CLICK HERE FOR RUNING TIMES
Iconic artist Jacqui McShee's beautiful crystal-clear vocals set
the standard for female British folk and the band was legendary
on the folk-rock scene with virtuoso guitarists John Renbourn
and Bert Jansch, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox.
Jacqui
McShee's Pentangle features saxophonist Gary Foote, bassist &
guitarist Alan Thompson, drummer & percussionist Gerry Conway
and Spencer Cozens on keyboards. The original Pentangle expanded
the frontiers of Folk in the 1960s and '70s. Since then, Jacqui
McShee’s Pentangle has progressed and expanded the original
concept and continues to make groundbreaking music.
Julie Felix
Julie Felix recently
celebrated 50 years in the world of music last year. In 1964
Julie arrived in England after leaving California and became the
first solo folk artist to be signed to a major British record
company when she signed with Decca. In 1966 Julie became the
resident singer on the amazingly popular TV programme “The Frost
Report”, and quickly became a household name. She went on to
appear in her own TV series on BBC1 and BBC2 and recorded hit
singles on Mickey Most’s RAK label. After a break from the music
world in the 1980’s, Julie began singing for Latin American
Refugees, for woman’s and gay rights and for peace projects
including protests against the war in the Gulf. Julie created
the Remarkable Records label and released ‘Bright Shadows’, her
first album for 10 years. In June 2013, Julie performed at the
prestigious Leicester Square Theatre to celebrate her 75th
birthday and in October she was invited to Buckingham Palace to
meet the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla.
Blair Dunlop, the award-winning British singer, songwriter and
guitarist, has now released three albums, two ep’s and toured
widely around the globe.
All of this in a short four
year career is astounding alone but what sets Blair apart from
his peers is the lyrical and musical maturity with which he
writes. His third album ‘Gilded’ was released in May 2016 on his
own label – Gilded Wings – and was widely acclaimed gaining BBC
Radio 2 Playlist status for the two single releases (‘The
Egoist’ and ‘356’) both of which were remixed by Ed Harcourt.
Prior to this Blair released his acclaimed album ‘House Of
Jacks’ in mid 2014 which lived up to the promise of his 2012
debut ‘Blight and Blossom’ (the quality of which contributed to
his winning the BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award).
Blair has
now cemented his place as one of Britain’s most exciting talents
to come from the folk scene.
The Guardian stated that
the ‘House Of Jacks’ proves Blair is ‘an increasingly
adventurous songwriter’, Uncut reviewed it as ‘thoughtful and
exploratory’, The Independent on Sunday described it as ‘fluent,
lamentory and accomplished’ while Q Magazine wrote that House of
Jacks is ‘an exciting glimpse of where traditional folk might
go’.
Said The Maiden are Jess Distill, Hannah Elizabeth and Kathy
Pilkinton, three friends who discovered a mutual love of folk
music when they reunited several years after spending their
school years together in Hertfordshire. After tentatively
performing a few songs at their local Redbourn Folk Club, the
group soon gained a great deal of interest on the local and
national folk circuit, securing major support and headline slots
at folk clubs and festivals around the country.
The trio
has also opened for many great artists including The Full
English, The Fisherman's Friends, Jim Moray, Megson, Martin
Carthy, Clannad, Cara Dillon, False Lights and Fairport
Convention. They were also honoured to join legendary fiddler
the late Dave Swarbrick on a successful UK solo tour in the
spring of 2014, and released their debut album 'A Curious Tale'
in June of the same year. The group went on to release their EP,
‘Of Maids And Mariners’ in 2016 which was met with critical
acclaim across the folk community.
Said The Maiden was
awarded Bristol Folk Festival’s prestigious Isambard Folk Award
in 2015 and were also voted ‘Best Act’ by the public at the 2015
Great British Folk Festival’s Introducing Stage, consequently
returning in 2016 for an appearance on the festival’s main
stage. 2017 has seen further recognition for Said The Maiden
including winning the 2017 Folking Awards ‘Rising Star’ prize,
and an NMG Award nomination for best Acoustic, Country & Folk
act.
2017 has been an exciting and prosperous year for
Said The Maiden thus far. This summer they made their first
international appearance at the Jazz and Joy Festival in Worms,
Germany, and will also be appearing at Costa del Folk in
Portugal later this year. In the meantime they are gearing up to
release their eagerly anticipated second studio album, ‘Here’s A
Health’ in November 2017, to coincide with a national headline
tour, with dates throughout October and November spanning the
length and breadth of the country.
The BeauBowBelles are a London based band of foot stomping,
harmony singing swing folkers. They dragged themselves from
their classical roots through the earth of folk, the dusts of
country and the fires of gypsy swing. Their distinctive sound
combines the swing, wit and class of a vintage vocal harmony
group with the depth, heart and energy of a contemporary English
folk band. Their live shows are both virtuosic and glamorous
with close-part harmonies, driving rhythms and soulful melodies.
Joshua Burnell has sparked the interest of the folk world with
his ambitious Seasons Project which saw him release one of his
folk-rock arrangements of a traditional song or tune every week
for a year. Fourteen favourites now form Joshua’s next release,
Songs From The Seasons, to be released on the 4th May. Fatea
Magaizne described Joshua’s music as, “quite definitely a step
up from traditional folk, and quite definitely worthy of a
mention in any progressive rock hall of fame.”
Amongst
recent accolades, the Seasons Project earned Joshua the Highly
Commended Best Performing Artist award at the York Culture
Awards 2017 and he and his band won the The Great British Folk
Festival audience poll for favourite act by an overwhelming
majority when they performed this year. They will be returning
to play on the main stage on December 1st 2018.
Joshua
Burnell’s debut album Into the Green was widely praised on its
release in 2016. Acoustic magazine called it “A welcome blast of
originality in our serious world, it’s a hugely impressive work
and a lot of fun”. Classic Rock commented: “The Incredible
String Band would be proud.” And R2 magazine in its Best of the
Year, concluded “One way or another, this exciting young artist
is certainly going to make himself heard.”
|