Each year, Purbeck Valley Folk Festival tease their Facebook followers with clues before announcing another name for their highly-anticipated 2020 festival lineup. There are always a few surprises along the way as the curation is never predictable and there always seems to be something for everyone. A glance through the list of artists booked so far for the festival which runs from 20-23 August 2020 is enough to whet the musical appetite of our discerning followers.
One of the most exciting announcements so far has been the booking of The Magpie Arc, a new cross-border folk/rock band featuring Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson, Adam Holmes, Tom A Wright and Alex Hunter. We have premiered two videos from the band on Folk Radio who are recording their first album early next year, and this will be released to coincide with summer festivals and an autumn UK tour in 2020. Here they are performing Darling Charms.
Other names we are looking forward to seeing include a Scottish Supergroup reunion; Drever McCusker Woomble have not, to my knowledge, performed together for a while now. For those that missed them last time around they are fiddler John McCusker, singer-songwriter Kris Drever and Idlewild’s lead singer Roddy Woomble – need I say anymore? It’s great to see them back together again.
As well as The Magpie Arc there is another great new formation in the shape of multi-award-winning contemporary folk duo Jackie Oates and John Spiers who meld together their love of English traditional folk tunes and songs with their voices and acoustic instruments, resulting in a fresh sound that is uplifting, joyful and poignant. John and Jackie, already admiring of each others’ work, met through the vibrant folk scene of Oxford and its surrounding villages after Jackie moved to the area in 2011.
If you want a lively on-stage performance then you need look no further than The Demon Barbers XL whose no holds barred approach to their critically acclaimed live shows has become quite legendary on the folk circuit – where folk meets hip hop and Morris dancing meets street dance.
Equally capable of breaking many a dancefloor, the Elephant Sessions return to Purbeck following their roof-raising 2019 performance. Hailing from the Highlands of Scotland the band of been riding the crest of a wave who have picked up plenty of awards along the way including Album of the Year at the BBC Scotland Trad Awards in 2018 and BBC Scots Trad Award as Live Band of the Year 2019 and they were also the first awardees of Belhaven Brewery’s brand-new bursary fund.
BBC Folk Award’s Folk Singer of the Year, Rionnagh Connolly will be joining Purbeck with her duo The Breath, alongside Stuart McCallum.
Once again, The Breath have the power to ensnare you, and you’ll be able to think of nothing else. You have been warned. Neil McFadyen, Folk Radio
For all you dance lovers, make sure you catch the brilliant Topette!! who I can’t get enough of. Formed in 2014 by bass player Barn Stradling (of Blowzabella), the band also features ‘the intensely versatile squeezer Andy Cutting and bright, sparky Mawkin fiddler James Delarre, and a “French contingent” of Julien Cartonnet and Tania Buisse.’
…the pleasure its five members derive from playing together spreads like proverbial wildfire to its listeners with the result that Rhododendron is one of those rare instrumental – and dance-oriented – albums which gives virtually equal proportions of cerebral and visceral pleasure. David Kidman, Folk Radio
This mention also provides me with the perfect excuse to show this video…one of my all-time favourite tunes!
Another band that’s high on my list of “must see” is Salt House, all the more because they have a new album on the way which sees them solidify their reputation as fine interpreters of words both old and new. Huam, (scots n the call of an owl) is their third collection of songs, and the second pairing with producer Andy Bell, and will be released in March 2020 on Hudson Records so I’m looking forward to hearing that their new material.
“Music of this quality can’t be rushed; there’s a depth of understanding here that represents a lasting commitment to traditional music from all around the UK….a trio of exceptional talent” Neil McFadyen
There are plenty more names yet to be announced, names booked so far include Los de Abajo, Drever McCusker Woomble, Elephant Sessions, The Magpie Arc, The Demon Barbers XL, The Breath, Gadarene, Jackie Oates & John Spiers, Cut Capers, Monster Ceilidh Band, Salt House, Topette!!, We Afro Tallawah, India Electric Co., Antoine & Owena.
Grab your Early Bird tickets now: http://www.purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk/shop/tickets
http://www.purbeckvalleyfolkfestival.co.uk/