catches and Glees which was released in August of that year and led to the folk award nomination.
Jez Lowe
Jez Lowe and The Bad Pennies have been playing their songs and music of Northern England for almost twenty years around the folk festivals, clubs and concert stages of the world. "Acoustic simplicity coupled with electric vitality" was how they were described in their early days, and with half a dozen albums to their credit, along with solo albums by Jez and by other members of the group, their following has continued to increase. Strong vocals, backed by outstanding instrumental back-up on guitar, cittern, fiddle, fretless bass, keyboards and Northumbrian Pipes, have made them one of Britain's top attractions on the folk/acoustic/celtic circuit.
Wheeler Street
Consisting of Toby Starks, Sophy Blundel, Callum Pope, Pete Wheeler, Ben Insall, Jon Fuller, and Jonny Starks, Wheeler Street are a young 7-piece band based in Maidstone, Kent (though their backgrounds are somewhat more diverse with individual member's original hometowns ranging from Newcastle to Australia). The group are essentially a bunch of friends who came together in early 2007, having previously played in other bands, and their name comes from the street which is the location of the pub at which they played their first gig.
Uiscedwr
If music genuinely reflects the inner soul, it's little wonder Uiscedwr are such an amazing band. Passionate, irrepressible, vital, imaginative, sincere, sorrowful, joyous and supremely skilled, the exciting Welsh/Irish/Anglo box of tricks that is Uiscedwr have been to hell and back over the last four years. Nothing if not survivors, they've reeled from the knocks, nursed their bruises – literally in the case of their extraordinary fiddle player/singer Anna Esslemont – and shrugged off a cruel catalogue of traumas to channel both good experiences and bad into the fireball of creativity that has seen them storm back with a rip-roaring third album Fish Cat Door (which, apart from anything else, is a title considerately designed to help pronunciation of their name – just delete the first letter of the first word then the last letter of the second word and you're there!)
Dave Cartwright
Dave is at home, alone with just his trademark Guild 12-string and unique harmonica playing. On any given evening he can give you a complete show of his own songs, guitar and voice with hooks and laughs to die for. No pre-recorded tapes or programmed drums, just music without machines. Catch him if you can. An instinctive entertainer.
Trio Threlfall
Jane and Amanda Threlfall take quintessentially English traditional songs and breathe new life into them, invoking a refreshing sense that this was how they were always meant to be. Along with musician Roger Edwards, they are universally acknowledged as natural ambassadors for English trad song.
Lucy Ward
Lucy Ward is rising star of the folk scene, leaving her mark wherever she goes with her expressive performance and infectious passion for folk music.
The 20 year old from Derby started out modestly at a local folk club aged just 14, now after six years of performance experience under her belt she is playing at folk clubs and festivals all over the country, including the esteemed Nettle bed Folk Club, Priddy, Big Session and Shrewsbury Festivals.
Lucy plays guitar and has recently taken up the concertina; however she considers her voice to be her first instrument. She has the ability to still an audience with the strength and purity of her voice, which she uses to great effect on the unaccompanied songs that sprinkle her set. She has a talent for taking songs and investing them with passion and feeling in order to bring about refreshed appreciation from her audiences.
Barlow Cree
BarlowCree...
BarlowCree was born in Cardiff in the spring of 2008. It is a collaboration of Liam Millinship and Jonny Matthew, playing "safeplace" songs - modern music, rooted in ancient themes. Barlow - a Yorkshire slang term for the safe place during a game of "tig" - Jonny is from Bradford.
Cree - South Walean slang for immunity during a game of "touch" or "tag" - Liam is from Newport.
Seize The Day
Seize The Day are a radical English acoustic band with global roots. They write songs to celebrate, inspire and support the liberation of life.
Whatever needs to change or be defended in this world, they will sing to make you laugh about it, cry about it, dance about it – maybe even inspire you to believe that you can DO something about it!
Seize The Day came out of Britain's Road Protest Movement in 1996, when Theo and Shannon began playing together at the site of the Newbury Bypass in Southern England. Since then the line-up has expanded and gone through many incarnations, with their sounds evolving along the way.
Keith Donnelly
Brian Peters
www.harbourtownrecords.com/peters.html
Dave Webber & Anni Fentiman
www.oldandnewtradition.com/daveandanni/
Jim Mageean
Graeme Knights
Samuel Harrup Walter
www.myspace.com/samuelharrupwalter
Infinite Cherries
From a collaboration that was born at Bromyard Festival 5 years ago
these two have been forcing themselves on the folk community
at every opportunity. Still only 15 and 14 years old, with a talent that is growing as much as their hair,
they continue to delight audiences with their blend of English and Celtic
tunes sourced from the Morris tradition and their experiences up at Durham Folkworks.
Catch them whilst they are still cute!
The QP
Dead Money Duo
Deadmoney Duo are a father and son combo from who play traditional English, Irish, Scottish music along side some original tunes written by Cohen. Their music is original, engaging, high energy and is performed with gusto and one or two great dance moves.
Deadmoney Duo are Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne, (14 and a half) and his father Peter Kilcoyne (47 and a quarter)
Cohen is already making a strong reputation for himself as a stunningly good Melodeon, Concertina and Violin player through performances at a number of festivals including at Bromyard, Garway, Worcester, Banbury and Bridport over the last two years.
...and many many more
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