There's something very special about a Saturday afternoon spent watching live music. Everything just stops. All of the hassle, all of the heartache just melts away. This is the second of Downend Folk & Roots’ 'Live at Lunchtime' gigs and JACKIE OATES proves herself to be the perfect guest for a laid-back, inclusive, gentle hour (or so) of lovely folk music.
 
Best known for her own take on the English pastoral tradition, a string of brilliant collaborations, and a multitude of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Oates is a singer and fiddle player that has long had an affinity with children and songs of childhood. Which is a good thing, because there are plenty of little ones tottering and grooving about this afternoon.
 
 
These Saturday lunchtime concerts at Downend follow a simple pattern; there are two short sets, everyone is welcome, children can make noise, there’s squash and colouring (for young and old) and the whole thing is beautifully relaxed. Oates is as charming; as smiley, as welcoming as you could wish.
 
Starting at the piano with Isle of France, which she learned from the incomparable Nic Jones, she is warm and sweet. Her voice high and lovely, telling the tale of a shipwrecked convict, and human kindness. It is the perfect way to start, a welcoming embrace that is as beautiful as it is thoughtful. The piano lulls Dream Angus into a gentle lullaby and, later, issues a warning to Young Leonard on the dangers of going swimming. At all times, Oates is the delightful, and delighted, host; she chats and grins, tells stories and simply soothes.
 
 
She doesn't play the accordion very often but, in this relaxed atmosphere, uses her recently learned “three chords” wonderfully endearingly. There’s a false start here and there, an apologetic giggle, a quick check that she’s playing the right key but then there's a set of Christmas songs that are gorgeous. Bergers, Écoutez la Musique and As I Lay on Yoolis Night are both Breton carols, filled with the buzz and huff of an old, old fireside. You can almost taste the mulled cider. Both songs are taken from her forthcoming Christmas album, A Midwinter's Night, that she's made with Bellowhead's John Spiers.
 
Robin Tells of Winter is also snow-dusted, it is slow and gentle, her fiddle carefully plucked and her voice filled with a hot-water-bottle glow. The Sweet Nightingale is unaccompanied and “quite wiggly”, full of trills and curlicues. Both fill this room with smiles. 
 
Oates finishes where she started, back at the piano. May The Kindness, taken from her classic Hyperboreans album, is exactly what needs to be taken away from this afternoon. It's stunning, a warm-hearted encapsulation of everything that Downend are doing here.
 
Watching live music on a Saturday afternoon is, undoubtedly, brilliant. Jackie Oates makes it magical.
 
Words: Gavin McNamara
Photos: Barry Savell

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We are thrilled to welcome JACKIE OATES for the latest in our series of Live at Lunchtime concerts on Saturday 2 November.

These events are family-friendly and under-18s go free (accompanied by a paying adult). There will be a very relaxed atmosphere, and if children make some noise, that's fine! There will be activity and colouring sheets for younger children and a break-out room at the back for anyone that needs it, where there will be toys and a bit of space, with the audio of the gig piped into the room.

Jackie is a folk singer, songwriter, musician and teacher who lives with her young family in Oxfordshire. Those with little people in their lives may know that Jackie has sung and recorded fifteen traditional nursery rhymes for the Yoto music player for young children. And perhaps you have recognised Jackie’s vocal and instrumental contributions that feature widely in the CBeebies smash hit Nick Cope’s Popcast.

A central figure in English traditional music, Jackie is regarded as one of the country’s best loved folk performers. Her eighth solo studio album, Gracious Wings, took flight in September 2022, receiving acclaim from the music press both within and beyond the folk genre; “Her cover of On and On by indie band The Longpigs is a bit of genius, proving that a good song can be done in any musical genre or manner.” (Get Ready to Rock)

In the 14 years since her iconic coming of age album Hyperboreans, Jackie has continued to build her large and varied following, write her own material, include surprising covers into her albums and breathe new life into the traditional gems she unearths.

The concert itself is not specifically aimed at children, although is very family-friendly. These concerts are aimed at people who perhaps cannot make our usual Friday evening events, as well as our regular audience. And remember, if you already have a season ticket for Autumn/Winter 2024, you get this one for free!

The concert will be shorter than normal (just over  an hour with a short break halfway though) and there is no support. Doors open at midday and the music starts at 12.30pm. It will finish at around 1.45pm.

The event takes place at our usual CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND venue, tickets are £10 per adult (plus booking fees) and are available HERE, or, as usual, from MELANIE'S KITCHEN in Downend (cash only). U18s go free (when accompanied by an adult) but tickets should still be reserved. There will be tea, coffee and a small selection of soft drinks and THE GREAT CAKE COMPANY cakes available to purchase, and free squash for children, available from our bar. Please note that we will not be serving alcoholic drinks at these events. For further information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or find us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM or X.

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Churches can be chilly places, especially in October, with those high ceilings and stone floors being a bit unforgiving. Tonight, RACHAEL McSHANE & THE CARTOGRAPHERS banish any ideas of chillness, instead they fill Christ Church Downend with warmth and friendliness, a fuzzy feeling and a twinkle in the eye.
 
McShane, of course, is a member of the folk juggernaut Bellowhead, so she's about to take her many stringed things and leap on board for their November tour. With The Cartographers (Julian Sutton on melodeon and Ian Stephenson on guitar) things are a little less manic. She ditches her cello and just plays fiddle, does most of the singing and gathers people 'round to tell stories rather than have them pinging off of walls.
 
 
In fact, Green Broom is a celebration of staying in bed until noon and, as early as the first song, McShane wraps a blanket around us. Her voice is beautiful, sweet but with just enough of a rough edge, and her fiddle playing sublime. There's a lightness, an effortlessness that sends the tune skipping and skimming about. Sutton's melodeon and Stephenson's guitar gently turn up the heat, bubbling everything nicely.
 
Even on songs of rebellion, McShane exudes warmth. Cropper Lads is a song about machine-smashing luddites but The Cartographers set it to McShane's Full Belly and it becomes something glorious, something danceable. All three instruments gleeful, taking trad folk and giving a gentle shake until it smiles. On The Lady and The Sailor, a broadside ballad is given another brilliant tune that is so full that it almost bursts.
 
 
All of the sweetness and all of the fuzziness could be a little overwhelming but McShane has a twinkle in her eye and a devilish smile too. "Who doesn't want a bit of smut on a Friday night?", she wonders at the start of The Molecatcher. A witty and sly tale of the biter bit, it is deliciously jaunty with McShane’s voice beautifully juxtaposing the cheeky subject matter. In fact, there are a few songs where couples "take a tumble", The Cartographers revelling in the sauciness. Barley and Rye, taken from the 2018 album When All Is Still, sees a farmer's wife thoroughly enjoying life with a younger man while McShane and her boys make joyful mischief.
 
While most of the set is taken from When All Is Still, there are a few new ones, from a forthcoming album (March 2025). Young Roger Esquire and The Banks of Sweet Dundee are both great, all three musicians drawing that blanket a bit closer, keeping the darkness at bay. It is Get Up Jack that sees a full-voiced singalong though, sees Downend simply enjoying itself. McShane's fiddle is, once again, central to the fun, leading from the front, dancing as if floating. 
 
There are tunes too, tailor made for dancing. Waltzing at Giggleswick/The Ginger Cat Monster are both delightfully old/new. There's enough tradition to keep those that care happy but huge dollops of fun, for everyone else. The Dusty Jigs, too, are wonderfully bouncy; McShane, Sutton and Stephenson throw another log on the fire, warming every soul in the place.

 
The support act for the evening was JOHNNY CAMPBELL, a singer-songwriter from Leeds. Conscious of nature and the right to roam, Campbell is a protest singer of the old school. Telling tales, raising awareness and reminding us all of what is right with a voice that is as honest as it is decent. A Roving I Will Go is his next single and a proper toe-tapper.
 
This wasn't the first time that Rachael McShane and The Cartographers have visited Downend. As they warmed the hearts of the faithful, and provoked the odd grin, it's hard to believe that they won't return to banish the chill once again.
Words: Gavin McNamara
Photos: Barry Savell
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