We’re thrilled to reveal our programme for Spring/Summer 2024. It’s packed, even more than normal, with a great mix of the traditional and the contemporary, the established and the emerging… the very best that the UK folk scene has to offer.
We’re doing things slightly differently this time, as we have some very special plans for next year as we celebrate our tenth birthday, so there are SIX great concerts on this programme rather than the usual four.
We kick off after Christmas with KITTY MACFARLANE, who has been a big part of our ten year history, on Friday 19 January. Carried by a clear voice "controlled yet wild”, her lyrics touch on intervention and rewilding, climate change and migration, woman’s age-old relationship with textiles and the land, and the changing face of the natural world. Opening the evening will be rising star DETTA KENZIE.
SYKESMARTIN have been on our list for a long time, and we’ve finally got them coming on Friday 16 February. The duo is the new collaboration from two of the UK’s finest folk singers. Miranda Sykes (Show of Hands) and Hannah Martin (Edgelarks, Gigspanner Big Band) draw on the tradition to form a set of songs that celebrate the power of two voices singing in harmony. Joining them on the bill will be HOLLY CLARKE, who is really starting to make a name for herself.
We were due to welcome HANNAH JAMES & TOBY KUHN back in 2020, but youknowwhat got in the way. But we’re delighted to say the stars have finally aligned on the reschedule and they’ll be with us on Friday 15 March. Hannah and Toby met in Summer 2018 at Floating Castle festival in Slovenia and it was clear that these two musicians shared a common approach to music making and a real artistic chemistry. SEB STONE will be in support.
CHRISTINA ALDEN & ALEX PATTERSON are multi-instrumentalists and songwriters from East Anglia, and they’re our headliners on Friday 19 April. Their music is rich with intertwining harmony, sensitive accomplished musicianship and a creative song-writing style that is both delicate and moving. Deeply inspired by the world around them, they have a keen environmental eye to craft stories with the natural world at heart. Local stars THE LOST TRADES will open the evening.
GOOD HABITS made a big impression when they performed a support slot back in 2022… so much so that we immediately invited them back to headline on Friday 17 May. Being ‘happily stranded’ in New Zealand in 2020 launched the duo’s full-time musical adventure. Their award-winning, genre-fusion has received international critical acclaim and has been welcomed into the UK scene. They’re joined on the bill by Devon-based singer-songwriter BILLIE MAREE.
We round off our season with a duo who have been on our wish-list ever since we started… it’s incredible that it’s taken this long for it to happen! NANCY KERR & JAMES FAGAN are one of the best-known and most experienced folk duos on the British circuit today. They have thousands of fans and despite now having two children, they continue to work and tour constantly from their home base in Sheffield. Their duo shows are now special and sought-after events, so we’re delighted to be hosting one on Friday 21 June, when DAVID MITCHELL will get us underway.
All six concerts will take place at CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND. Seating is unreserved. The concerts are all priced at £14 in advance, £16 on the door, but you can also buy a season ticket for all six concerts for £75 (no booking fees), a saving of around £15 (a whole concert for free!). All tickets are non-refundable. They are available online HERE, and they will also be available from MELANIE’S KITCHEN in Downend ahead of each individual gig. Please note that Melanie's Kitchen can only take cash payments and season tickets are not available at the shop. There will be a full bar at all concerts, as well as a prize draw, all proceeds of which go towards booking our support artists. Doors open at 7.30pm for a 7.45pm start.
We're really excited about this season, and we hope you will be too. Keep supporting live music... and watch this space for some more news of exciting events next year. All will be revealed!
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