Tuesday 1st October – 8pm

Manu Delago Ensemble

Fiddlers, Willway St, Bristol BS3 4BG

Tel: 01179873403

Tickets: £16.25

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/

Web: https://www.colstonhall.org/shows/manu-delago-ensemble/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1324984597651030/

“Virtuoso” (The Times) handpan player and composer Manu Delago returns with a brand-new album and his biggest live show to date. Circadian takes the listener through the cycle of sleep stages, emulating REM, light sleep, deep sleep and an abrupt awakening. Delago was inspired by the concept of individual circadian rhythms, due in part to his own lack of sleep as an international touring musician with Björk, Olafur Arnalds, Cinematic Orchestra and Anoushka Shankar. See the “masterful and sensitive musician” (The Telegraph) with his ensemble live at Fiddlers.

“ A masterful and sensitive musician” The Telegraph

Ages 16+ (Under 18’s to be accompanied by an adult)

This is a standing event at Fiddlers, Willway St, Bristol BS3 4BG.

Wednesday 19th February – 8pm

Sam Lee

St George’s, Great George St, Bristol BS1 5RR

Tel: 084540240001 

Tickets: £19-24

Sign up to mailing list (at bottom of page) to receive pre-sale link on 2nd October!

Tickets on sale 4th October: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: https://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/event/sam-lee/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/755791274859669/

The highly inventive, restlessly creative Sam Lee plays a unique role in the British music scene. He is not only a uniquely gifted artist but a passionate collector and interpreter of original folk songs, a committed conservationist, and a dedicated artistic entrepreneur breaking the boundaries between folk and contemporary music and the assumed place and way folksong is heard. With his forthcoming album Old Wow he has summoned a truly compelling and emotional set of songs to create what he describes as “a timeless bridge, music that can be looking both backward and forwards, and a soulful accompaniment to an urgent need to fall back in love with nature if we are to know how to protect it”.

Monday 22nd July

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £15.26 inc.BF

Tickets: https://www.colstonhall.org/shows/tim-eriksen-mamas-broke-river-town-2019/

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/tim-erikson/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2018887838406586/

Tim Eriksen is acclaimed for transforming American tradition with his startling interpretations of old ballads, love songs, shape-note gospel and dance tunes from New England and Southern Appalachia.

He combines hair-raising vocals with inventive accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, guitar and bajo sexto – a twelve string Mexican acoustic bass – creating a distinctive hardcore Americana sound that ranges from the bare bones of solo unaccompanied singing on Soul of the January Hills (Appleseed 2010) through the stripped-down voice and bajo sexto Christmas album Star in the East to the lush, multi-layered arrangements on Josh Billings Voyage, a new album of northern roots American music.

https://www.timeriksenmusic.com

Mama’s Broke is a unique and powerful folk duo that both honours and defies tradition with their original compositions. Two strong voices blend to create haunting harmonies, while they artfully juggle fiddle, banjo, guitar and mandolin, and incorporate traditional dance and foot percussion as part of their performance.

https://mamasbroke.ca

Tuesday 9th July

Gwenifer Raymond + Toby Hay

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £9.81 inc.BF

Tickets: https://www.colstonhall.org/shows/gwenifer-raymond-river-town-2019/

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/gwenifer-raymond/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1305047239645065/

Gwenifer Raymond is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist, originally from Cardiff but now residing in Brighton, England. Gwenifer began playing guitar at the age of eight shortly after having been first exposed to punk and grunge. After years of playing around the Welsh valleys in various punk outfits she began listening more to pre-war blues musicians as well as Appalachian folk players, eventually leading into the guitar players of the American Primitive genre. Gwenifer has since been playing her own moody and often-times manic original American Primitive styled compositions on guitar and banjo around the UK and US.

In 2017 she signed to the multi grammy award nominated label Tompkins Square, and released her first single ‘Sometimes There’s Blood’ in October of that year, with her debut album ‘You Never Were Much of a Dancer’ released the following year.

https://gweniferraymond.com

Toby Hay is a guitarist and composer from near Rhayader in mid Wales. Inspired by history, people and landscape, Toby writes beautifully evocative guitar instrumentals that effortlessly transport the listener to the mountains and rivers of his homeland. Twice nominated for the Welsh Music Prize, Toby has toured the UK and Ireland extensively over the last few years and has built a reputation as a captivating live performer.

http://tobyhay.com

Thursday 20th June

The Schmoozenbergs “Awaken” – Album Launch

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 inc.BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-06-20&event_id=53714

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

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2116097655142307/

Conjuring up the mood of 1930s Paris, fused with flavours of Eastern Europe and the energy of a campfire jam session, The Schmoozenbergs’ uplifting music will put a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. With two guitars, violin and double bass, they bring irresistible rhythms, lyrical melodies and joyful improvisation to create an upbeat and heart- warming sound.

Their new album ‘Awaken’ is due for release on 21st June 2019. With its roots in gypsy jazz, this album of original instrumental compositions is a genre spanning journey through jazz, world and acoustic influences, which captures the distinctive, evocative and playful energy of the band. The album was recorded at Real World Studios in February 2019, and the band look forward to showcasing their new music at the official album launch at The Wardrobe Theatre on 20th June 2019.

Based in Bristol, The Schmoozenbergs formed in 2012 and have played live shows throughout the country, including festival performances (Glastonbury, Boomtown, Shambala, Green Man), dance events and national venue tours. This is their first release of original music, and has been made with the support of funding from Arts Council England.

Supporting The Schmoozenbergs at the launch event will be the fantastic Penut Shuffle Club Duo, breathing their own exuberant energy into hits from the 20s, 30s and 40s.

 “Relaxed yet upbeat (and eminently  accomplished) swinging gypsy-jazz from this Bristol-based four-piece. A delightful break from the stresses of the day.” Festival flyer, Glastonbury Festival, 2017

http://schmusic.co.uk

Friday 7th June 

Don Kipper + Roberta Pia

The Crofters Rights, 117-119 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3RW

Tel: 01172310079

Tickets: £8/10 + BF

Tickets https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-06-07&event_id=52741

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/266723764246251/

Don Kipper  are a multi-award winning sextet led by the formidable Greek-Serbian singer Dunja Botic. Propelled by a rhythm section featuring some of London’s jazz scene’s most innovative musicians they create an explosive and contemporary sound drawing from modern Romani music, bone-deep rural folk traditions and relentless rhythms from North and West Africa. As part of a generation of musicians with access to the world’s songbook, and rooted in one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, their influences are rich and varied. They’re inspired by the music found on dusty Eastern European wax cylinders, pirate CDs from downtown Dakar, and shaky handheld videos of the rawest wedding music from across the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea.

http://donkipper.com

Roberta Pia – Singer, songwriter, DJ, and co-founder of the brilliantly weird Banana Sessions. Roberta Pia sings honest songs about the highs, the lows, humans, the world, and back in the day when jukeboxes weren’t shit.

https://www.facebook.com/robertapiamusic/

Wednesday 5th June

Nick Hart – Sings Nine English Folk Songs – Album Launch

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-06-05&event_id=51814

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

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/294788194517143/

Nick Hart is a folk singer deeply rooted in the English tradition. Raised in a family of morris dancers, Nick played instrumental music for many years before discovering his passion for traditional song. Whilst studying for an ethnomusicology degree, he began to explore the large body of recordings of traditional singers from the second half of

the 20th century, and this led to several years of fevered study and many nights spent at folk clubs and festivals, honing his skills as an unaccompanied singer. 

Nick’s initially hardline attitude to the accompaniment of folk songs has softened over the years, but his love of the nuances of traditional singing informs his minimal guitar accompaniment, and his songs are delivered with a great emphasis on storytelling. His repertoire of songs, drawn largely from his native East Anglia, reflect his understanding of both the depth and breadth of material within the English tradition and he is fast acquiring a reputation as an engaging and entertaining performer. 

2017 saw the release of his first solo album, Nick Hart Sings Eight English Folk Songs. Recorded by long-time collaborator Tom Moore, the album has been well received, being described as ‘One of the most rewarding and accomplished albums we’ve heard this year‘-fRoots.

“One of the most rewarding and accomplished albums we’ve heard this year” – fRoots “Uncluttered, great singing that reminds me of the very best English roots singers… this is the real deal” – Mike Harding

http://www.nickhartmusic.com

Tuesday 4th June | 8pm

Edgelarks

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-06-04&event_id=51310

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

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2754158374808430/

April 2018, Edgelarks (Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin) retreated to a remote cottage in Ulpha, western Cumbria. They breathed in the mountain view, banked up the fire, and took their instruments out of their cases. Then they sat down, and wrote. In escaping the everyday chaos of busy lives, they realised how caught up in the misery of the 24 hour news cycle they were; absorbed in the heartbreak of the world, they had lost sight of its beauty. Tired of the navel gazing tendencies of sad song writing, and the terrible events frequently depicted in the folk ballad tradition, they decided to turn their attention to an oft overlooked but vital facet of our lives: hope.

Swiftly, a set of songs and tunes emerged. Stories of wonder from the natural world; tales of rejoicing and long lost returns; and simple thanksgiving for their own surroundings and place in the landscape. Informed by world rhythms, British folk roots, and the duo’s penchant for making as much noise as possible with only two people, the album is an upbeat celebration, an incitement to hope.

Edgelarks fly in on the tailwind of BBC award winning duo Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin. The pair’s new project takes the roots of their previous work, from the traditional musics of the British Isles to Indian classical slide guitar to the stomping roots party of Phil’s beatbox harmonica; adds a strong stem of original writing; and runs wilder with each repeat play.

“Subtle, atmospheric… Bravely original” – Robin Denselow, The Guardian ****

“Keen, curious and concerned intellects are at work here. Hannah Martin is an enthralling singer; Phillip Henry plays all manner of guitars and the harmonica, terrifically.” – Julian May, Songlines ***** Top of the World album

http://www.philliphenryandhannahmartin.co.uk

Tuesday 28th May | 8pm

Stanlæy – The Human Project – Album Launch plus Alfi 

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £12.50 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-05-28&event_id=51896

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/ear-trumpet-folk-club-stanlaey-plus-alfi/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2565582273457279/

Stanlæy  is the musical moniker of Bristol based singer, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Bethany Stenning, typically performing her original compositions live with Ben Holyoake (bass), Oliver Cocup (drums/percussion) and Naomi Hill (violin). The music of Stanlæy has been influenced by a diverse genre pool of folk/jazz and cosmic atmospheres, and has been compared to artists such as Kate Bush, The Dirty Projectors and Sigur Ros. 

Their live show is a masterful collaboration, marrying pop, classical, experimental rock and folk. The sound is tied together in polyphony, with crafted violin parts weaving between Bethany’s ethereal vocals and the electric guitar. 

Stanlæy will be joined on stage for this one-off gig with her Seaweed String Quartet, Alannah Thornburgh on harp, and special guests to bring to life this preternatural show in celebration of The Human Project album release. 

Stanlæy’s complex and intricate recordings (The Human Project) are entirely composed, arranged and recorded by Bethany Stenning. 

https://stanlaey.com

Alfi are a fresh new trio combining American old time and traditional Irish music and song to produce a unique and tasteful sound. Alfi features an unusual line-up of harp, five-string banjo, uilleann pipes, whistles and vocals. The trio have performed at many established venues and festivals, including Body&Soul, Knockanstockan and Whelan’s, and have recently returned from touring America. In November, Alfi won the prestigious ‘Molloy Award’ competition at the ‘Trip to Birmingham Tradfest’, a competition for young, up and coming bands. They will have their own slot at the Trip to Birmingham Tradfest 2019 as a result. At the moment, Alfi are busy recording their debut EP, due for release in May 2019.    

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

Sunday 19th May | 8pm

Martin Simpson

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

Tel:01179020344

Tickets: £18.50 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-05-19&event_id=51309

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

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/277712756237944/

The remarkable intimate solo performances Martin gives go from strength to strength – every gig is a masterclass. He travels the length and breadth of the UK and beyond, giving rapt audiences passion, sorrow, love, beauty, tragedy and majesty through his playing.  40 years after he recorded his first album, Golden Vanity, in 1976, Martin is known as a guitarist of formidable talent. Equally at home playing English traditional folk, American folk and blues and his own compositions, he is consistently named as one of the very finest fingerstyle guitar players in the world.

Universally acclaimed as one of the finest ever acoustic and slide guitar players, and a fine banjo-picker to boot, his solo shows bear witness to an artist at the very top of his game. Whether interpreting material from tradition or singing his own potent self-penned songs, Simpson is a remarkable storyteller: captivating and profoundly moving. His own songwriting produced the poignant ‘Never Any Good’, from Prodigal Son, 2007’s Folk Album of the Year.

Martin continues to collaborate with a dazzling array of people from across the musical spectrum: Jackson Browne, Martin Taylor, June Tabor, Richard Hawley, Bonnie Raitt, Danny Thompson, David Hidalgo, Danú, Richard Thompson and Dom Flemons are among the great musicians he has worked with.

In recent years, he has been a lynchpin in the award-winning Full English, The Elizabethan Sessions and, in 2015, recorded Murmurs, an exciting new album with Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr. Martin’s latest solo album entitled Trails and Tribulations was released in September 2017 on Topic Records. Album guests include Andy Cutting, Kathryn Tickell, Nancy Kerr and John Smith.

He has had the most nominations of any performer in the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, an astonishing 32 times, 13 of those as Musician of the Year, winning that particular accolade twice.

A virtuoso player without question, but above all Martin Simpson conveys his diverse treasure trove of material from the heart, performing with rare subtlety, intensity and honesty. A true master of his art.

“One of the virtuoso instrumentalists of the English music scene” ‘Sounds better than ever’ **** 4 Stars The Guardian

“Simpson has become a fine interpreter of traditional and other songs, as well as a notable writer of his own.” The Times

http://martinsimpson.com

Wed 1st May 2019 | 8pm 

Flook

The Station, Silver St, Bristol BS1 2AG 

Tel: 01179477948

Tickets: £14 / £16 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-05-01&event_id=48813

Web: https://www.colstonhall.org/shows/flook/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/832239153589701/

FLOOK – The flutes of Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen, the guitar of Ed Boyd and the bodhran of John Joe Kelly weave and spin traditionally rooted tunes into the breathtaking sound of the groundbreaking band Flook. This group possesses a rare blend of fiery technical brilliance, delicate ensemble interaction and a bold, adventurous musical imagination.

Though their first release, Flook! Live! (1997), was already heralded as “the ultimate modern flute album” by The Irish Times, Flook only properly burst onto the international music scene with the release of their debut studio album, “Flatfish”, in 1999. This album introduced master bodhran player John Joe Kelly to Flook’s line up of flutists Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen and guitarist Ed Boyd. Flatfish was hailed as “stunning”, “remarkable” and “little short of miraculous”, but it was Flook’s live performances that really captured the hearts of those who watched and listened; the rapport between these four musicians, the sheer enjoyment they developed in playing together, was commented on by audiences and critics alike. “Rubai”, released in 2002 and nominated for BBC Folk Album of the Year, was universally applauded by both journalists and fellow musicians and cemented Flook’s reputation as one of the most exciting and innovative bands to emerge from the English/Irish folk scene, and they went on to win the coveted award for Best Group at BBC Folk Awards 2006.

There is no shortage of virtuosity amongst the members of Flook, but the unique impact of this band stems from the wholly intuitive, almost symbiotic, exchange between the various flutes, frets and skins.

Flook announced that they were taking a prolonged pause from live performance at the end of 2008, but, due to overwhelming popular demand, they are now back together and playing some carefully selected concerts around Europe and further afield. Catch these rare shows while you can!

“Head and shoulders above the rest… Magnificent” 

– The Irish Times

“Sheer musical magic…Stunning technique, impossibly agile rhythm work and virtuoso flights of jazzy improvisation add up to one of the most enthralling sounds around.” – The Scotsman

“Four brilliant musicians. Four times as much brilliant music” – Time Out

http://www.flook.co.uk

Wednesday 24th April | 8pm

Mesadorm

The Forge, Colston Yard, Bristol BS1 5BD

Tickets: £10 +BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-04-24&event_id=51808

Web: https://www.theforgebristol.com/events-2/live-music-bristol-mesadorm

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2209032272494372/

Mesadorm return to Bristol for an intimate performance showcasing songs from upcoming album ‘Epicadus’, where songs from their debut ‘Heterogaster’ (BBC Introducing’s best album of 2018) are re-imagined using acoustic instruments in the stunning Eype Church, Dorset. Don’t miss this one-off show!

You have probably already heard Blythe Pepino’s voice.  By the end of 2016, she had released her major label debut as frontwoman of Vaults, sung on that year’s John Lewis Christmas ad and toured with London Grammar.  Not one to compromise her artistic vision, in early 2017 she turned her back on the major label existence to pursue her penchant for the strange and leftfield with new band, Mesadorm.  

A band of experienced musicians, the quintet includes sought-after session players Daisy Palmer (Paloma Faith, Goldfrapp, Rae Morris) and Jo Silverston (Frank Turner, The Unthanks, The Magnetic North). Moving back to Pepino’s roots as a leftfield genre-bending songwriter, Mesadorm draws influence from contemporary electronic passions like Caribou, Grizzly Bear and Sylvan Esso, as well as from great female songwriters Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. Their writing sits somewhere between the domestic observation of Suzanne Vega and the powerful, elemental other-worldliness of Bjork.

https://www.babylegsrecords.com/mesadorm

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

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

Thursday 28rd March | 8pm

Vula Viel – “Do Not Be Afraid” Album Tour

The Cube, Dove St S, Avon, Bristol BS2 8JD

Tel:01179074190

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-03-28&event_id=51074

Web: https://cubecinema.com/programme/event/vula-viel-do-not-be-afraid-album-tour,10427/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/326277454649501/

Forward-thinking UK trio Vula Viel release their sophomore album, ‘Do Not Be Afraid’ on 25th January 2019, continuing their unique musical journey centred around the Gyil (Ghanaian xylophone).

The band’s new set confidently weaves sparse polyrhythms and intricate rhythm structures around bandleader Bex Burch’s Gyil lines and take the instrument’s sound into new territory, with bassist Ruth Goller (Acoustic Ladyland, Melt Yourself Down, Rokia Traore) and drummer Jim Hart (Cloudmakers, Ralph Alessi, Electric Biddle) introducing a rough, post-punk edge to the band’s sound.

In Bex’s own words: “I have loved making this music. The incredible Dagaare systems which form the foundation have given me the structure on which to write tunes, craft grooves and choose my own meanings. I’ve gone deeper into what moves me in the Dagaare music, the fundamentals – asymmetry, space and chaos. I love how Do Not Be Afraid feels – a totally unusual and unique groove. As musicians, Ruth and Jim are incredible: They bring passion, talent, intuition and a depth that I wouldn’t have access to without them.”

Vula Viel was formed in 2013 by Bex Burch. After studying at Guildhall and training as a classical percussionist, she embarked on a life-changing three-year period living, farming and studying with xylophone master Thomas Segura in Upper West Ghana; the band’s name means ‘Good is Good’ in the Dagaare language. After being mentored in the deep traditions around the Gyil, a large African xylophone made of sacred lliga wood, Burch began the journey to bring the instrument into her own music. The acclaimed debut Vula Viel album in 2015, ‘Good is Good’, was the first realisation of her vision and ‘Do Not Be Afraid’ is the first set of Burch originals,written on traditional Dagaare forms.

Described as “Ghanaian minimalism”, with the unassuming ability to blur the lines between atmospheres – Vula Viel’s sound may nod to Steve Reichian jazz, but influences don’t stop there: one can hear echoes of Bill Laswell and the irresistible energy of Arthur Russell.

“Beautiful .. Dance to it, Make Love to it, Consume it, Listen to it, Stare at the Clouds to it.. That music deserves good reactions!”  – Iggy Pop 

“One of my discoveries for the London Jazz Festival… Good is Good” – Gilles Peterson 

http://vulaviel.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

Wednesday 20th March | 8pm

Effra

The Kingsdown Vaults, 31 Kingsdown Parade, Bristol BS6 5UE

Tel: 0117 942 4353

Tickets: £8/10

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-03-20&event_id=51809

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/307456593238746/

Contemporary folk trio Effra are Alex Bishop (guitar), Tom Newell (fiddle, mandolin) and Aidan Shepherd (accordion). With support to be announced…

Playing music from their latest album, Below Ground, captures the unseen subterranean world beneath our feet and the recording process saw the band trek to the source of London’s only fully concealed waterway (and musical namesake) the Effra river, as well as venturing within 96km worth of tunnels in Box Freestone Mine. 

“Striking instrumental folk” The Independent

http://efframusic.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

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: http://www.fiddlers.co.uk/whatson.html

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

Also something for the whole family….

Saturday 9th March | 2pm-4pm

Henge Family Show

Colston Hall, Colston St, Bristol BS1 5AR

Tel: 01172034040

Tickets: £10 – Adult, £6 – Under 13’s, £30 – Family (2xAdult, 2xUnder 12’s) Including BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2019-03-09&event_id=51759

Web: https://www.colstonhall.org/shows/henge-family-show/

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/332516380720580/

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

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

Sat 8th December | 8pm 

Fiddlers, Willway St, Bristol BS3 4BG

Tel: 01179873403

Tickets: £10 / £13 / £16 + BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2018-12-08&event_id=47613

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/270025420451154/

Shooglenifty – Lighting up the stage with joy and verve has always been Shooglenifty’s usp, but with new fiddler in the shape of pint-sized fireball Eilidh Shaw they’ve upped the ante. After a summer of well-chosen festival appearances and a new album release, the Edinburgh-based Acid Croft pioneers are in sparkling form. The band will be showcasing some electric new tunes and a full-on set of old favourites. There will be dancing!

Shooglenifty was formed in 1990 by musicians from the Scottish Highlands, Orkney and Edinburgh, its bright spark was the idea of fusing traditional and traditional-sounding melodies with the beats and basslines of a mixed bag of more contemporary influences. As happy playing a small highland village hall as they are on an outdoor festival stage playing to tens of thousands, the Shoogles (as they’re known to their fans) have promoted Scottish music all over the world for more than a quarter century.

http://shooglenifty.com

Sheelanagig for over a decade have brought their array of foot-stomping folk tunes to audiences across the globe. A quintet with a well-stocked armoury of stringed instruments – guitar, fiddle, double bass – added with the rhythmic energy of flute and drums and a bagful of joint-jumping tunes, these boys from the South-West England create a real dynamic which is inherent in both their furious dance medleys as well as their interestingly arranged original pieces. 

Putting the groove into a selection of traditional and original European Folk music dating from the medieval times to present day, it’s difficult – nay, impossible – for your limbs to remain stationary when you’re within earshot of them in full flight. The fact that they often play with a knowing wink shouldn’t obscure their impeccable technique, and outstanding musicianship that raises the roof in every place they play. 

2018 sees an exciting brand new line up including flautist Luke Phillips-Griffiths fresh from the Newcastle Folk Music circuit, and Alex Bishop – acclaimed folk guitarist and luthier, who both bring an exciting new direction and energy to the groups much loved sound. Busying themselves this spring the band are preparing to hit the road to tour across France, Switzerland and Australia and will return for the summer festival season and a UK tour in November. 

http://sheelanagig.co.uk

Effra – Contemporary folk trio Effra are Alex Bishop (guitar), Tom Newell (fiddle, mandolin) and Aidan Shepherd (accordion). Heralding from Bath, Shrewsbury and Canterbury respectively, they met in London in 2011. Although coming from rock, classical and jazz backgrounds, a strong connection was quickly formed, and they began meeting regularly to write and develop music that shared a common ground. Early performances were well received, and the band soon grew an identity of its own, fuelled by innovative ideas brought to the table by all three members. In 2012 after only a year since their first meeting, the band won the Bath Folk Festival ʻNew Shoots Competitionʼ on the strength of their compositions and high-energy performance. In 2014 they released their debut album, ‘Lose An Hour’ and toured extensively through 2015-16 with performances at BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’, Cambridge Folk Festival, and EFEx/Homegrown festival. In Spring 2017 Effra released their highly-anticipated second album. Below Ground captures the unseen subterranean world beneath our feet and the recording process saw the band trek to the source of London’s only fully concealed waterway (and musical namesake) the Effra river, as well as venturing within 96km worth of tunnels underneath the UK’s largest limestone quarry, Box Freestone Mine.

http://efframusic.com

Monday 3rd December | 8pm

Bruce Molsky

Tickets: £14 / £16 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/474495129672862/

He’s a self-described “street kid” from the Bronx who bailed on college and big city life for a cold-water cabin in Virginia in the 1970s. His mission? To soak up the passion that was dramatically upending his parent’s life plan for him  – authentic Appalachian mountain music – at the feet of its legendary pioneers, old masters who are now long gone.

Today, Bruce Molsky is one of the most revered “multi-hyphenated career” ambassadors for America’s old-time mountain music. For decades, he’s been a globetrotting performer, ethnomusicologist and educator, a recording artist with an expansive discography including seven solo albums, well over a dozen collaborations and two Grammy-nominations. He’s also the classic “musician’s musician” – a man who’s received high praise from diverse fans and collaborators like Linda Ronstadt, Mark Knopfler, Celtic giants Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine, jazzer Bill Frisell and dobro master Jerry Douglas, a true country gentleman by way of the Big Apple aptly dubbed “the Rembrandt of Appalachian fiddlers” by virtuoso violinist and sometimes bandmate Darol Anger.

Molsky digs deep to transport audiences to another time and place, with his authentic feel for and the unearthing of almost-forgotten rarities from the Southern Appalachian songbook. Molsky seduces audiences with a combination of rhythmic and melodic virtuosity and relaxed conversational wit – a uniquely humanistic, downhome approach that can make Carnegie Hall feel like a front porch or intimate jam session.

In addition to his many live performances as a solo and with Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, Bruce will be kept away from his home in Beacon, New York, by his work as a Visiting Scholar at the old American Roots Music Program at the Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and through fiddling workshops and summer music camps he conducts for devotees here and abroad.

“Bruce Molsky is one of those great players who ‘gets it’: has all the links to the past but is happy not to be chained to it” – Mark Knopfler

“An absolute master” – No Depression

http://brucemolsky.com

Sunday 18th November | 8pm

Dakhla Brass (‘Mumur’ Album Launch) Plus Spindle Ensemble

The Wardrobe Theatre

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/185254335505570/

Dakhla Brass return to The Wardrobe theatre to showcase their brand new and most expansive album yet – ‘Murmur’. As well as marking the addition of a sixth member, in the form of brilliant double-bassist Riaan Vosloo, the recording of the new album also sees the band working closely with Vosloo’s Nostalgia 77 colleague, producer Ben Lamdin, and recording away from their hometown for the first time (at London’s Fish Factory Studios).

Dakhla brass weave glittering brass threads into intricate musical tapestries like no other band. Propelled by restless percussion, theirs is ‘not exactly’ music – not exactly jazz, not exactly brass band or Arabian or second-line Mardi Gras, yet it draws on all that and more. This is demon stuff, delivered with deadly accuracy by six exceptional musicians-  its in a class of its own.

“A powerhouse. Talent, instinct and creativity make them a real force to be reckoned with” (Sound on Sound Magazine).

“Very modern, great grooves, sound of Jazz coming from the UK that makes it stand out from everywhere else.”  “Dakhla Brass –  here is one of the bands doing great things right now.”  (Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2).

http://dakhlabrass.com

Spindle Ensemble are an experimental instrumental quartet from Bristol’s music collective ‘Bloom‘. They perform original compositions by Daniel Inzani that hover cinematically somewhere between jazz, folk and classical idioms, taking inspiration from artists such as Moondog, Eric Satie and Mulatu Astatke. Their debut album, Bea, was released as a luxury gatefold vinyl edition via new label Adderwell Music in Nov 2017.

‘Beautiful sounds, definitely a band to watch’ Fiona Talkington – BBC Radio 3, Late Junction

http://www.spindleensemble.com

Tuesday 6th November | 8pm

Mairearad Green & Anna Massie

The Wardrobe Theatre

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/185975465427796/

Two of Scotland’s most revered multi-instrumentalists, Mairearad Green (accordion and bagpipes) and Anna Massie (guitar, banjo, fiddle) are a truly captivating duo, providing a highly energetic performance with an instantly warm and friendly stage presence. Having played alongside each other for over ten years, they revel in an intuitive approach to each other’s musical ideas and interpretations, and an “almost telepathic communication” on stage (Hi-Arts), effortlessly showcasing the fruits of duo partnership to the highest level , creating “music more than the sum of just two parts” (The Scotsman).

Mairearad and Anna both grew up in the Scottish Highlands amidst very similar musical backgrounds (most notably, mandolin playing Dads!), and so share an innate understanding of Scottish culture and music. As a duo they have enjoyed many successes, including five stars in The Scotsman and high praise from KT Tunstall, becoming a much-loved live act.

Their three albums – 2009’s eponymous debut, ‘Doubling’ in 2013 and ‘Best Day’ 2015 – have met wide critical acclaim, Mairearad and Anna was recorded live, just the two musicians – the live double act – whilst Doubling features many layered tracks, building a more complex sound, though still just from the two musicians. At the heart of Doubling remains the live duo sets, intricately arranged and executed with symbiotic sympathy, enhancing their “must-see” reputation.

“…the camaraderie and sheer fun of musical collaboration is plainly evident and infectious.” Songlines

“An exuberant, beautifully recorded album…crisp, clean and crystalline.” fRoots

http://mairearadandanna.com

Sunday 21st October | 8pm

Bella Hardy – Hello Sammy Acoustic Tour

The Wardrobe Theatre

Tickets: £14 / £16 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/154865878714999/

Bella Hardy, acclaimed songwriter and traditional music luminary, released Hey Sammy in November 2017, a record that bears the stamps of extensive musical expeditions far from home.  Humanist hymns, ancient Chinese poems, feminist battle cries, and the title track’s reflections on the rise of racism in Britain make this Bella’s most wide reaching and richly rewarding album to date.

In the time since 2015’s 5-star reviewed With The Dawn, Bella temporarily relocated to Nashville where she became immersed in Music City’s culture of collaborative songwriting and also worked happily in the company of horses as a ranch hand. Two music-finding trips to Yunnan Province in Southwest China also saw this BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year Award winner return with a suitcase overflowing with new lyrical and musical notions. These radical changes of life and perspective flow through every word and note of the 11 songs on Hey Sammy – a glorious, accomplished, grown up record, delivered in Bella’s unmistakeable soaring and swooping voice. 

Bella Hardy, BBC Folk Singer of the Year 2014, found her first home in folk music through a childhood love for ballad books. A self-taught “fiddle singer”, she began performing at Cambridge and Sidmouth festivals from the age of 13. Her debut album Night Visiting, released ten years ago, established her reputation as a songwriter when her first original composition Three Black Feathers earned a BBC Folk Award nomination.

“Inspired by feminism, racism, and international travels, this is an accessible proposition, reaching out, standing tall” – The Guardian

“Many young musicians can sing and play beautifully, few are as adventurous and intriguing as Hardy” – Songlines Magazine

http://www.bellahardy.com

Tuesday 2nd October | 8pm

Sam Brookes plus Tom Crosley Thorne 

The Wardrobe Theatre 

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2018-10-02&event_id=46926

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

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/239830213355333/

Sam Brookes is a Bristol-based alternative folk artist whose distinctive voice frequently draws comparisons with Tim Buckley and has landed him features and collaborations with artists as diverse as Lucy Rose and Basement Jaxx. His 2011 eponymous debut saw him named a Sunday Times ‘Breaking Act’ and his independently released follow up Kairos was picked as one of the best albums of 2014 by The Independent.  Considerable streaming success and support slots for the likes of Willy Mason, Scott Matthewsand Joan Armatrading have earned Sam a dedicated following and growing anticipation for his third album which is set for release in early 2019.  

Before Sam heads into the studio to record his third album he comes to the Wardrobe Theatre to play his new songs stripped down in the perfect intimate setting

Plus Support from Tom Crosley Thorne

***Please note this is a replacement show for Ewan McLennan which sadly has been postponed***

https://www.sambrookes.com

Wednesday 26th September | 8pm (***At The Kingsdown Vaults***)

Kit Hawes & Aaron Catlow

The Kingsdown Vaults

Tickets £8/10

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/226469748049745/

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.

“The pair demonstrate an eclectic approach that lifts them head and shoulders above the rest”  – Acoustic Magazine

“Never a dull moment, with imagination firing throughout and an abundance of creative energy” – Living Tradition

http://www.kithawesandaaroncatlow.com

Kate Griffin and Ford Collier are a contemporary duo fusing folk genres from around the world. Driving and intricate Clawhammer banjo tunes and heartfelt, powerful songs are thrown in the melting pot with solid, subtle Celtic guitar, dexterous Irish Whistle and the spellbinding Tabla drums of North India.

https://katiegriffincreative.com/music/

Sunday 23rd September | 8pm 

Get The Blessing (Bristopia Album Launch)

The Wardrobe Theatre

Tickets: £14/16 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/467612320391451/

Following the success of their 2015 album Astronautilus, jazz-rock mavericks Get The Blessing return with their spellbinding new Album ‘Bristopia’. Blending their mutant jazz sensibilities with spacey electronics and post rock atmospheres, ‘Bristopia’ ventures into new, unexplored territories. 

From the jagged, interweaving brass patterns of opening track ‘If It Can It Will’, through the brooding atmosphere of ‘Bristopia’ and absorbing, haunting melodies of ‘Not With Standing’, the Bristolian quintet channel subterranean depths and soar from dizzying heights, leading the listener through a complex labyrinth of tangled melodies and sliding soundscapes of dark, immersive production. Formed back in 1999 by bassist Jim Barr and drummer Clive Deamer (rhythm section of seminal act Portishead) alongside Jake McMurchie (on sax and electronics) and Pete Judge (trumpet and electronics) the Bristol-based four-piece boast a truly international fan-base, having forged a unique signature sound that defies easy classification. Despite several short breaks for other projects over the years – most recently in 2016 when drummer Clive Deamer was on tour with Radiohead, they have never lost sight of thumping tunes, monstrously infectious beats, or joyous collective spontaneity. After eighteen years, their ability to produce such creative and intelligent music – balanced with wit and passion – is testament to the free spirit that they embody. 

“THIS IS TRIP HOP-INFORMED CONTEMPORARY JAZZ-ROCK AT ITS VERY BEST” Time Out “ SERIOUSLY CREATIVE … WONDERFULLY IRREVERENT ” Mojo Magazine
“THE MOMENTUM OF CREATIVITY IS UNDIPPED” BBC Music Magazine 

Sunday 16th September | 8pm

Alasdair Roberts 

The Wardrobe Theatre

Tickets: £12.50 / £15 inc BF

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk

Web: http://thewardrobetheatre.com

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/388225301672509/

Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish musician, born in Germany, who was raised near Callander and has been based in Glasgow since 1995.  He is primarily a songwriter/composer, singer and acoustic fingerstyle guitarist as well as an interpreter/arranger of traditional songs and ballads from Scotland and beyond.

Since 1997 Alasdair has produced several full-length albums of music (initially under the name Appendix Out and later under his own name), primarily working with Drag City Records of Chicago.  His most recent Drag City album is Pangs, a collection of ten original songs recorded with bassist Stevie Jones (Arab Strap, Sound of Yell) and drummer Alex Neilson (Trembling Bells, Alex Rex)– it was released to critical acclaim and a successful UK tour in February 2017.

Over the years, Alasdair has collaborated with a wide variety of fellow musicians (such as Will Oldham, Jason Molina, Josephine Foster, Mairi Morrison and Karine Polwart) as well as with other artists including poet Robin Robertson, puppeteer Shane Connolly of Sokobauno Puppet Theatre and film-maker Luke Fowler.  In 2013 Alasdair became a member of the Scottish/English folk group The Furrow Collective, along with Lucy Farrell, Rachel Newton and Emily Portman.  The Furrow Collective has released two albums on Hudson Records, the most recent being Wild Hog in late 2016; the quartet won the accolade of Best Group in the 2017 BBC Radio Two Folk Awards.

Alasdair Roberts is one of a rare breed of musicians whose work has found favour with aficionados of both experimental/avant-garde music and traditional/folk music – as such, he has been the cover star of both Wire Magazine (March 2010) and fRoots Magazine (October 2003 and January/February 2017).

‘Though it’s all new, the weirdness of ancient folk is ever-present; he’s a true original.’ – The Observer ****

‘Quietly escalating towards Scottish national treasure status’ – Mojo

www.alasdairroberts.com 

Tuesday 3rd July 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Three Cane Whale ‘At The Pictures’

For More info and Tickets: headfirstbristol.co.uk

Tuesday 19th June 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Dallahan Plus Kate Griffin & Ford Collier

Tuesday 5th June 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Brennen Leigh and Noel McKay

Sunday 20th May 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

*At The Kingsdown Vaults – Bristol BS6 5UE*

Our fist show at the amazingly intimate Kingsdown Vaults with the super talented American Folk musician Eli West and Bristols own fleet fingered guitar picker Kit Hawes.

More info and tickets: headfirstbristol.co.uk

Sunday 6th May 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Alabaster DePlume Plus RHAIN

Tuesday 24th April 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Martha Tilston Plus Guests – The Clifftop Sessions – Live Concert & Film Premiere

Tuesday 10th April 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Tuesday 20th March 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Tuesday 6th March 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Tuesday 6th February 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Monday 22nd January 2018

For more info and tickets please head over to The Wardrobe Theatre Website:

Tue 19th Dec | 10pm
Tickets: £8 Adv

Using just their incredible voices, Pete Truin, Jamie Doe and Sam Brookes explore ballads, shanties and seafaring songs that tell tales of whaling ships, lost loves and hardship at sea.

The Ballina Whalers (pronounced Bal-en-a) are Pete Truin, Jamie Doe and Sam Brookes – three musical barnacles clinging to the creaking hull of a musical tradition stretching back over hundreds of years. Using just their voices they explore ballads, shanties and seafaring songs that tell tales of whaling ships, lost loves, roaring storms and hardship out at sea.

Fast becoming one of the most sort after shanty bands around, known as much for their heart rending three part harmonies as their lusty approach to singing shanties, the last few years have been extremely busy for the boys, seeing them playing folk clubs, harbour sides, beaches, boat sheds and festivals up and down the country. Particular highlights include being invited to perform in Holland at the International Sea Shanty Festival in Appingedam and the Naar Zee, Naar Zee Festival in Leiden where they met and exchanged songs with legendary shanty men, Stormalong John, Andy Kenna from Liverpool and Les Souillés de Fond de Cale from Brittany.

“Definitely love at first hearing for me”

– Fiona Talkington, BBC Radio 3 Late Junction

“Stunning voices that blend so beautifully, a real knock out”

– Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2

theballinawhalers.co.uk

Mon 4th December | 8pm
Tickets: £8 Earlybird, £11 First Release, £14 Second Release

Highly acclaimed multi-instrumentalist folk duo who play traditional and original storytelling music of the British Isles.

Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith are one of the finest duos to have emerged onto the British folk and acoustic scene in recent years. Their combination of outstanding vocal work, sensitive instrumentation, and a powerful social conscience has brought them widespread critical acclaim.

“To be a great folk singer, you have to be a great storyteller, as Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith are clearly aware. The duo are both fine singers and multi-instrumentalists.” (The Guardian)

The songs themselves are always given centre stage but they are brought to life with stunning musical arrangements and vocals. There is an integrity that shines through their performances and a common thread of political struggle, resistance, and justice.

Their critically acclaimed second album ‘Night Hours’ was released in December 2016 on Fellside Recordings. Described as ‘exhilaratingly diverse and full of impeccably crafted songs’, it has cemented the duo’s reputation as two of the most exciting musicians and social commentators on the scene.

“Making common cause between antique songs and present circumstances is one of the grails of modern folk, one this young duo pull off impressively…Rousing stuff.” (The Guardian)

‘Everyone at fRoots is certainly pretty excited about Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith, and for good reason. Their honest and arresting songs manage to speak with tender nostalgia whilst civilly calling for change. When you listen, prepare to feel the heat of empathy and the kindling of resistance.’ (fRoots)

jimmyandsidduo.com

Anna Kissell is a singer songwriter whose music marries a tender openness with a fierce soul. Hushed and dark, her folk-lullabies unfold slowly with melodies that linger long after the song’s end.

Born in the village of Eye, then thrust into the London suburbs, Anna’s childhood was a series of musical awakenings. Beginning with the violin she found her own, deeply expressive way of playing at a young age. Later she discovered singing during a torrid teenage rebellion spent in rowdy churches. Having devoted her voice and violin to accompanying various folk and acoustic artists over the years since, Anna has now turned her hand to writing her own material.

Anna lives in Bristol and is in the process of recording her debut album. She remains busy writing, performing and collaborating with other local artists. In her live performances, Anna is often joined by friends whose voices make up ‘The Unsung Chorus’. Her own voice rides naturally over hypnotic guitar picking, drawing listeners into otherworldly dreamscapes, inviting them to lie down, stretch out and forget time.

http://annakissell.com

Tuesday 14th November | 8pm
Tickets: £8 Earlybird, £11 First Release, £14 Second Release

Folk music from Europe, America and beyond; combining dazzling playing with a fine sense of musicality and showmanship and some damn great tunes.

Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow are a Bristol based duo playing acoustic, folk and roots music.

Best known as the virtuoso guitar and fiddle players from the band Sheelanagig, they draw on their many influences to created unique arrangements of traditional music, as well as their own compositions. The live show is a musical journey through Europe, America and beyond; combining dazzling playing with a fine sense of musicality and showmanship.

Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow’s debut album The Fox 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

“such dexterity, energy and passion…..mightily impressive” – R2 Magazine

“The pair demonstrate an eclectic approach that lifts them head and shoulders above the rest” – Acoustic Magazine

“Never a dull moment, with imagination firing throughout and an abundance of creative energy” – Living Tradition

kithawesandaaroncatlow.com

http://www.saskiagm.com

Wednesday 1st Nov | 8pm
Tickets: £8 Earlybird, £11 First Release, £14 Second Release

Potent songs, silky double-bass, fiery fiddling and smoking harmonicas. An album launch event for their latest live release; D’rect From The Shire.

Jez Hellard is a singer of potent songs, fine guitarist and simply stunning harmonica player. His band, The Djukella Orchestra, play traditional and contemporary folk music, from jigs, reels and ballads to tango, rhumba and even reggae. Featuring one of the most captivating double-bassists you’re likely to see and some of the finest instrumentalists on the UK folk scene, their blend of virtuoso musicianship, witty political comment and a deep repertoire of powerful songs never fails to turn heads. Since hitting the road full time in 2005, Jez has played well over a thousand gigs; from the Glastonbury Festival to the North Country Fair, New York to Taipei, Istanbul to the Iberian Peninsular, gaining fans far and wide.

“Ridiculously enjoyable… an unequivocal thumbs up.” Folk Radio UK

“Beautifully crafted and stunningly delivered… a staggering jigsaw of musical invention and a sonorous voice that drags you into every song.” Folking.com

jezhellard.com

http://www.kittymacfarlane.com

Tuesday 24th October | 8pm
Tickets: £8 Earlybird, £11 First Release, £14 Second Release

Stunning singer, fiddle player and harpist, BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Musician of the Year 2017 and Scottish Traditional Music Awards Instrumentalist of the Year 2016.

Singer and harpist Rachel Newton specialises in interpreting traditional folk songs in both English and Scottish Gaelic as well as writing and performing her own instrumental pieces. Rachel performs solo, with her trio featuring Lauren MacColl on fiddle and Mattie Foulds on percussion and with a full band when they’re joined by Michael Owers on trombone and Sarah Hayes on keys.

A skilled collaborator, Rachel is a founder member of the successful UK folk bands The Shee and The Furrow Collective. She also plays fiddle and viola and works across a range of performance platforms including theatre and storytelling.

Rachel released her mighty new album ‘Here’s My Heart Come Take it’ in April 2016.

‘Haunting vocals and elegant harp’ The Guardian

‘Harp and strings blur the border between worlds’ The Financial Times

‘Rachel Newton is well equipped to take centre stage in her own right and this second solo album is a beauty…fascinating stuff’

(5 * Playlist Selection) – fRoots Magazine

Top of the World Editor’s Pick – Songlines Magazine

rachelnewtonmusic.com

https://www.efframusic.com

Mon 9th October | 8pm

Tickets: £8 Earlybird, £11 First Release, £14 Second Release

This ground-breaking, genre-shaking San Francisco group screw up every tradition of the sound America gave to the world and remoulded it.

When Bob Harris played tracks Front Country’s memorable debut album, Sake of The Sound on BBC Radio 2, he told listeners they were “currently the biggest band on the bluegrass scene in America”…and he was right.

Coming out of the California Bay area’s red-hot roots music scene, the band first made serious waves with rarely-accomplished double “best act” competition wins at both the Telluride and Rockygrass music festivals – possibly the most prestigious get-togethers for the genre in the USA.

They’ve been praised for their ability to choose songs to cover (and arrange) that suit them perfectly; they’ve been praised for their sensational individual instrumental performances, for the top quality of their vocal harmonies and the high standard of the self-penned material. In other words, they make music that is distinctly their own; when musicians play and sing this well together, it only serves to magnify the power achieved.

Right at the core are the stunning pairing of Melody Walker and Jacob Groopman, already well-established as a considerable force on the circuit. Their high level of accomplishment is matched by sidekicks Adam Roszkiewicz (mandolin), Leif Karlstrom (violin) and Zach Sharp (bass).

When Sake of The Sound got it’s European release late in 2014, it went from nowhere straight to the Number 11 position on the influential Euro Americana Chart and some of the top music writers in the UK gave it four and five-star ratings. Maverick magazine contributor Paul Kerr enjoyed its “pop sensibility of Fleetwood Mac while retaining a woody, organic feel,” while R2 reviewer David Innes said: “Front Country have put down a strong marker for album of the year.” Writing at Folking.com, Dai Jeffries called the band “exceptional.”

frontcountryband.com

Tue 26th September
8pm | £10Adv

tomhickoxmusic.com

Mon 11th September | 8pm
Tickets: £8 Earlybird, £11 First Release, £14 Second Release

Back by popular demand! Lo-fi post-folk with three-part close harmony singing blending traditional and original material, acoustic sounds and electronic noise.

The Nightjar perform lo-fi post-folk, playing songs for the end of time. Originally conceived as a close-harmony vocal trio, a collaboration with South London producer Kams brought them to the attention of Boiler Room’s Joe Muggs. The ensuing Boiler Room debut went viral, and brought their 2015 ‘The Nightjar’ EP plaudits from nearly 70,000 underground music fans, as well as the accolade of airplay on Radio 3’s Late Junction.

A successful crowd-funding campaign convinced them of the existence of an audience for their dream-like, ethereal songs of hope, loss and disaster and, in the autumn of 2015, The Nightjar relocated to a farmhouse in rural Portugal to begin their first full-length offering. ‘Objects’ was released in March 2017 on Pear O’ Legs Records.

2016 tours of France, Germany and the UK saw audiences brought to a stand-still by the raw intensity of their performance, bringing them a reputation as a must-see live band. Drawing influence from the lo-fi wooze of Grouper, the stark and poignant balladry of Diane Cluck and the deft compositions of Colleen, The Nightjar use close-harmonies, tight-interlocking guitars, deep bass and an intense lead vocal to paint fragile, haunting landscapes.

The Nightjar is Jez Anderson, Mo Kirby, Sarah Ricketts, and Pete Thomas.

“Gorgeous” – The Late Junction, BBC Radio 3

“Mesmerising in live performance” – fRoots Magazine

thenightjarmusic.com

http://www.youngwatersband.co.uk

Ear Trumpet Music presents a magical, intimate, sit-down performance of amazing contemporary music

Ear Trumpet Music presents a magical, intimate, sit-down gig of insuring Folk and Acoustic music

A multi-instrumental acoustic trio based in Bristol, UK, featuring members of Spiro, Get The Blessing and Scottish Dance Theatre. As intricate as a team of watchmakers, as spare as a mountain stream, the music encompasses both a cinematic sweep and an intimate delicacy, in which “the aroma of muddy leaves and old nettles is almost tangible” (The Observer).

Their eponymous debut album was chosen by Cerys Matthews as one of her Top Five Modern Folk Albums; second album Holts And Hovers was fRoots Editor’s Choice Album of 2013, one of The Observer’s “Hidden Gems Of 2013”, and one of Acoustic Guitarist magazine’s 20 Essential Folk Albums.

These include works by Cornish-based feature-film director Brett Harvey, BAFTA-winning animator Emma Lazenby in collaboration with shadow-puppeteer Eleanor Glover, installation artists Kathy Hinde and Reuben Knutson, TV director Mark Taylor with Paul Hill & Duncan Fraser, cinematographer Adam Laity, acclaimed visual artist John Minton (who’s worked with Portishead and Get The Blessing, amongst many others), Finnish-based dance-filmmaker John Collingswood, award-winning scriptwriter and filmmaker Ollie Cullen, and ‘architectural’ animator Peter Northcott.

Expect the unexpected at every turn: star turns from landscapes in Dartmoor, Cornwall, North Wales, Bavaria, Finland, Norway and beyond; cutting-edge animations of epic and intimate proportions; joyous shadow-puppetry; even alfresco contemporary dance.

Come and catch an intimate semi-acoustic multimedia performance in The Wardrobe Theatre!

‘Wonderful’ fRoots

‘Impressively original’ The Guardian

‘Mesmerising’ Q

‘A magical journey’ Songlines

‘Simply beautiful’ R2

threecanewhale.com

Ear Trumpet Music presents a magical, intimate, sit-down gig of great folk and Americana music

Joan Shelley

Plus support from Leonie Evans

A unique, intimate sit-down gig from this sensation-in-the-waiting with a magical, solemn voice

Ear Trumpet Music presents a magical, intimate, sit-down gig of great folk music all the way from The Orkney Isles

Ear Trumpet Music presents a magical, intimate, sit-down gig of great folk, roots & bluegrass

Ear Trumpet Music presents a magical, intimate, sit-down gig of eclectic Americana from the heart of America’s third coast, to the depths of Tennessee

Dila V & The Oddbeats | Phil King | Kit Hawes & Aaron Catlow | Nick Rasle | Hands of The Heron | Part of an Ear Trumpet Music Winter Feast!

Friday 11th October – 9pm

Fela Kuti Birthday Tribute Ft. Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra & No Go Stop & Area Boys DJs

Fiddlers, Willway St, Bristol BS3 4BG

Tel: 01179873403

Tickets: £12 / £15

Tickets: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/

Web: http://www.fiddlers.co.uk/whatson.html

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/495263107975530/

Age restrictions 18+

Legendary Afrobeat vocal and keys player Dele Sosimi (from Fela’s original ‘Egypt 80’ Supergroup) teams up with local afrobeat pioneers No Go Stop to bring you a night of 4 hours continuous Fela Kuti tunes. And if at the end of that you still want more Bristols Area Boys DJs will keep the party going with the best of Lagos dance tunes and Fela remixes. Get your work out on and see you there!

Dele Sosimi, the UK’s multiple award-winning Afrobeat Ambassador has been consistently flying the Afrobeat flag in the UK since 1995, leading to roles as Musical Director and Afrobeat Music Consultant for the US award winning acclaimed musical FELA! at the National Theatre, South Bank in London (2010-2011).

His “Afrobeat Vibration”, now in its fifth year, is London’s top underground event. Dele’s Afrobeat pedigree is impeccable. He was keys player and a musical director in Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 and subsequently with Fela’s son Co founding & leading Femi Kuti’s Positive Force. Dele’s pulsating live shows demonstrate his vision of Afrobeat – one that is faithful to the original blueprint, but also clearly bears Dele’s own DNA, expanding the horizons of the genre. 

He is one of the most active musicians on the Afrobeat scene, with his involvement with other artists and his work on his own critically acclaimed compositions spawning several remixes.

The mighty 12-piece No Go Stop are much more than a tribute to past glories, they are a living, breathing evocation of the life-force that is Afrobeat. Boasting an impressive repertoire of self-penned, new material, they have recently released their debut record “Agbara Orin”. Driving percussion, brass encrusted rhythms and epic instrumental solos set the pace while echoes of Old Soul from Marie Lister’s Vocals, catch the timeless quality of that ancestral funk sound. No Go Stop are truly on a mission to bring something exciting and new whilst staying true to Fela Kuti’s musical mission to present the heart of jazz with the soul of Africa and keep you dancing till dawn. 

Afro-global-bass DJ duo Area Boys are Ulli Bartsch (aka uliba) and Obaro Evuarherhe (aka O’baro) the purveyors of international beats anywhere between Düsseldorf and Lagos. 

Together they discovered their love for african rhythms ranging from Fela Kuti’s afrobeat to Ghanaian High Life, east African Soukous, to more modern “afrobeats”: Kuduro from Angola, Kwaito house from South Africa, and Azonto from West Africa. In between you will find South American sprinkles of Colombian Cumbia, Raggaeton and Jamaican Dancehall.

Area Boys have delivered global beat fiestas at festivals and venues all over the country to the likes of Larmer Tree Festival (closing set), Secret Garden Party (Feast of Fools). Previous booked DJ sets were on the same bill with Chief Boima (NYC, USA), Bass Kitchen Bristol (Ed Solo headliner) and a Fela Kuti tribute DJ set with VJ performance at Brisfest World Music Stage. DJ sets with live bands included: Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, AJ Holmes & The Hackney Empire and London Afrobeat Collective