Among the lineup of this year’s Broadstairs Folk Week are many Folk Radio favourites that are sure to help deliver a full-strength folk festival for 2022 (5 – 12 August 2022).
Amongst the top of my list from the lineup are English folk duo Spiers & Boden, who reunited this year and delivered one of the best folk albums of the year – Fallow Ground. While we had to wait thirteen years after the release of Vagabond, it was a triumphant return and, as stated in Billy Rough’s album review, at the album’s heart is the utter joy of two friends making music together.
While that reunion surprised many, there was a new group that was equally compelling. Anglo-Scottish quintet The Magpie Arc featuring Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson and Adam Holmes alongside multi-instrumentalist and producer Tom A. Wright and bassist Alex Hunter celebrated folk-rock across three tantalizing EPs…In Alex’s own words: “We’re not trying to reinvent the folk-rock “wheel”, we’re just sticking our own brand of tyres on it!!” They certainly managed to do that.
Another group that come with their own unique sound are Yorkston/Thorne /Khan. This trio goes back to 2011 when James Yorkston struck up a chance friendship with Suhail Yusuf Khan, a singer from New Dehli (who also happens to be one of the world’s highly acclaimed players of the Sangari, an Indian stringed instrument whose sound is said to resemble that of the human singing voice). The duo became a trio when Yorkston invited previous collaborator and jazz-trained double bassist Jon Thorne to join them. As Thomas Blake said in his review of their last album, 2020’s Navarasa : Nine Emotions – their influences are clearly visible, but the way those influences are put together creates a kind of music that is original, exciting and wholly unique.
A traditional music trio sure to get the blood pumping are John Doyle, John McCusker and Mike McGoldrick, who released their first studio album in 2018 – The Wishing Tree. From upbeat driving traditional and original tunes to their intuitive ensemble playing, this is a trio who know how to entertain a crowd.
In 2020, progressive folk outfit Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards delivered Bitter Better, underpinned by their love for dance. As Danny Neill said in his album review, their love for dance is something that positively bounces out from their music. They are full of life; even when contemplating its ups and downs, there’s an energy and vitality to the work.
Broadstairs Folk Week has put together a diverse lineup to satisfy many tastes. One group that offers variegated musical moods and songs is The Little Unsaid, the songwriting vehicle for South London-based John Elliott. His dark, searingly personal lyrics and skillfully-turned melodies have invited comparisons with Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell and Mike Scott. Elliott can, on the one hand, deliver a more hushed sound as he demonstrated recently on December Songs while on Lick The Future’s Lips, we saw the band at their most accomplished and varied, treating us to funky basslines, country waltzes, dreamy soundworlds worthy of Peter Gabriel and many unexpected points in between. If you want variety, they have it in spades.
A band that have been drawn back into the folk scene are Flook, whose 2019 comeback album Ancora made quite a splash. As Dave McNally said in his album review, Ancora picks up where Flook left off with Haven 14 years ago, delighting us, again, with their unique, exciting sound and their ever-inventive arrangements. Expectations more than fully met – simply a brilliant album. You just know you won’t be disappointed by such top-notch performers.
The ever-popular duo Megson will also be performing, alongside their originals, we may also get to hear some of their northern favourites as covered on their latest release ‘Unknown Waters’ which featured songs by Alan Hull, Jez Lowe, Richard Grainger, Vin Garbutt, Matt Chipchase & Young Rebel Set and Chris Rea.
There are some highly sought after headliners performing, including Lindisfarne, Show of Hands, The Spooky Men’s Chorale, Sharon Shannon, The Longest Johns, Tim Edey and the aforementioned Spiers & Boden, The Magpie Arc, who will all appear in the Concert Marquee at the Festival Arena, next to the town’s railway station.
There are a number of relatively new bands hitting the lineup, including Tarren, a new English folk project featuring Bristol-based artists Sid Goldsmith, Alex Garden and Danny Pedler. Jon Doran and The Northern Assembly features Jon alongside Heather Ferrier (Balter) and Jordan Aikin (Pons Aelius), the trio promise dynamic songs that combine exhilarating contemporary arrangements with the much-loved traditional performance of their lead man.
Then there is Mishra featuring Kate Griffin, a clawhammer banjo player, described by Dan Walsh as “one of the top players in the country” and Ford Collier, one half of The Drystones. In his review of their latest album Reclaim, Johnny Whalley declared they took his breath away, thanks to the band’s freshness and a lightness of touch. Their 2019 debut album, The Loft Tapes (reviewed here), was equally energising. In Johnny’s words: “Mishra’s music is enthralling and, like any adventurous music, capable of transporting your mind to new and exciting places.”
Luke Daniels will be joined by The Cobhers, featuring Charlie Stewart (fiddle), Scott Turnbull (guitar) and Michael Biggins (piano). I recently saw them performing a folkie version of the Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive’, so I’m sure this is going to be a fun set.
If you enjoy audience participation then make sure you catch Kakatsitsi, a group of traditional drummers, dancers and singers from the Ga tribe of Southern Ghana.
Another new project to emerge from lockdown was the duo Christina Alden and Alex Patterson, two-thirds of the Alden Patterson and Dashwood trio. They released their nature-inspired debut album, Hunter, in 2021, described on these pages as a beautifully realised collection of songs and tunes.
Broadstairs also tell us that after a drought of dance in 2021, there will be a full programme of dances and ceilidhs at the new dedicated venue in the town’s popular Sarah Thorne Theatre, featuring dance workshops in English Folk dance, Appalachian clogging, Cajun dance, and lunchtime and evening ceilidhs for all the family.
There are around 400 events crammed into one week – including workshops for all abilities in music, song – African dance, drumming and guitar, flamenco guitar, fiddle, melodeon, spoons and ukulele for all the family are just some of the subjects on offer. Young people can join in with the Band in a Weekend project – bring along an instrument or just your voice and create a band.
There are singarounds, poetry shares and sea shanties on the Jetty. Morris sides dance around town and down the High Street in the annual festival parade, which did not happen in 2021. The ever-popular official free pub gig programme takes place in pubs around the town. At the bandstand, the free Hobby Horse Club attracts hundreds of families who participate in games, singing and dancing with Clarence the Dragon and the festival mascots, the Hooden Horses.
The festival campsite is within walking distance of the town and venues, although there is a free minibus service into town too. It’s a great way of having a holiday by the beach with all the entertainment thrown in!
New in 2022 is a Folk Week Lite week’s adult ticket, which includes all events apart from the evening concerts in the Festival Arena. The weeklong festival ticket, which includes all events has an Early Bird offer which finishes on 31st March. General booking is open now.
Broadstairs Folk Weel runs from 5 – 12 August 2022. There are more details and online booking on the website at www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk.