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FolkStation 2010 promises to be a full weekend of music from great bands, guest artists, workshops for kids and adults and more. Come and enjoy as much or as little as you want, camping for the whole weekend is included in the 'Weekend Ticket' price. The weekend kicks off on Friday evening with a fun Ceilidh. There will be under cover concerts throughout the day on Satuday and Sunday. The Saturday night concert will feature THREE great acts - Spiers & Boden, Deborah Hodgson and Lucid. To round off your weekend there will be a farewell concert on Sunday evening. Monday morning will be time to say goodbye to FolkStation friends old and new and book up for FolkStation 2011. You will return home tired, but happy - guaranteed.
HEADLINE ACT
Spiers & Boden
Described by The Guardian as “the finest instrumental duo on the traditional scene” and twice winners of the BBC Radio 2 folk award for Best Duo, John Spiers and Jon Boden have made the genre of spontaneous, punky English folk very much their own stomping ground. |
They first started playing together in 1999 and have released 5 CDs. In 2004 they formed the wildly ambitious 11 piece Big-Band folk phenomenon Bellowhead. The duo appeared on the BBC4 “Fire & Ice” Christmas session.
Loud, proud, and with just a few acoustic instruments, they create a multitude of textures upon which they present traditional stories and dance music which are as much at home on the main stage of a Folk Festival as they are in a lock-in at the local pub.
John and Jon are winners of the Best Duo category at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in both 2004 and 2006, and a Critic’s choice nomination at the BBC World Music Awards. Jon Boden is up for Best Album and Best Original Song in the 2010 Spiral Awards. Bellowhead have been nominated in the Best Group and Best DVD categories.
John Spiers (melodeon, concertina) has taken the traditional squeezebox styles and has created an infectious acoustic groove which has an amazing effect on the uninitiated. Born in Birmingham, John grew up in Abingdon (home to one of the few truly traditional morris sides) with a morris dancing father and a mother who was a big fan of Nic Jones and Martin Carthy.
Jon Boden is an English fiddle player and folk singer born in Chicago but grew up in Winchester, England. With John Spiers he plays fiddle, guitar, sings, duet concertina and stamps out the rhythm on a piece of board.
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Deborah Hodgson
Traipsing the streets of South Wales with a vegetable rack full of buckets and brushes may not be the most glittering start to a career in music, but for Deborah Hodgson folk singer this was the catalyst, earning her first guitar as a child by washing the (bottom half) of cars.
Alongside performing with longstanding guitarist and songwriter Charles Marshall as 'Caraway', she duets with Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting, sings 'lizard lounge' with jazz guitarist Loz Ruston, American folk and country with Vo Fletcher and Tyler Massey, and jazz/ pop with the Richard Hughes trio. She also uses her music to benefit nursing homes and schools through composition and performance under the charitable trust 'Music in the Community' (MIC), which she set up in 2006.
Deborah Hodgson's song writing cleaves to the honest confessional values of Laurel Canyon spiced with a little of the mystic energy of the Wales of her birth. As a vocalist there are few styles of music that she cannot bring under the spell of her unique, emotive voice.
Although petite, Deborah Hodgson's natural charm and enchanting voice can fill any stage and bewitch an audience whatever the venue, whether she's sat on a rusty oil drum singing at a festival in a farmers field, performing at a lavish castle wedding, in the underground crypt of a cathedral or at a major arena supporting 10CC.
For Deborah Hodgson, folk singer, the greatest challenge is meeting all her commitments and finding the time to write and record her own music - a sentiment expressed in her recently recorded song 'Taigh Allain' penned in the Scottish highlands. She is currently working with pianist and composer Martin Riley on a first studio album, which will be ready for 2009.
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Spare Parts Concertina Band
We play British traditional music on three concertinas and fiddle, and sing in harmony. We also play some music hall and light classical music and anything else that takes our fancy. |
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Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer
Currently taking the world by storm, Vicki and Jonny are rightly “establishing themselves as one of the best duos around on the folk scene today” (Famous Willows Folk Club). Although best-known for their instrumental skills with Scottish Smallpipes, accordion and even Swedish Nyckelharpa, the duo are well recognised for their songs arrangements too. With their blend of traditional material and contemporary interpretations, they have developed a sound that is both familiar and fresh. Vicki and Jonny’s strong educational background makes their workshops as powerful for a festival event as their performances. |
Lucid
How can a band be totally original and unique but still have a 70s feel? That is what always comes to mind when I listen to Lucid. This amazing band formed only in June 2007, but listening to them, one can’t help but feel that they have actually been playing together since the 70s. They formed originally as a duo Ollie and Blue, but Blue had such a long history of performing with her twin sister Sunny, she was an obvious addition. With their individual passion for songwriting and individual singing talents, the harmonies came naturally, and so were born their debut album “Jigsaw Dreams”. |
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Andrew McKay and Carole Etherton
Andrew and Carole live in beautiful Gower, Carole having arrived there via Sussex and the 2004 Lancaster festival. “We sing mainly traditional-style songs either with or without concertina accompaniment. Also recently-composed songs which sound like they're traditional, some of which we write ourselves. Also some Music Hall songs, and . . . well, anything we like, really.”
Andrew sings and plays the Crane Duet concertina. He sang for several years as a member of Baggyrinkle - the Swansea Shantymen and writes songs for a hobby.
Carole was a resident at the Lewes Arms and Mid Sussex Folk Singers from where she was 'enlisted' into the Shellback Chorus in 2000 and sang at festivals in the UK & USA. Carole also plays wooden flute and Victorian keyed wooden flageolet.
Both are members of Mudcat Café where Andrew is known a “Cranedriver” and Carole as “SussexCarole”.
They have released two CD’s – the first by Andrew is titled “Pennbucky to Llangenny” and the second by both of them is titled “Characters”. Both are available from www.chanteycabin.co.uk
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Patti Smith and Ned Clamp
Pat: vocals, anglo concertina, spoons, harmonica.
Ned: vocals, guitar, harmonica.
A lively meeting of Welsh and American music.
Ned's easy humour and accomplished musicianship on guitar and mouth organ combine with Pat's talents on concertina & spoons to produce an unforgettable and polished performance.
Ned and Pat bring enjoyment and quality music wherever they go. |
Hilary Ward
Having relatively recently 'discovered' folk singing in 1997, I spend much of my spare time on the fringe at folk festivals and supporting local clubs, intent on encouraging others, listening and collecting songs.
'My Guru Always Said' comes from an old scratchy 45 of mine. It was written by G Taylor & Hugh Murphy and was sung by Joanna Carlin aka Melanie Harrold / Irma Cetes. I understand it was banned in the UK by the BBC two weeks after it was released here in 1977. I could be wrong though...
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Windwytch
Friends for many years Ken and Fiona have teamed up to form a duo well received in every quarter, they are even world famous in certain parts of the Isle of Wight!!
Based in the Solent area they bring an exciting approach to many of Ken's self penned songs together with other writers.
Ken has many recordings under his belt, see www.chanteycabin.co.uk for more details.
Meanwhile here are a few clips from Ken and Fiona's CD ~ Patterns on the Tide~Come along John ~ Henry Martin ~ Little Ships in Bottles |
Kathy Wallis
The singer with the wonderful stories or the storyteller with the wonderful songs?
Both !
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Kathy's incredible high, clear voice has been described as, "Silver light falling out of Heaven and trickling down your spine" and can be heard silencing rowdy pubs, stunning singarounds across the country, as well as adding the harmonic cherry to the West Gallery cake.
Her repertoire is equally amazing, spanning everything from newly written songs through music hall, blues and jazz to traditional folksong.
Then there is the storytelling. A teller in the Bardic tradition, she is steeped in the fabric of the legends of Cornwall, such a delight to listen to in these days when storytelling seems to consist mainly of the telling of elongated jokes. Her proficiency is shown by the fact that she held the Sidmouth International and Chippenham Festival trophies at the same time - the latter for three years running and which she now holds in perpetuity!
Added to her talents is her entertaining and somewhat idiosyncratic approach to being an MC. You should experience her running a Saturday Night Singaround at least once in your lifetime!
Her bubbly personality and her undisputed talents as a performer make her welcome at any club or festival where she is bound to be popular with any audience.
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Capella
If ever two voices were meant to go together it must be those of Tony Petty and Lesley Massey, from Sittingbourne in Kent. Both fine singers in their own right, it is when they combine in the duo Capella that something magical happens. Their voices blend in such a way that it has often been said that it is difficult to tell who is singing which part.
Experience their relaxed, witty style and their magical blend of harmonies, but watch out for their wicked sense of humour.
This is a link to a short sample |
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