ARTISTS
FRIDAY
SHOW OF HANDS
More than two decades on the road. 25 album releases. 2 Honorary Doctorates, 3 BBC Folk Awards, 4 Royal Albert Hall sell-outs. Tours in 14 countries from America to Australia.
Show of Hands have unequivocally become one of the leading forces in British folk. Steve Knightley and Phil Beer are respectively recognised as one of the UK’s best singer songwriters and one of its finest multi instrumentalists. Without frills or fanfares they have carved a unique niche built on a carefully constructed cottage industry and become one of the most in-demand bands on the circuit.
Find out more at showofhands.co.uk
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
TIM EDEY
Tim Edey (BBC Radio Two’s Musician of the year 2012 (BBC R2 FOLK AWARDS) multi- instrumentalist and singer, has toured the world and recorded with most of the major names in Celtic/Contemporary roots music including; The Chieftains, Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Ross Ainslie, Natalie MacMaster, Donnell Leahy, Altan, Capercaillie, Brendan Power, Michael McGoldrick, Seamus Begley, Dougie Maclean, Kevin Burke, Liam O’Maonlai, The Barra MacNeills, JP Cormier, Shaun Davey, Session A9, Lunasa, Vinnie Kilduff , Mary Black, Session A9, Julie Fowlis, Frankie Gavin to name but a few…
Now a name on the world stage in his own right, after seventeen years of hard work, Tim is rated by many to be one of the world’s finest ever Melodoen and Guitar players in the folk & contemporary scene today!
His live solo shows are a stunning mix of world music inspired instrumental virtuosity and passion with a strong Celtic theme, to audience – chorus lines and above all a highly entertaining night of musical genius.
“MY FAVORITE GUITARIST IN THE WHOLE WORLD” NATALIE MACMASTER
“A ferocious passion and a beautiful tenderness, sensitivity, respect, understanding & love perpetually shines out through the music of virtuoso musician Tim Edey.”
SHARON SHANNON
”Stunning!” Aled Jones
“Tim Edey plays a host of different instruments to a standard us mere mortals can only dream of. Listen and weep”- Jim Byrne, The Living Tradition
Find out more at timedey.com
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
3STICKS
3sticks are highly regarded favourites on the UK Ceilidh and festival circuit. Well known for inventive, pumping, high energy tunes and dance grooves.
The band are a three piece consisting Jenny Newman on fiddle, Andy Glass on guitar and Pete Hemsley on percussion and play a wide range of music from the British Isles and Europe.
Traditional Fiddling at its best with some awesome contemporary backing…’ Folkworld.de
‘never less than stunning…’ Fiddle On
Stunning – a joy to listen to…’ The Living Tradition
Find out more at 3sticks.weebly.com
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
SATURDAY
MARTIN CARTHY
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient – BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014
For more than 50 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music’s greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers, not only from within the folk scene, but also far beyond it.
Trailblazing musical partnerships with, amongst others, Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick and his award-winning wife (Norma Waterson) and daughter Eliza Carthy have resulted in more than 40 albums, but Martin has only recorded 10 solo albums, of which the much anticipated Waiting for Angels (Topic TSCD527) was the latest. Whether in the folk clubs (which he continues to champion), on the concert stage or making TV appearances (he was the subject of the acclaimed `Originals’ music documentary strand on BBC 2) – there are few roles that Martin Carthy hasn’t played.
He’s a ballad singer, a ground-breaking acoustic and electric-guitarist and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. He always prefers to follow an insatiable musical curiosity rather than cash in on his unrivalled position. Perhaps, most significant of all, are his settings of traditional songs with guitar, which have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, on both sides of the Atlantic.
`Arguably the greatest English folk song performer, writer, collector and editor of them all’ Q Magazine
‘Carthy is a master of the ballad of substance, songs that tell stories, whether they are traditional, his own or from contemporary writers.’ The Telegraph
Find out more at topicrecords.co.uk/martin-carthy
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
JOHN KIRKPATRICK
John is one of the most prolific figures on the English folk scene, performing solo, in duos, acoustic groups and electric bands, and has established an enviable reputation as an instrumental virtuoso (melodeon, Anglo concertina and button accordion), as well as a leading interpreter of English folk music. He has been a member of the Albion Country Band, Magic Lantern, The Richard Thompson Band, Umps and Dumps, Steeleye Span, Brass Monkey, Trans-Europe Diatonique, and Band of Hope, as well as numerous ceilidh bands.
As songwriter, composer, choreographer, and musical director, he has contributed to over sixty plays in the theatre and on radio. And as featured artiste, band member, or session player, his music can be heard on over 200 different commercial recordings.
John has lived in Shropshire since 1973, where he still dances with the Morris team he founded in 1975, The Shropshire Bedlams.
English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Gold Badge 2003
(Awarded for his outstanding contribution to English Folk Music)
“Kirkpatrick’s buoyant presence and lust for this music sounds more rampant than ever”Colin Irwin – fRoots Magazine 2009
Find out more at johnkirkpatrick.co.uk
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
BANTER
Described as “The future of Folk”, Banter take English traditional music to the next level with their iconic interpretations of classic songs and dance tunes.
Following in the creative footsteps of the likes of Steeleye Span and La Bottine Souriante, Nina Zella, Simon Care and Tim Walker have lovingly reinvented what defines English Folk. This year the trio have added the multi-instrumentalist skills of Mark Jolley (TradArrr, Tickled Pink) to their lineup and have been receiving rave reviews from around the globe for both their live shows and particularly for their recently released third album THREE.
“… wonderfully, powerfully dynamic. They really rock wherever they go.” – Mike Harding
“…full of Invention.” – R&R Magazine 4* review
“… really atmospheric and exquisitely done.” – Mark Radcliffe (BBC Radio 2, The Folk Show)
“… Nina Zella…Easily comparable to Christine McVie” – Northern Sky
“…If you think there’s nothing new to hear in folk music these days, listen to Banter and think again.” – Folking.com
“…What the folk tradition is all about.” – Folk London Magazine
“…Trad is everywhere; it’s how it’s used that makes all the difference.” – Spiral Earth Magazine
“…Trad goes visiting the relatives.” – The Living Tradition Magazine
Find out more at banter.band
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
NINA ZELLA
Nina Zella has been writing music and songs since she was old enough to sit at the piano and is now embarking on a solo project with a new album on it’s way.
Her music combines elements of all the styles of music she loves – pop,folk, jazz, soul, blues.. all wrapped up with heartfelt lyrics from a lifetime of adventures.
Brought up with a folk background, Nina grew up in Yorkshire but soon started performing around the UK and abroad playing anything from pop covers to jazz and more. All the time writing a mass of her own songs that are now only starting to see the light of day.
Recently likened to Christine McVie by BBC Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe, she is now regarded as a songwriter, composer, musician and singer of the highest calibre gaining critical acclaim and praise across the music press and receiving airplay for her work around the globe.
Now living in Lincolnshire, Nina recently landed a solo gig at a festival in Ibiza and is excited to have been given a support gig with ex-Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics front man, Paul Carrack, in July.
Find out more at facebook.com/ninazellamusic
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
SIMON CARE & GARETH TURNER
Simon Care and Gareth Turner – Two’s Up
In 1984, Gareth and Simon recorded the album Two’s Up. It was unexpectedly successful, and they toured the UK demonstrating their very unique twin box style. After fronting many bands between them (Little Johnny England, Edward II, The Phil Beer Band, The Albion Band, Tickled Pink, The Popes etc..) they decided to record the difficult second album – albeit 28 years later.
Come and catch the Squeezer Geezers in concert.
Find out more at facebook.com/pg/Simon-Care-and-Gareth-Turner
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
SUNDAY
CHRIS WHILE & JULIE MATTHEWS
With 24 years of unrivalled musical partnership gathering numerous nominations, awards and critical acclaim along the way, major British artists and singer-songwriters Chris While and Julie Matthews will be celebrating 25 years as a duo next year with a brand new album and an extensive Autumn tour of the UK as well as numerous summer festivals.
Last year saw them perform music from ‘The Ballads of Child Migration’ at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards alongside O’Hooley and Tidow, Boo Hewerdine, John McCusker, Kris Drever, John Doyle, Mike McGoldrick and Andy Seward and in 2018 they toured the project around the UK adding the wonderful John Doyle.
2017 saw Chris and Julie touring the UK with all-female super group ‘Daphne’s Flight’, after a 21 year gap, bringing audiences across the country not only to their feet, but also to tears. They completed an acclaimed second tour in 2018 and will be on the road again in May 2020.
In 2019, Chris and Julie are more powerful than ever and remain at the very top of their game. In the spring of 2018 they returned to Australia to make their 12th tour of a country that they love and in return, are much loved. Last year they were named ‘Artists of the Year’ at the prestigious Port Fairy Music Festival, one of the biggest events of its kind in Australasia.
Find out more at whileandmatthews.com
Get your BanterFest tickets here.
WINTER WILSON
Pre-Covid, Winter Wilson had completed tours of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most of Western Europe, in addition to the UK. Their 8 studio albums had all received rave reviews, and 2019’s “Live & Unconventional” (recorded on tour with folk-rock icons Fairport Convention and on stage at Cropredy Festival) was no different.
“If you need evidence of just how special the duo Winter Wilson is, then Live & Unconventional delivers in abundance.” Steve Caseman, RnR magazine.
Back in Lincolnshire throughout the pandemic, the pair streamed “Live from the Lounge” for 60 consecutive weeks and wrote and recorded a new album, “The Passing of the Storm”, adding further to their reputation as superb writers, singers and musicians, and great all-round entertainers.
“The quality of these new songs is unquestionable, and paired with their ever-developing maturity as musicians, they make for an unmissable album.” Folk Radio UK.
But it isn’t just the songs and superb harmonies that make for such a great concert. Winter Wilson are also excellententertainers. No two shows are the same; the onstage banter is spontaneous and top class, as is their musicianship.
You will laugh; you may cry. You will certainly want to see them again!
Find out more at winterwilson.com
Get your BanterFest tickets here.