Sunday 17th February | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-02-17&event_id=49629

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-kit-hawes-aaron-catlow/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/350205709067813/

Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow are a Bristol based duo playing acoustic, folk and roots music. The pair have worked with many artists including Seth Lakeman, Afro Celt Sound system, Yola Carter, Mad Dog Mcrea, Sheelanagig and Roni Size to name a few but what unites them is a passion for folk music. They draw on their many influences to created unique arrangements of traditional song and tunes, as well as their own compositions. The live show is a musical journey through Europe and beyond; combining dazzling playing with a fine sense of musicality and showmanship.

 

Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow’s debut album The Fox has been received with critical acclaim. It explores the relationship between fiddle, guitar and voice, using the fertile ground of the traditional music of the British Isles as its starting point. The product of decades of musical experience, the track listing combines self penned tunes and folk tales, all intricately arranged and heartfelt.

“Fleet fingered and ingeniously arranged… deserve to be thought of as up there with the best of them”  – Songlines

http://www.kithawesandaaroncatlow.com

Devon based duo Jacob & Drinkwater have been called ‘stand out new Folk’ by BBC6  Music with their live show described as ‘intense and spellbinding’ by Folk Radio UK. The duo formed in 2014 playing their first gig together at the iconic Glastonbury Festival. 

The 2015 indie release ‘The Burning Low EP’ received national airplay and glowing reviews from such quarters as Radio 2’s Folk Show, BBC 6’s Tom Robinson, Amazing Radio, BBC Introducing, BBC Bristol, FRUK, Fatea, Spiral Earth, Louder Than War and ‘Whispering’ Bob TV.

Singer- songwriter Tobias ben Jacob first received wider acclaim as part of The Roots Union with BBC Folk Award winners Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin (Edgelarks) including playing live for the BBC at Maida Vale Studios and recording in Nashville, Tennessee. He has toured extensively and had several releases including the 2017 album ‘A Polyphonic Life’ Tobias’ songs have been featured in the documentary film ‘Beating The Bomb’ and in forthcoming feature film ‘Tomorrow’ (2018)

Lukas Drinkwater is rightly referred to as ‘one of busiest musicians in the UK.’ In demand as a producer, performer and session player in the worlds of folk and jazz he has featured on many acclaimed albums. Recently he’s been touring with ‘AMA UK Artist of the Year’ Emily Barker, Albert Jones, Ange Hardy, and the Peoples String Foundation. He has also worked with Seth Lakeman, 3 Daft Monkeys, Jim Causley, Lack of Afro, Lucy Ward, Tankus The Henge, Sam Kelly, The Little Unsaid and many more.

The duo’s dynamic and emotionally charged live show with all its energy, musical chemistry and spontaneity has drawn comparisons with the virtuosic pairing of John Martyn and Danny Thompson. Jacob’s sweeping vocals never fail to captivate, delivering many a spine-tingling moment; the fluidity and precision of his finger-picking underpinned by Drinkwater’s nimbly rhythmic double bass; at times sweetly soaring, haunting, percussive and driving, the layers of depth a perfect counterfoil. The added complement of stirring vocal harmonies nicely rounds off the mix. 

‘Intense and spellbinding’ – Folk Radio UK

https://www.jacobanddrinkwater.com

 

And now for something completely different!

Sat 9th March 2019 | 8pm-2am

Henge plus Paddy Steer

Fiddlers, Willway St, Bristol BS3 4BG

Tel: 01179873403

Tickets: £10 / £13 / £16 + BF

Tickets: http://hdfst.uk/E50543

Web: 

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1310269719137091/

HENGE is a band of intergalactic ravers; practitioners of the sacred sounds of Cosmic Dross – a musical form known in other parts of the universe that has, until now, never been heard on Earth.

There are no human words to adequately describe the Cosmic Dross experience, though its sound is characterised by the thundering drums of Nom – an amphibious creature from the Sirius Star System – the garment-rending bass frequencies of last surviving Venusian, Goo, and the whacked-out synths of the band’s only human, Grok. Over this instrumental framework, the band’s founder, Zpor, sings of his space travels, evoking a joyous celebration of life and encouraging humans to end war, save their species and colonise space.

HENGE will give Cosmic Dross its dawning moment on your planet as they introduce the human species to this alien genre…. This is their debut album: ’Attention Earth!’.

From meditations on Earth’s own heavenly body (‘Moon’), to prophetic warnings from far away worlds (‘Machine Landscape’), and even an ode to the spacecraft that transported HENGE across time and space to the Milky Way (‘Mushroom One’); ’Attention Earth!’ is a light-speed journey through otherworldly sounds, an ecstatic hymn to the wonder of life and a joyful incitement to a peaceful existence.

HENGE have come in the name of rave to spread their message of love and harmony.

They have scheduled a series of landings across the United Kingdom. These gatherings are held with the aim of provoking the proliferation of joy amongst humans… these will be close encounters of the HENGE kind.

“…a multicoloured, multi rhythmic, multiplied, multi-storey  mass of total genius” – John Robb, Louder Than War

http://hengemusic.com

Paddy Steer is a Zelig-like character along the timeline of Manchester’s musical activity. It’s a testament to his musicality that he has played with such a wide range of music and artists over the years, be it as a bass player, drummer, Hawaiian guitarist etc. or all these roles at the same time.

In rejection of the notion of ‘immaculate reproduction’, live performances  err more daringly and admirably on the frontier of chaotic abstraction, expression and focussed blunder, dice rolling down the hill in case of duende, as from behind his stacked array of instruments, the anarchically intrepid punk gargles through a vocoder with his xylophone, all a-clatter under disco lights and doilies.

http://paddysteer.com

 

Tuesday 12th March | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £14 / £16 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-03-12&event_id=49594

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-leveret/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/294010187891858/

Leveret is a unique collaboration between three of England’s finest folk musicians.  Andy Cutting, Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron are each regarded as exceptional performers and masters of their instruments. Together their performances combine consummate musicianship, compelling delivery and captivating spontaneity. Leveret’s music is not arranged in the conventional sense and instead they rely on mutual trust, listening and responding. Their playing is relaxed and natural, drawing audiences in and inviting them to share in music making that is truly spontaneous and yet deeply timeless.

Fiddler Sam Sweeney was the 2015 BBC Folk Awards Musician of the Year, directs the National Youth Folk Ensemble and is known for his work in Bellowhead, Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band, The Full English and his own Made In The Great War project. Melodeon genius Andy Cutting, a three-time BBC Folk Awards Best Musician, is a compelling solo performer and currently works with Blowzabella, Topette, June Tabor, and Roger Daltry. Concertina wizard Rob Harbron leads the English Acoustic Collective summer school and is known for his work with The Full English (Best Group and Best Album BBC Folk Awards 2014), Emma Reid, Fay Hield, Jon Boden and others. 

Leveret’s music is firmly rooted in the English tradition but sounds fresh and new.  With their albums New Anything and In The Round and over a long string of sell-out gigs, the trio have built a strong reputation as consummate musicians and captivating performers. Now they return with Inventions, a new album of original material that brings Leveret’s trademark groove, energy and intuitive playing to bear on a set of new tunes composed by the trio, three of today’s finest tunesmiths in the folk field.

“Classy players … their intuitive way with tunes is glorious”  – Mojo

https://www.leveretband.com

 

 

Tuesday 26th March | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-03-26&event_id=49631

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-the-rheingans-sisters/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/552265828577818/

Winners of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Track, The Rheingans Sisters make playful, powerful and richly connecting music that is wholly contemporary while deeply anchored in folk traditions. Drawing on their pan-European musical scholarship (having studied extensively in France, Sweden and Norway) and their spirited mission to make connections between the music of different geographical roots, they have developed a rich artistic approach to the deconstruction and reimagining of traditional music alongside their own beguiling compositions. Since the release of their award-winning album Already Home (2015) audiences across the UK, Europe and Australia have been captivated by their live performances; as full-hearted performers and on-stage improvisors – via the adventurous use of fiddles, voices, banjo, bansitar, tambourin à cordes, poetry and percussion – The Rheingans Sisters are a unique and unmissable act on the folk and world music stage today. Their hotly anticipated third album ‘Bright Field’ is released in March 2018.

Fiddle-singers and multi-instrumentalists Rowan and Anna Rheingans grew up in the Peak District, surrounded by traditional music and encouraged to pick up the fiddle by their  musician mother and violin-maker father from an early age. Rowan is a well known on the English folk scene as part of hugely popular BBC Folk Award nominated trio Lady Maisery as well as for her work with Nancy Kerr & The Sweet Visitor Band andthe Songs of Separation super-group alongside Eliza Carthy and Karine Polwart.  Anna lives and works as a fiddle player in Toulouse and is an expert in southern French folk music, having recently gained a 1st class diploma from the Conservatioire Occitan. As both sisters have also spent a significant amount of time studying fiddle music in Sweden and Norway, they pull a range of influences from both northerSunday 7th April | 8pm

https://www.rheinganssisters.co.uk

 

Sunday 7th April | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-04-07&event_id=50054

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-marshes-featuring-beth-porter-plus-stanlaey/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/341418303324492/

Marshes is the new incarnation of Beth Porter and the Availables. Having recorded the album before her daughter Molly was born and finishing it after, (thanks to an Indiegogo fund-raising Campaign) it feels like a life time’s journey in making a record. However, the album is a coherent collection of charmingly orchestrated songs with a full band, strings, wind and brass.

The songs are dark, quirky, charming and ethereal and depict themes such as fear, confusion, money, the weather and the odd cheesy love song, all carried by Beth’s pure and unaffected voice.

They have been said to channel Ray Davies, and have been likened to The Incredible String Band, REM, Cat Power, This Is The Kit, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Radihead!

The album has involved many of Beth’s previous band including Jools Scott on piano (The Duckworths, The Cool Web) Emma Hooper on Viola (Waitress for the Bees), Pete Gibbs on Bass (Count Bobo) Sue Lord and Ian Vorley on Violin (Red Carousel) Paul Macmahon on Drums (Protest Crayon). Producer Luke Cawthra (The Brackish and son of Dr Feelgood’s Gypie Mayo) has brought a cool sound, warmth, clarity some awesome guitar solos to the songs from his studio in Clifton, Bristol.

Beth is the cellist for Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band and she is one half of prolific duo The Bookshop Band as well as String Quartet Red Carousel. She has played cello on over 100 records including those of The Proclaimers, Petula Clark, Newton Faulkner, Jackie Oates, Jim Moray, The Heavy. She has played and written for short films including BAFTA winning The Eagleman Stag by Mikey Please.

“Quirky, engaging and really rather brilliant” – fRoots   

https://www.bethporter.co.uk

Stanlæy (Bethany Stenning) is primarily an artist, singer and multi-instrumentalist from Bath, England. Firstly a writer, and artist, and classical musician, Bethany discovered her love for singing, and writing music at age 18. She started studying Music at Southampton University in 2013 and moved to Paris in 2015 to study French and Music at the Sorbonne alongside her degree. It is in Paris she met Marco Pavesi, a talented French musician who she began to collaborate with. In February 2016, Bethany and Marco recorded a 5-track EP in Tour, France. Bethany has performed and recorded under a number of pseudonyms including “Stanhopea” and “Stanlæy”.

https://stanlaey.com

 

Tuesday 23rd April | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-04-23&event_id=49632

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-moore-moss-rutter/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/718282555217262/

It has been 3 years since the release of Moore Moss Rutter’s second studio album ‘II’ – and there is a heightened sense of anticipation around the reunion of Tom Moore (fiddle, viola), Archie Churchill-Moss (melodeon) and Jack Rutter (guitar) in the trio that won them the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award. Widely regarded as three of the best players, innovators and performers in traditional folk amongst a precociously gifted generation, their finely-crafted arrangements wield a rare potency. Now, having toured with with some of the biggest and brightest acts in the British folk scene, they reconvene to release their third record together which will mark a decade of performing as a band.

‘III’ (released April 2018 on Hudson Records) harbours the trio’s talents as instrumental composers and curators, featuring a diverse yet cohesive collection of primarily self-penned material. Recorded ‘live in the room’, this album is a melting pot of influences which feels unmistakably current. Whilst intrinsically borrowing from English and other European Traditional Dance music, sonically Moore Moss Rutter (and producer, Andy Bell) have their heads firmly in the present, understanding the values of contemporary music and art making. The distinct pulse, energy and group-intuition of trad-music haunts their playing as they continue to push the creative boundaries for English instrumental music, listening and responding to the world around them as much as their musical ancestors.

Tom Moore is a unique fiddle player, violist and composer originally from Norfolk. He is currently studying for a specialist creative music masters at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is in-demand as a session musician and collaborator on projects working across several fields including folk, improvisational and electronic.

Archie Churchill-Moss is based in Bristol and is one of Englands top melodeon players and tune-writers, whose work is stylistically informed by English and French musics. He is currently touring with Sam Kelly’s Lost Boys; alongside Tom in False Lights; and teaches in the Folk department at Leeds College of Music.

Jack Rutter is a highly respected guitarist, singer and multi-instrumentalist from West Yorkshire. The recent release of his debut solo album has been met with across-the-board acclaim, and he has toured extensively with Seth Lakeman, Jackie Oates, Molly Evans Trio, and many more bands.

“Giving English traditional music the love and respect it deserves, with dreamy reinterpretations”

“Giving English traditional music the love and respect it deserves, with dreamy reinterpretations” Verity Sharp on Late Junction, BBC Radio 3

https://www.mooremossrutter.co.uk

 

Tuesday 5th February | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £15 / £18 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-02-05&event_id=50161

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-chance-mccoy-eli-west/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/734086556963907/

Special double bill of two of the most inspiring visiting american folk artists of the moment.

Chance McCoy is a Grammy winning Indie Folk musician from West Virginia. After receiving a grant to study with old master musicians from the Appalachian Mountains, he went on to win the Fiddle, Banjo and Dulcimer championships in his home state. His studies and deep love for the traditional ways of the mountaineer soon landed him in an unintentional situation though, abject poverty. In 2012 Chance was living in a run down cabin when a cold call from Old Crow Medicine Show landed him an invite to join the legendary Americana band of ‘Wagon Wheel’ fame. His first album with Old Crow, where he debuted his talents as song writer, singer and instrumentalist, earned the band a Grammy for best folk album. After touring with artists such as Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, Willie Nelson, Sturgil Simpson, Margo Price and other luminaries, he turned his focus towards making his first solo record. His first LP ’Wander Wide’ set to be released in 2019 is a collection of masterfully written songs woven with threads of folk, indie, and rock, with pop hooks laden through out. Straying far from clichéd Americana it’s an incredibly creative take on the modern singer song writer, wherein each song was written specifically for it’s unique placement on the album, unfolding into different landscapes of light and shade as it takes the listener on a musical journey. Chance currently lives on his farm in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia where he enjoys a rustic back to the land lifestyle, creating music and producing films.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/chancemccoymusic/

Eli West – Well-known for his work with Norwegian fiddler Olav Mjelva, Cahalen Morrison, Jayme Stone and more, the Seattle-based singer and multi-instrumentalist oozes understated talent. We recently witnessed both Martin Simpson and Richard Hawley utterly floored by his skill. Truly a sublime musician!

Eli’s recent debut solo album, The Both, sees him taking the lead, on electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, and pedal steel, whilst remaining a thoughtful collaborator – here with some of his close friends and personal heroes, like jazz great Bill Frisell, new Americana discovery Dori Freeman, and Anna & Elizabeth.

The album focuses on the story of his two grandfathers; one a decorated WWII prisoner of war, the other a Brethren preacher and peace advocate. They couldn’t have differed more, but together they shared a family. In this spirit, the theme of the album is duality: the first half showcases carefully built arrangements of six American folk songs, the second revisits these as instrumental passages, revealing new sides to the other.

‘Making music the world needs’ – Tim O’Brien

http://eliwest.fyi

 

Tuesday 29th January | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-01-29&event_id=49509

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-music-presents-the-once/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/298678817530098/

Indie folk trio The Once formed in 2004 out of pressure and necessity when working at a summer theatre festival in the tiny ex-fishing village of Trinity, Newfoundland, Canada. In the Newfoundland vernacular ‘the once’ means ‘imminently, but not necessarily so.’ Phil, Geri, and Andrew wanted something that would embody who they are, where they come from, and would illicit a smirk and a nod amongst Newfoundlanders back home, but would forever require an explanation elsewhere.

The trio features Geraldine Hollett on lead vocals and vocalist-instrumentalists Phil Churchill and Andrew Dale playing everything from drums, percussion, electric guitars to sweeping keyboards. Mixing original and traditional material their three part harmonies, often performed a cappella, have been a notable trait of their award-winning sound.

Their self-title first album was released in 2009 and quickly gathered critical acclaim. Their follow-up Row Of The People They Know won them their first JUNO nomination and their signing to Canadian label Borealis Records.

In 2013 another chance encounter, this time at a Glasgow festival, lead to a collaboration and friendship with Mike Rosenberg, a.k.a. Passenger. Hot on the heels of his worldwide #1 hit, ‘Let Her Go’, Rosenberg invited The Once to sing on both of his recent albums – including his current #1 album, Young As The Morning, Old As The Sea – and together they have performed all over the world. In 2014 the band released the album Departures worldwide to great critical acclaim, leading to multiple awards, including another coveted JUNO nomination.

With the release of their EP We Win Some We Lose in 2016 The Once entered a new era, with new sounds, new styles and new ideas. The whirlwind of the past few years has honed their sound and creativity, and having found their voice, the band is looking firmly ahead.

“Leaves me in a perpetual state of wistful, anthemic longing. An innocence that nevertheless leaves me with the sense that we are flirting with tragedy.” — JEFF REILLY, CBC

http://theonce.ca

 

Tuesday 22nd January | 8pm

The Wardrobe Theatre, 25 West St, Bristol BS2 0DF

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-01-22&event_id=49523

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-rachel-baiman/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2237468563165460/

Raised in Chicago by a radical economist and a social worker, Rachel Baiman was surrounded by social justice issues her entire life. “If I wanted to rebel against my parents I could have become a finance banker or a corporate lawyer” she says of her childhood. While her classmates went to church or temple on Sunday mornings, Baiman attended the Ethical Humanist Society of Greater Chicago, a non-religious community formed around discussions of morality and current events. “That was always a tough one to explain at school” she says with a laugh.

As a teenager, Baiman found music to be a welcome escape from worrying about global politics. “I often found the constant discussion of seemingly unsolvable problems to be intense and overwhelming, and when I moved to Nashville to pursue music it felt like something positive, beautiful and productive that I could put into the world. Now that I’ve had some years to devote to music,”—Baiman has been recording and touring internationally for the past 4 years with 10 String Symphony, and has played fiddle for numerous other artists including Kacey Musgraves and Winnipeg folk band Oh My Darling

Baiman’s 2017 label debut Shame was featured on NPR’s “Songs We Love”, called a “Rootsy Wake-up Call” by Folk Alley, and described by Vice’s “Noisey” as “flipping off authority one song at a time.” Now Baiman has announced Thanksgiving—out November 2 on Free Dirt Records—a self-produced four-song EP, featuring her live trio and special guests including Molly Tuttle and Josh Oliver.
Thanksgiving is a collection of music to inspire an introspective holiday spirit.  The songs center around themes of Indigenous Rights, home and homelessness, and love in hard times. “Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays,” says Baiman. “But two years ago in November, the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline was in full swing, and it just got me thinking about how the relationship between indigenous and white people in this country has hardly changed at all over the years. The irony of Thanksgiving being celebrated right as people were being arrested and sprayed with water guns for protecting their right to clean water really hit me”.
Baiman’s Thanksgiving is an intriguing follow up to Shame, allowing her a chance to stretch out stylistically, moving effortlessly between bluegrass, folk, old-time and country. The bittersweet lyricism she’s become known for conveys the ups and downs we often feel around the holidays, and is a reminder to raise our glass to both the joy and the hardships many experience during this season.

“a goose-bump-instigating talent that reminded me of a young Gillian Welch or Joy Williams (Civil Wars).”– Z. N. Lupetin, The Bluegrass Situation 

http://rachelbaiman.com