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Nancy Kerr and James Fagan are one of the best-known and most experienced folk duos on the British circuit today. Outstanding musicianship, a lifelong grounding in traditional singing and instrumental playing, acclaimed original compositions but most noticeably a visceral chemistry between these two make Kerr and Fagan a perennial favourite at festivals, venues and clubs… Read more »
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Festival favourites, Blackbeard’s Tea Party, infamous for their frenetic fiddle tunes and thumping backline, celebrate their tenth birthday as a band in 2019 with a lengthy autumn-winter ‘Ten Yaar Anniversary’ tour across England and Wales and a special re-release of their best-known single, ‘Chicken On A Raft’. Following a packed summer schedule of festivals, including… Read more »
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Damien Barber is one of the true innovators in folk music, always pushing at the boundaries between folk dance, music and performance. He is also a flag bearer for the sleeveless t-shirt, a garment that should have been allowed to die an undignified death decades ago. Energy, drive and spectacle are words that bubble to… Read more »
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My intros to these pieces generally involve me roasting the artist slowly over a gentle heat. There’s always something I can tease apart about them for a cheap laugh (What, you thought this was a high-brow view into someone’s inner psyche?). But Irish Mythen has stymied me with one short sentence – on her Twitter… Read more »
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Due to overwhelming popular demand, Flook are back on the scene. After a recording hiatus of 14 years, Flook released their new album ‘Ancora’ in April 2019. With the flutes and whistles of Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen, the guitar of Ed Boyd and the bodhran of John Joe Kelly, this iconic band weaves and… Read more »
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Hand in hand with his long and storied solo career, Martin has been central to seminal collaborations like The Full English, The Elizabethan Sessions and Simpson Cutting Kerr. He has worked with a dazzling range of artists from across the musical spectrum: Jackson Browne, Martin Taylor, June Tabor, Richard Hawley, Bonnie Raitt, Danny Thompson, David… Read more »
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Karine Polwart Julie Fowlis Seckou Keita Kris Drever Kerry Andrew Rachel Newton Beth Porter Jim Molyneux In 2018 Folk by the Oak Festival were overjoyed to commission Spell Songs, a musical companion piece to The Lost Words by author Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris; a celebrated ‘spell book’ rich with poetic rhythms and… Read more »
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Hailing from Warsop, Nottinghamshire, these Veterans of the live music scene, have spent recent years honing their skills by touring relentlessly both in the UK and beyond. Ever since their conception, Ferocious Dog have continually exceeded all expectations of an independent band; becoming the first unsigned band to sell out Nottingham’s legendary Rock City in… Read more »
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No strangers to collaboration, Waterson and Barker discovered an immediate kinship when they started writing together. The intriguing combination of Waterson’s poetic lyrics and Barker’s eclectic musicality has been shaped in the studio by musical polymath Adem Ilhan, with recording contributions from two of Barker’s live band: Lukas Drinkwater (bass and guitar) and Rob Pemberton… Read more »
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The Shackleton Trio (formerly The Georgia Shackleton Trio) features fiddle player Georgia Shackleton alongside guitarist Aaren Bennett and mandolinist Nic Zuppardi. Together they play an exciting blend of folk, Americana, and self-penned material instrumentally influenced by British, American and Scandinavian folk traditions, with a regional twist from their native East Anglia. Frequently referred to as… Read more »
