The Artists | lakedistrictfolk

ARTISTS 2017

Here are some of our artists for 2017. Please bear in mind however, our ethos is very much about inclusivity for all and just 'getting involved'. There will be plenty of opportunities to roll up, bring your instruments & voices and get playing.

Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman

Acclaimed Folk musicians from Dartmoor, UK.

Winners of ' Best Duo' BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2016.

"An absolute masterclass in how to do it right." – Festivalsforall.com

"English folk's Buckingham-Nicks " - THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman are proud to announce their new album "Tomorrow Will Follow Today" , their boldest musical statement to date.After being voted "Best Duo" in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2013, and also nominated for "Best Original Song" (The Ballad of Andy Jacobs), in ‘Tomorrow Will Follow Today’ they add two rarely covered traditional songs to eight confidently written compositions to create a superb new album.

Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar

Two time BBC Folk Award winners Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar met in 2011. Soon after the joining of the pair, the duo were signed to Fellside Records and in July 2012 released their debut album, The Queen’s Lover. Numerous tours followed as the duo developed and honed their stage craft, becoming one of the most sought after young acts on the English Folk Scene.

The duo come from musical households and both began to develop their musical skills long before joining forces. Algar, originally a member of TRI became All Ireland Champion, and All Britain Champion on numerous occasions before the age of 16 and Russell had begun a career as a solo musician supporting acts such as Karine Polwart and Lau, amongst others.

Giggleswick Temperance Band

Band Members: Steve Keene (fiddle), Andrew Service (accordion), Gaye Woollard (bodhran), Sam Bracken guitar/mandola/vocals, Elaine Bracken (flute/vocals) and Mike Harding (mandolin/banjo/harmonica/vocals)

Rob Barratt

Is a Dudley-born comic poet, humourist and singer from North Cornwall who writes all his own material.

His act combines clever word-play with satire, verse, song and audience participation. I deal with such important topics as second homes, squid, distressed furniture, data-driven education, Neanderthals and why I don't want to swim with dolphins but beneath the humour lurk serious issues

Jacqui McDonald

Staveley resident, former member of The Spinners and general Folk-revival legend, Jacqueline McDonald is a folk singer, songwriter, performer, broadcaster who counts Peggy Seeger and Tom Paxton amongst her friends - and who was one half of popular folk duo 'Jacqui and Bridie'. Dont miss her on Sunday afternoon.

Anna Shannon

Hailing from the North Yorkshire National Park, Anna Shannon deeply embraces all things rustic. On hearing her homespun and organic compositions it is clear that the wonders of the natural world are the things that strongly colour her narratives. She is an immensely skilled multi-tasker, a creative and strikingly accomplished singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and designer, with her own definite, intense vision and a strong musical identity to match.

Born into a musical family, Anna was, by the age of ten, already accomplished on classical flute, and at twelve was playing oboe, clarinet and trumpet. Guitar, fiddle, sax and bowed psaltery followed but it wasn’t until in her early twenties that she discovered the folk scene. 2006 saw her first album “The Whale Dreaming” being released after being encouraged by winning BBC Radio “Yorkshire Songwriter of the Year” which she had entered on spec. Since that time Anna has released numerous albums, and her latest, “A Celebration of Old England”, released by Wild Goose Records, sees her forging a strong path into the heart of today’s folk club and festival circuit.

Anna is carrying on a musical tradition, finding fresh meaning and relevance for us all in the old ways.

Troubadour

Inspired by the sounds of roots Americana and the finest British rock n roll bands, Troubadour create songs that are as varied as they are unique.

Having originally formed as an acoustic duo and quickly realising their sonic potential was being limited, the original two sought out the talents of a pair of unassuming but like minded individuals to complete the band. The new line up have gone on to amaze crowds at sold out theatre shows and festivals, sharing the stage with the likes of Ade Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds, Edwina Hayes, Newton Faulkner, James, 3 Daft Monkeys, Seth Lakeman, Billy Bragg, and the Levellers.

Currently in the process of recording their latest studio album, which is due to be released in 2017, Troubadour will be providing the soundtrack to the life of the more discerning listener.

Jessica Lawson & Phil Simpson

Jessica Lawson sings and accompanies herself on autoharp and acoustic guitar. Her original songs reflect a background in folk music and a love of Americana as she sings stories about the sea, love, loss, war, and a few ‘fallen’ women.

Fast building a reputation on the folk scene, Jessica has performed a number of high profile and exciting shows, supporting Eddi Reader and Dave Rotherary, as well as appearing on bills alongside Cara Dillon and Barbara Dickson. She’ll be joined by guitar accompanist, singer and songwriter Phil Simpson.

Winter Wilson

Winter Wilson’s current tour showcases their latest album “Ashes and Dust”, the follow up to “Cutting Free” which made the Daily Telegraph’s ten recommended folk albums for Summer 2014.

Having honed their craft during many years as semi-professional musicians, the duo went full time in 2012 and haven’t looked back since. They have a fine repertoire of self-penned songs, telling stories of everyday life which often reflect the bigger picture of this life we lead. (“Songs for local heroes,” as one punter said.)

Kip Winter (vocals, accordion, guitar, flute) is one of the finest singers on the circuit, expressing power and emotion in equal measure “from melting to belting”.

Dave Wilson (vocals, guitar and banjo) is amongst the top tier of British song writers, with his songs covered by some of folk’s “greats”.

But it’s in live performance that Winter Wilson really excel, bringing a sense of intimacy to every stage, welcoming audiences into their world, mixing songs with stories of life on the road. “This isn’t a performance – it’s a domestic!”

Tight harmonies, killer songs and a lot of fun – that’s Winter Wilson.

JC & the Moonshine Band

JC and the Moonshine Band are: JC (Janet Crame; fiddle), Steve Crame (upright

bass), Mark Browne (clawhammer banjo) and Dan Shiels (guitar and mandolin).

Brought together by a shared love of the dance music and songs of the

Appalachians, itself a coming together of Irish, Scottish and Negro influences,

they play a classic line up of instruments gathered around a single diaphragm

microphone for an authentic look and sound. Expect foot- stomping hoedown

sets mixed with strange haunting mountain modal tunes and the odd cowboy

ballad thrown in.

Michelle & Bonz

Michelle Holding sings traditional and contemporary British and American songs, playing guitar, banjo and concertina. Blessed with a striking and distinctive voice, she performs with passion and sensitivity. Confesses publicly to being a Morris dancer and also calls dances for ceilidhs, something which she is gaining quite a following for, through her welcoming, gender free calling style.

Her accompanist Bonz, a talented multi-instrumentalist, plays dobro, banjo and harmonica, and provides harmony vocals when with Michelle. Has been performing in folk clubs, at festivals and concerts since before Michelle was born.

John Sayer

Muldoon's Picnic

Muldoon’s Picnic is an acappella harmony singing group based in Glasgow. They sing traditional unaccompanied harmony songs from around the world, mostly in their own arrangements.

Their album 'A Scots Chorus' was one of The Scotsman’s best albums of 2013.

John plays a mixture of folk, blues and country on a variety of guitars including a lap Dobro. Living in the village, he is a local favourite.

Scott Larrabee

Blues of the highest calibre; Scott is an American lad who specialises in Delta blues. He plays finger style and bottleneck slide.

Bill Lloyd

Bill Lloyd is well known as a live performer in Cumbria, the Borders and North, both as a soloist, and with The Wildwood Band and The Willy Ruby Band. His material is wide-ranging and includes the ‘high lonesome’ sound of Appalachian Mountain music, country rock and bluegrass, with contemporary and traditional English Irish and Scottish ballads, traditional European dance music, and his own songs. Bill is taking a rest from hosting this year, due to health issues. We wish him well and hope he returns to full health very soon.

Diana Denney

Diana has a natural talent for harmony singing so will mostly be found performing with other singers, although occasionally a solo gig may tempt her.
Her love of harmony came through listening to the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and The Seekers, but she loves most music and a session where there is a good mix of genres is still her favourite evening out.
Most of her gigs are in the South Lakes area performing with Dave Watson as the duo Fuse, doing hits from the sixties to now,and also with the Blues/Rock band Mojo.

Mather Robinson Band

Dave Mather and Pete Robinson are lifelong friends, and their musical partnership is almost as long. having grown up together in the swinging 60's, their musical influences are pretty common and fairly obvious. Thye play original folk music to stir the soul, quicken the heartbeat and tug at the heartstrings.

Carolyn Francis

Carolyn has been researching, performing and teaching tunes local to the Lake District for 20 years, her workshop will focus on a selection of these tunes. Although the repertoire is fiddle-focussed, other acoustic instruments are very welcome. During the last hour, members of the community band “The Lakeland Fiddlers” will join the workshop to play through the tunes taught .. . .and maybe share a few others too. With thanks to Folkus for funding this workshop.

Celia Ketchell

Celia lives in South Cumbria. A performer of traditional folk music in the past, Celia's repertoire now includes her own songs, inspiration for which she takes from current events, people she meets or just life itself!

Simon Rose

Simon Rose is an amateur singer-songwriter resident in South Lakeland. He has been active in the local acoustic music scene for over 25 years. He hosts a couple of monthly pub sessions as well as singing in the local band The Jam Buddies who performed at the 2015 Festival. He has been writing songs for most of his life covering various themes and genres. He is always on the look out for a catchy tag line and a story to tell.

Catch Simon & The Jam Buddies Sunday afternoon in the Eagle & Child Beer Garden.

The Black Guards

Paul O'Halloran, left his native Dublin after admitting in Confession he was their greatest songwriting Centre Forward, Paul McGhee who successfully ingratiate himself into the Manchester Musical Intelligentsia in order to promote The West Cumbrian Sound Anne Marie McStraw, who almost successfully campaigned that anyone unable to play violin be expelled from all political parties, which quickly prompted political activist Ben Sloan to seek out & study the largest of their kind the Double-Bass, while sensing the tide was changing, accordionist & pirate Owen Evans swept in to nulifiey this corrupt & roguish sound whilst the temperance beats & tribal grooves of Andrew Bates celebrated this spiritual & soul purging movement in music.

Westmorland Rising

Expect an eclectic mix from Westmorland Rising; Sue Kennedy and Chris Mullen. These two established musicians embrace their musical differences and work together to explore a variety of different genres. From the traditional to the unexpected, Chris’ harmonies and sensitive accompaniment, on guitar and mandolin, blend perfectly with Sue’s enchanting vocals and delicate instrumentals. This duo may be a very recent collaboration, since April 2017, when founder member Duncan retired, but their sound is beautifully balanced. Chris’ only complaint so far? He’s a proud West Cumberland boy now flying the flag for Westmorland!

Mark Dowding

Mark Dowding has been performing folk songs since his time at school at PTA evenings. He discovered folk clubs when one of the lads at school said he was opening a folk club in Ormskirk. From that night Mark discovered the Folk Club Network and has either been a resident at a club or has run his own club wherever he has been on his travels around the country with his work.
Whilst Mark has an interest in the songs of his native Lancashire, any song with a good story is included in his repertoire.
He plays Guitar, Banjo or Concertina to accompany himself and can turn his voice to an unaccompanied song or two if required.
Although Mark has a day job, he does gigs on a regular basis either by himself or with others and has released a number of CDs over the years. He also runs Room at the Top Folk Club in Lathom, West Lancashire.

Midsummer Blue

John Bushby - Scottish smallpipes and border pipes, gaitas, bouzouki, whistles and vocals

Caroline Bushby - Celtic harp, whistles and vocals

Liz Conway - Appalachian mountain dulcimers

John and Caroline, both originally from Australia and well known on the Australian folk scene as performers and promoters, toured Scotland twice in 2001 and 2003 with their band Tantallon. Recently they have released a CD of music from 17thC Scotland (The Lass of Petties Mill) which also features world renowned baroque lutenist and Early Music specialist Susan King.
Liz, performed with the group Lucky Bags (featuring the late Judy Dinning) at festivals and folk clubs throughout the UK and also with her husband, the late Terry Conway, Northumbrian singer songwriter. Some of Terry's songs are in the trio's repertoire.

Plant & Taylor

Dex Plant (guitar / vocals) and Baz Taylor (mandolin / vocals) are a duo from Blackpool who craft dark and lyrical songs in a modern folk style. Their first recording will be released to coincide with their upcoming appearances at Fleetwood Folk and Blues Weekend in September ’16.

With a richness and depth to both their songwriting and playing, Plant & Taylor have gained acclaim following support slots alongside Folk/Punk stalwarts Ferocious Dog in their previous guise as a four-piece group, their debut duo performance at the ‘Folk away the Winter Blues’ event in February 2016, and shows at The Langdale Folk Festival and Garstang Unplugged. Recent sessions on Chorley FM and Salford FM have generated even more interest and the release of the release of the EP featuring four original songs is expected to gather further acclaim.

‘A real force to be reckoned with, with brooding, mesmerising songs and tight musicianship that really draws an audience in’. – Rachael Bailey, Fleetwood Folk and Blues Event Organiser.

Derek Gifford

'Giff' to his many friends on the folk scene, Derek has been performing at festivals and folk clubs for over 30 years. He collaborated with Keith Scowcroft to produce some of the best known songs in folk clubs to date. Giff also has a lifelong interest in birding, so don't miss his Sunday session "Birds in Folksong" which includes sound recordings of the birds that feature in the songs as well as lots of background information on both the songs and the birds.

Smith Corona

Plundering the treasure trove of their collective musical pasts, this trio deconstruct a huge array of pop, folk and Americana and cook it up in a banjo, upright bass and accordian pot with blue grass chops, tight vocal harmonies and a bit of ska syncopation......YUM

Bryce Street Strummers

Burnesides popular ukulele group join them for a sing and strum along

Untethered

"Untethered" is based around five retired chaps from South Lakes who are trying to stay young through playing and performing together. Originally formed a couple of years ago as a three-piece offshoot from the local ukulele band, and called "Cumbrian Tethera", the addition of more players and consequent mathematical confusion prompted the recent name change to “Untethered". This name reflects our broad musical tastes - country, blues, rock, folk, even GF - and the varied personnel who often join us. The core five are Tony Hill (ukuleles, banjolele, vocals), Sean Hunt (baritone ukulele, vocals); , Andy Gillham (tenor ukulele, vocals), Robin Andrews (harmonica, slide ukulele, percussion, vocals), Mick Brookes (bass, vocals).

Steve Higgins

Steve is a stalwart figure on the NorthWest folk scene. A phenomenal guitarist and singer with a vast setlist of traditional songs and instrumentals.

Tom Perry & Clive Brooks

Tom and Clive have been performing together at folk clubs and festivals since 2011, having become well known over the years for their fine solo singing and their performances with various other groups. Their repertoire, which is delivered a cappella, consists of traditional songs and contemporary pieces written in the traditional vein. Most of their songs have choruses and audiences are encouraged to join in.

Herdus

Herdus are Ryan Wood (fiddle) and Steve Wharton (vocals, ukulele, guitar, Chinese banjo and harmonica). Both seasoned performers in their own right, they have been playing music together as Herdus since summer 2016; blending original songs with traditional folk tunes, films scores and choice covers. Amongst their favourite pieces are songs about Cumbrian events and local folk tunes.

Check out their playlist on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOBBTKpvYlJHZlmT7I6ccjBelgMje8v9y

Dead Man's Hand

After running multiple open mic nights and playing bespoke unplugged sets for St. Patrick's day and the like, Sam and Welly began to put together Dead Man's Hand, mixing their collective tastes in acoustic music. Rousing drinking music to stirring protest ballads, soulful blues to familiar singalongs. The large repertoire they have built up allows them to tune their set to the audience, being as suited to a quiet lunchtime session as to rowdy pub weekends, festivals and local events. The focus is on fun and creativity, involving those spectating as much as possible and writing interesting arrangements of cover songs on guitar, bouzouki and mandolin.

The Waite Collective

When you have three remarkable voices singing in harmony you can expect something special. When those voices belong to members of the same family then there’s an extra touch of magic! Switching musical styles with ease, a feature of their relaxed performance is the contrast and variety apparent in their choice of songs. This is enhanced by the varying textures of the blended voices as they exchange the melody and harmony roles.

Five in a Bar

We are : Jude Glendinning, Anne Green, Val Macconnell,Diane Sammons and Carole Wood and we sing a capella arrangements of a wide variety of music - from folk and traditional to contemporary classics and blues.Our songs are chosen using our guiding maxim "songs of meaning sung with feeling" and we make them our own by improvising harmonies and arrangements. An evening with Five in A Bar was recently described as "an inspiring evening for anyone who enjoys good music..." Lancaster Guardian.

Taffy Thomas & The Farren Family

Between 1999 and 2010, when Taffy & Chrissy Thomas hosted the South Lakeland Storytelling

Festival in Staveley and Ings, they built up a special relationship with the staff, pupils and parents

of Staveley Primary School. This August, Taffy is back for The Lake District Folk Weekend in Staveley, together with his musician friends the Farren Family. Sufficient time has passed that some of those who enjoyed

Taffy's tales when they were schoolchildren can meet him to hear more together with their own

children. This will make a happy storyteller feel very old !

Celia Bryce Band

Showcasing the singing and song writing talent of Celia Bryce

Steve Wharton

Cumbrian Songs & Stories with Steve Wharton

Originally from Ulverston, now settled in Arlecdon after living and working all around the county Steve has combined his love of storytelling and music in the Cumbrian Songs & Stories shows. Choose a place on the map and enjoy the adventure as Steve bring the county's history, characters and culture to life in his amusing, heartwarming, well-crafted performance. Featuring traditional and original songs on a variety of instruments, dialect poems and enchanting storytelling. His work focuses on heritage driven performance and recently he has developed storytelling events for The Beacon Museum and Rheged, including a viking murder mystery and a children's show.

Steve will be performing two different shows; one for younger audiences and another for older children and adults. He'll also be performing as half of Herdus.