A familiar face returns to headline our June concert.
BELINDA O'HOOLEY is an acclaimed pianist, singer, songwriter and composer celebrated for her expressive and distinctive musicality. Best known as one half of O’Hooley & Tidow, with her wife Heidi Tidow, she has been nominated four times for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The duo’s song Gentleman Jack found international recognition as the theme for the BBC/HBO drama of the same name.
Her piano playing - elegant, inventive, and emotionally charged has made her a sought-after collaborator with artists including Rufus Wainwright, Nic Jones, Sophie B Hawkins, Jackie Oates, and Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, with whom she received a Mercury Prize nomination.
Belinda’s artistry also extends to acting, most recently in her role as DCS Liz Thornton in the BAFTA-winning drama Happy Valley.
Opening the evening will be an artist who has been hailed as part of the future of melodic songwriting. Forever evolving and adapting, and with unmatched guitar work, GREN BARTLEY is a modern day troubadour, using his influences from older folk and world music traditions, to create truly astounding records. He brings something new and unique to his audience. He is an artist not to be missed.
Tickets for the concert, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 19 June 2026, are available online HERE. They are priced at £15 each in advance or £17 on the door. Doors open at 7.00pm and the music starts around 7.45pm. This event is also included in our Summer Season Ticket.
There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from Bristol’s HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of Radstock-based THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert. There is a decent-sized car-park behind the Parish Hall/Medical Centre, and free on-street parking in the surrounding area. Parking on the church grounds is not permitted unless agreed in advance.
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CHARLOTTE CARRIVICK, flatpicking guitarist extraordinaire, has her head down, tuning. Her face is obscured by a single, old-timey microphone. There's laughter from the three musicians around her. “What's all of that giggling? You're not supposed to be having fun." She is deadpan, dry as an Appalachian path. She looks up, there's a sparkle in her eye and electricity crackles from her fingertips. She chuckles and her acoustic guitar leaps onto life.
There are a lot of incredible players in the folk world but, oh my, these Bluegrass musicians! Phew! There's nothing like them. Carrivick is joined by Evan Davies on mandolin and Niles Krieger - incredibly this is only his second show with the band - on fiddle, both from The Often Herd, and fellow Midnight Skyracer member, bassist Eleanor Cross. All four are incredible.
Over the course of their two sets the four-piece play 20-odd songs and tunes. They flit and fly by, they are fireflies, they are hummingbirds. Vivid and quicksilver, the music shoots into your field of vision, a blur of beauty, shooting sparks before leaving you with your jaw on the floor and a tingle in your ears.
There are tunes that take a little snap-shot of a moment; I'm Glad That's Not My Dog is inspired by a Springer Spaniel and lots of mud but it absolutely sings. Mandolin runs tumble over guitar lines, until the fiddle bursts through and the bass yomps by its side. Each instrument steps up to that microphone, takes up the tune, throws in the air and passes it on. It's fast and flash but never clinical. Instead, feet move and those fireflies dance.
Ron's Duck Blanket has a cute-cute swing that could soundtrack some of Morph's more whimsical adventures. There are mandolin plinks until everyone else joins for some serious multi-coloured, hand drawn silliness.
When Carrivick sings she shows impeccable taste. Jason Isbell's If We Were Vampires is gorgeous, all shadow-y swoon and velvet-y night. Her harmonies with Davies are beautiful. Dylan's Farewell Angelina has a slow moan helped by Cross’ bowed double bass while Pony Boy, by Mark Simos, starts with sweetness and light until it blossoms into something altogether more rousing.
Throughout the evening it becomes obvious just how much Carrivick adores her family. So many tunes have been written for her children, or various nieces, and you'd be damn proud if any of them had been written for you. Evie, Brighton Breesey, Robyn's Tune and Waiting for Annie all have an affection and warmth that is utterly captivating. All four musicians gloriously compliment one another, allowing each to breathe and express themselves but singing with one voice too. No, Hatit has a Chaplin-silent-movie lopsided swagger and is just fabulous.
By the time The Charlotte Carrivick Band make their way to the end of their set things are at fever pitch. Papa's on The House Top is a knee-slapping hoedown complete with fully rockin’ slapped double bass and then Krieger takes centre stage for a fiddle driven Train on the Island. His playing is breakneck but completely effortless, it glides across the tracks at dizzying speed. Davies and Carrivick race to keep pace and Cross is as languid as she's been all night. Phew!
Before the music began it was pointed out that the Queen of Country, Emmylou Harris, is in town tonight. Not that this has put off the Downend faithful. They are richly rewarded, too, by a fantastic support set from ERIKA OLSON, an American singer-songwriter by way of East Sussex. She's a bit indie-folk, a bit country, even a little bit of soulful testifying.
This is How I Pray is nature-green, Olson's earthy voice adding sass and sway, while Benefit of the Doubt strains with anger and frustration. It is here that her inner street preacher peeks out; social commentary as barely contained fury.
If there are comparisons to be made then, maybe, Bonnie Raitt is a good one. Olson's voice is strong, especially on the anthemic I Don't Feel Like Fighting, and tells stories with Raitt's authenticity and assuredness. We might not get Emmylou but no-one's complaining.
Charlotte Carrivick knew, of course, that if there's one thing that this music is, it's fun. This is music that crackles and leaps and does all of the good things. There's nothing like it.
Words: Gavin McNamara
Photos: Barry Savell
Photos: Barry Savell
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With a shared passion for modern bluegrass, THE CHARLOTTE CARRIVICK BAND brings together four of the most exciting musicians in the UK today. Charlotte Carrivick is a flatpicking guitarist of international renown, sought for her inventive lead playing and regarded as an expert fiddle tune interpreter on the guitar, and her band headlines Downend Folk & Roots’ May concert.
Joining Charlotte is long time collaborator and in-demand fiddler, Kieran Towers (Pet Yeti); master of tone and taste, Evan Davies (The Often Herd) on the mandolin; and the firm hand of fellow Midnight Skyracer member, bassist Eleanor Wilkie. Together, their music is at times joyous, poignant, dark, pensive or exuberant with virtuosic instrumentals and close harmony singing.
As a founding member of IBMA award nominated, Island Records signed bluegrass powerhouse band, Midnight Skyracer, and one half of the more folk infused and award winning duo The Carrivick Sisters, Charlotte’s taste covers the breadth of the genre as well as taking influence from old time and jazz. It was during the recording of her debut solo album Sensible or Otherwise, showcasing her guitar playing and tune writing, that the band was formed.
If you are lover of new acoustic music, bluegrass, old time and swing you won’t want to miss this band!
Opening the evening will be an artist heralded by Americana Highway as “a modern-day troubadour” with “impeccable musicianship and vocals.” ERIKA OLSON brings a distinctive blend of folk, Americana, and pop to the stage, forging a powerful connection with audiences through her intimate live performances.
Since releasing her acclaimed debut album This Is How I Pray (2023), Erika has earned recognition as a finalist in Holler’s inaugural songwriting competition, secured a coveted place in the Purbeck Rising Competition, and performed widely across the UK, Europe, and the US. With a voice likened to Everything But The Girl, Emmylou Harris, and Bonnie Raitt, and songwriting reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, Erika weaves deeply personal narratives into universal themes.
Tickets for the concert, which takes place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND on Friday 15 May 2026, are available online HERE. They are priced at £15 each in advance or £17 on the door. Doors open at 7.00pm and the music starts around 7.45pm. This event is also included in our Summer Season Ticket.
There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from Bristol’s HOP UNION BREWERY. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of Radstock-based THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert. There is a decent-sized car-park behind the Parish Hall/Medical Centre, and free on-street parking in the surrounding area. Parking on the church grounds is not permitted unless agreed in advance.
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