Performers

http://www.myspace.com/lewesfolkfestival

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Event No. 1	BLACK UMFOLOSI 5
	Black Umfolosi are an internationally acclaimed multi-discipline performing arts group specialising in harmonic acappella singing and traditional African dance, based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The original members have developed their skills and their organization to a point where the now 18 members provide a multitude of services in the performing arts industry in Zimbabwe and internationally. Compared to the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo of South Africa, Black Umfolosi, tour extensively from their homeland Zimbabwe to the UK, Australia, Asia, Europe, Canada and the USA. They have released a number of recordings that feature singing styles of Imbube, Mbaqanga and Township songs. Their dynamic live performances showcase the traditional dancing styles of the Southern African region as well as the more contemporary styles and movements they develop themselves.
	http://www.blackumfolosimusic.com/black_umfolosi_home.html

Event No. 3 Event No. 21	SHIRLEY COLLINS
	Shirley has become one of the really iconic figures of the folk revival…. and she lives in Lewes and has agreed to become the patron of the festival! Her great contribution to English folk songs includes decades of performing and some of the most highly rated and influential albums of English traditional song. She has been awarded the MBE, an Honorary Degree by the Open University and has been made president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Though, she no longer sings in public, her multimedia presentations have gained great popularity. “America Over The Water” has been performed over 100 times and has been seen in five countries.
	http://www.shirleycollins.co.uk/index.htm

Event No. 23	THE COPPER FAMILY
	The Copper Family of Rottingdean have been singing their songs for generations, lovingly preserving them for the future. "The course of the English folksong revival has been influenced by the Copper family of Rottingdean, Sussex, not once but three times. It was the singing of James 'Brasser' Copper and his brother Tom to Mrs Kate Lee in 1898 that inspired her to go back to London and found the Folk Song Society. The two old boys were made honorary members. "Then, in 1949, Brasser's son Jim Copper (below, with his son, Bob), heard one of 'his' songs being sung on the radio and he wrote and told the BBC that he could do better. It was that letter, and his subsequent appearance on Country Magazine, that convinced someone in the BBC or the English Folk Dance & Song Society that the traditions of these islands were still living, and a joint recording project, resulting in a very popular Sunday morning programme, As I Roved Out, was set up in the early Fifties. ". . . the unusual churchy harmonies of the Coppers . . . inspired people like Louis Killen and Frankie Armstrong, the Young Tradition and the Watersons, to try harmony singing, more in emulation than straight imitation." (From the notes to The Electric Muse compilation, Island/Transatlantic, 1975.) One thing about the Coppers that should be welcomed by those who have problems remembering lyrics: they have always sung from a leather-bound volume of their repertoire, which dates back to Brasser's day.
	http://www.thecopperfamily.com

Event No. 2	CHRIS WOOD
	Chris Wood started out as a choirboy and much of his music bears the influence of those years spent with the likes of Bach, Handel, Gibbons and Boyce: he describes the album Handmade Life as "church music with drums." Self-taught on guitar and violin, he is a lifelong autodidact -- and his independent streak shines through in his composition and studio work. Always direct and unafraid to speak his mind, his song writing has been praised for its surgical clarity. His work is typified by his trust in the space music can create and a gift for lyrical understatement. He cites his major influence as "Anon". Throughout his career independence has been balanced by collaboration. The artists he has worked with include Billy Bragg, Andy Gangadeen, Andy Cutting, Jean François Vrod and Hugh Lupton (Wood and Lupton's "One in a Million" won Best Original Song at the BBC 2 Folk Awards in 2006). Recently he has worked alongside Martin and Eliza Carthy and others in The Imagined Village: "Cold Haily Rainy Night", performed by Wood and Eliza Carthy, took the award for Best Traditional Song at the Folk Awards in 2008.
	http://www.chriswoodmusic.co.uk/

Event No. 5	SID KIPPER
	Sid Kipper is, depending on who you ask, "The folk world's comic genius", "Norfolk's redoubtable folk hero", and "A visionary/warbler from Trunch". He is the funniest man in Norfolk and the folk scene's finest humourist. Over the last decade or so Sid has developed into something of a one-man industry. He writes, records, broadcasts, tells stories, sings, acts, and plays a bewildering array of equally bewildering instruments. He has released seven albums, published five books, written and presented two series for Radio 2, and a podcast series for Channel 4 Radio. He even had a cameo role in the BBC TV production of David Copperfield. Above all, Sid is a live performer of the highest quality. He has a presence and a style which command attention. He owns a rich mix of stories and songs which entertain and delight audiences until they are willing to eat out of his hand (which he always washes beforehand). Now he has woven some of these into full-length shows which take audiences on a journey through space or time. It is the essential truthfulness which underlies all of the jokes, the flights of fancy, the improbable yarns and incredible songs. Perhaps his village wasn't really the first winner of the Worst Kept Village Competition. Perhaps Boadikippa, queen of the Iceni, isn't actually his ancestress. Perhaps Vaughan Williams didn't literally steal his folk song. But, while Sid is on stage, it was, she is, and he did.
	http://www.sidkipper.co.uk/

Event No. 17 Event No. 19	THE TWAGGER BAND
	Based in Sussex we play concertinas, dulcimers, bagpipes, whistles, psaltery, harmonium, recorders, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, serpent and crumhorn. There's a lute and a viola waiting in the wings, not to mention a hurdy gurdy and a digeridoo but I'm not sure they're allowed out yet!
	http://www.twaggerband.co.uk/The_Twagger_Band/Home.html

Event No. 6 Event No. 10 Event No. 15	GECKOES
	Geckoes are in the front rank of the bands on the English Ceilidh scene. Evolving out of the country dances of the British Isles, Europe and America, the style of dancing is typified by its exuberance and Geckoes' music has all the energy and style that it takes to fill a floor with hundreds of delighted - if somewhat sweaty - dancers. Geckoes are a favourite attraction at dance clubs and regularly bring their exciting music to major folk festivals including Sidmouth, Towersey, Warwick, Whitby... and many others. Andy Cheyne - bass guitars, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki and fiddle Andy Turner - anglo concertinas and one-row melodeon Caroline Ritson - fiddle Dave Parry - melodeons Tom Miller - electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards
	http://www.geckoes.co.uk/

Event No. 19	WILL HALL
	Will Hall has been around the folk scene for many years. He is a skilled and experienced caller for ceilidhs, and a wonderful MC.


Event No. 14	THE LONG HILL RAMBLERS
	If you're looking for a gimick, move along. All the Long Hill Ramblers have to offer is folk music: clear, beautiful vocals, rich harmonies, virtuoso musicianship, and a repertoire drawn from among the finest traditional songs on both sides of the Atlantic. Laura Hockenhull's voice must have been the best-kept secret in folk music over the last few years. Those in the know, including some of the most repected names in the business, have admired her work for the purity of her voice, and the strength of her interpretations. Now the secret is out. Tab Hunter on guitar, Ben Paley on fiddle and Dan Stewart on banjo and mandolin have each made international reputations for themselves as instrumentalists in all sorts of traditional music, in more bands than we can begin to list. They should need no introduction, but if you've missed out on them so far, well, that's what the internet's for! Reputation only gets you so far, though; what counts is the music, and that's why the Long Hill Ramblers are great: real music. No gimicks.
	http://www.longhillramblers.com/lhr_home

Event No. 6	ANDY TURNER
	Andy Turner fell in love with traditional music in the late seventies, and has been performing it ever since. He is a fine singer of traditional songs, and a leading exponent of the anglo-concertina. Andy is a member of Oxfordshire group Magpie Lane and the dance band Geckoes. He performs solo, and in a duo with fiddle-player Mat Green. He has also worked with Chris Wood, the Oyster Band and the Mellstock Band.
	http://www.magpielane.co.uk/andyturner/

Event No. 8	BEN PALEY
	Ben Paley has been playing the traditional music of Sweden, Ireland and the USA (as well as blues, jazz and rock of various kinds) since he was six, on the stages, screens and street corners of two continents. His book of Swedish traditional tunes is one of the classics of that music. As a fully professional musician, he has toured and recorded extensively with his famed father Tom, both as a duo and with Joe Locker as the New Deal String Band, the leading Old Timey band in Europe. He was a member of the prominent country/rock band, The Wild Turkey Brothers. In that band, he played alongside the guitarist, Tab Hunter, whom he still plays with regularly as a duo. He has been in considerable demand as a session musician and he has worked with Chris Wood, the Levellers, the Sawdoctors, Mandragora and Murray Lachlan Young, He has been called "The finest folk fiddler of his generation" by fROOTS magazine. He plays regularly with a wide range of musicians including with Sara Grey and Kieron Means, with Maggie Boyle and Duck Baker in The Expatriate Game, and most often locally eith in a duo with Tab Hunter or with the popular local folk dance band, The Sussex Pistols.
	http://www.benpaley.com/

Event No. 9	ROSIE DAVIS & KERRY FLETCHER
	KERRY FLETCHER is a traditional dancer of many styles, from waltzing to clogging. She is an experienced dance workshop leader and an accomplished performer. Currently, she co-choreographs and performs with: • JigJaw - a new band singing to dancing & dancing to singing, with Janet Russell, Rosie Davis & Frances Watt • Circa Compania - Karen Tweed's music & dance ensemble and guests with: • Daughters of Elvin - Katy Marchant's medieval music & masked dance theatre • Zoox as their foot percussionist ROSIE DAVIS Having studied ballet and tap dancing from an early age, when the folk scene took off in Liverpool she easily picked up Lancashire clog dancing. Some years later, living in London, she began singing and playing bass with the Tex-Mex band, the Armadillos, which included Tony Engle, Peta Webb, Alan Ward, Rick Townend and her brother Rod. Around this time she became interested in Appalachian clogging and her electrifying performances soon became a popular feature of the Armadillos’ sets. Kerry Fletcher and Rosie Davis are involved in running sessions featuring a lot of stepdancing at The Swan, Middle St, Falmer, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9PD. Musicians, singers and steppers are all welcome.
	http://www.scorpweb.co.uk/html/rosie_davis.html http://kerryfletcher.co.uk/

Event No. 11	DAN STEWART
	DAN STEWART comes from a musical family and started out playing recorder and guitar when he was seven. He graduated onto classical guitar before joining his fiddle playing sister, Sarah, performing Irish, Scottish, Greek and English folk music. He eventually took some Old Time banjo lessons with Barry Murphy and played with him in the Sussex band Old Faded Glory . In the Long Hill Ramblers, he plays mandolin as well as banjo. Dan still plays in a ceilidh band, Sussex Rampion alongside his sister another of his musical involvements is with Pete Cooper and Dave Arthur in the very popular Rattle On The Stovepipe. When not playing music Dan works as a Senior Analyst in the pharmaceutical industry.


Event No. 12 Event No. 14	DAN QUINN
	DAN QUINN Dan helped to form the seminal English country dance band Flowers and Frolics in 1976 and, with them, was resident as singer and musician at the Islington Folk Club at the Empress of Russia until the mid-eighties, enjoying Bob Davenport's eclectic booking policy. From the ashes of Flowers and Frolics arose the phoenix of Gas Mark 5, a band in which he played for five years before his re-settlement in Sussex. He continued to play with Ken Lees and Sue Bainbridge from the Islington folk club days as The Dan Quinn Trio and, with additions to the line-up, as The Dan Quintet. He now plays in the dance band The Watch and sings in a duo with Will Duke, specialising in unaccompanied unison singing. He has toured Sweden (with Gas Mark 5) and has performed at major British folk festivals from Shetland to Sidmouth. He also performs in the very popular trio, Duck Soup.
	http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rebe.cleveland/hebeweb.htm/Home_Page.html

Event No. 13	MATT TIGHE
	Matt Tighe, from Croydon, is this year's winner of the 18-and-under category in The London Fiddle Convention.


Event No. 13	NEW BROOM
	Stuart Walker, Jen Ranger & Chris Armstrong: traditional songs in captivating three-part harmony.


Event No. 14	TERRY MASTERSON
	Terry Masterson has been a giant of the Sussex folk scene for over three decades. It was back in 1963 that Scotsman Jack Whyte wrote to him in London to tell him that Brighton was "wide open" for folk music and before long the two of them had teamed up as a singing duo and organisers of some of the most successful clubs on the south coast.. Before long his solo career took off and he made live concert and radio appearances all over the British Isles. Mis spellbinding singing and unique interpretations of both traditional and contemporary songs soon had him in demand at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. He topped the bill at the first Broadstairs Festival in 1966 and headlined the Red Deer Festival in Alberta, Canada in 1970. After compering at the famous Keele Festival further acclaimed concert tours of both Canada and the USA followed. Terry's love of the oral tradition was heavily influenced from an early age by the storytelling of his Irish father and the song sessions at family gatherings. He was further immersed in the Irish tradition during the time he served with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the regiment later immortalised by Eric Bogle in his song The Green Fields Of France. These days, however, his repertoire also reflects a lifetime of travelling and absorption of musical influences from all over the world.


Event No. 5 Event No. 16	SPARE PARTS CONCERTINA BAND
	Spare Parts Concertina Band play British traditional music on three concertinas and fiddle, and sing in harmony. We also play some music hall and light classical music and anything else that takes our fancy.
	http://www.sparepartsband.co.uk/SPindex.php

Event No. 18	JOHNNY DOUGHTY
	Johnny Doughty By Mike Yates Johnny had been born in 1903 in Brighton, in a cottage now demolished, in Wellington Place, then the centre of the town’s fishing industry and most of his youth was spent among the older fishermen who, when not at sea, would congregate in the net-arches. “It was a rough area ... but good people, you understand. My grandmother brought me up mostly ... I can see her now. She used to take in washing and she’d be at her tub washing and singing all day. "Come my own one, come my fond one, come my dearest unto me", that was one that she loved. "Come all ye little Irish girls I would bid you all adieu", that was another, and Baltimore, ‘cept she wouldn’t sing me all the verses because they were too rude! Course, when I wasn’t at home, or school I was on the beach ... always on the beach. I almost lived there ... first at the cockle and whelk stalls, then helping empty the boats of their catches. I used to go up to the net arch - St Margaret’s Net Arch they called it, by the Palace Pier - and listen to the old sailors ... real sailors they were ... I learnt The Golden Vanity, Herring’s Heads and The Wreck of the Northfleet when I was just a nipper in the Arch ... and any number of scraps of songs ... Dick Turpin... Let Her Go Back, things like that, they’d hum them as they were net-mending ... and some of ‘em wouldn’t tell you the words for all the gold in China. What songs? they’d say when you asked ‘em what they were singing. They were buggers all right. But I liked em!” Johnny left school when he was 13 years old and spent the next two years herring catching until he joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor in 19l9. Leaving the Navy at the height of the Depression, he was unable to make a living fishing. So he spent six years working in the gashouse at Portslade before returning to sea. Johnny finally ended up in Rye with his two boats, the Ocean Reaper and the Helen Mary. He was living in Camber Sands when we met. I had seen him singing on a television documentary about the town of Rye and I shot down to the coast as quickly as I could to find him. It was a delight to be in his company and I was extremely happy to see him invited to numerous folk clubs and festivals all over the country. This show is based on a very long interview that Johnny did with Vic Smith in 1984


Event No. 20	SUSSEX HARMONY
	Sussex Harmony was founded in 1992 to research, reconstruct and perform the little known music of the English Church and Independent Chapel from 1700 to 1850, and its derivatives from New England and the Southern States - a tradition that continues with new music to the present day. They have brought their vibrant music to other choirs by arranging workshops for them. They now have longstanding friendships with choirs such as the Bexhill Methodists and Catsfield parish church. Both have invited them back several times and thoroughly enjoyed performing along side us, often dressing up for the occasion too
	http://sussexharmony.org.uk/

Event No. 10 Event No. 22	STUART REED
	Stuart started singing with Sussex band The Taverners in the 70s. They are still going strong and have recently released their 30th anniversary CD. These days he is better known as a solo performer and has recorded seven albums in his own right. He has made many appearances on BBC & ITV and was a regular on BBC Radio 2's Night Ride. He has played concerts, cabaret and clubs in many parts of the world and is well-known on the entertainment circuit in the south-east. Stuart has taken his huge repertoire of songs to club and concert venues all over the world. Whether unplugged with acoustic guitar, or with a full range of backing tracks, he continues to delight audiences with his outstanding vocals and easy charm.
	http://www.stureed.co.uk/