Coracle
http://www.myspace.com/CORACLETRIO

.Joint winners of the Rob Bader Trophy for ‘The Moment of Bude & Stratton Folk Festival 2009’, Coracle are a lively band from Somerset. Currently taking the folk world by storm with their energy, enthusiasm and brilliant musicianship, they play traditional music from mainly England and the UK, as well as some of their own compositions.

The Trio consists of Jon Dyer on Flute, Alex Cumming on Piano Accordion & Bouzouki, and Hannah Cumming on Fiddle.

Dyer:Cummings
http://www.myspace.com/dyercummings

Dyer:Cummings consists of Coracle (as above) with the addition of Penny Dyer on bassoon and oboe. Performing as Dyer:Cummings they are a young, exciting Ceilidh band playing traditional English music with a funky twist.
In 2009 they came 2nd in the Glastonbury Battle of the Bands and were finalists in the national competition ‘New Roots’.

Hamish Currie
http://www.myspace.com/hamishcurrie

"He has a superb style of presentation and a wonderful way with words that makes you hang upon every line he sings." - - St. Valentine's Folk Festival

"Accomplished showman Hamish Currie gave a lively and highly entertaining performance. He developed terrific rapport with his audience through wit, charm and cleverly chosen and superbly delivered material." - - South Lakes Music Promotions, Ulverston

No Fixed Abode
 http://www.freewebs.com/musicnfa/biog.htm

No Fixed Abode are fronted by Una Walsh singing in her own lilting Irish accent and Tony Dean supporting on acoustic guitar. Based in Derbyshire No Fixed Abode have traveled all across the UK over the last three years building up a solid reputation performing at festivals and acoustic clubs. Their new album Clearwater, due for release 10th April 2007 is an eclectic mix of songs ranging from the pure voice/guitar arrangement of Call Me to a full folk rock sound of School Days with emotional stops all along the way. US radio stations have already spotted the potential of the album and are regularly featuring songs from the album on their play lists.The album features a number of local musicians including Ashley Hutchins of Fairport Convention fame on bass and the violin virtuoso Patrick Walker from Sheffield. To define a musical style for No Fixed Abode is as difficult as getting a politician to give a straight answer to a question, try Joni Mitchell meeting Bruce Springsteen and having a jam after a bottle or two of wine. If you like your music to have a melody with lyrics you can hear and sung in tune then perhaps this is the best definition you are going to get.

The name No Fixed Abode stems from the fact that Una comes from Ireland and Tony comes from Manchester and they live in Derbyshire, it also reflects their musical style, eclectic.At this point it is usual to boast of achievements, all too often the build up leads to a disappointment. No Fixed Abode have an old fashioned idea not currently popular that the proof is in the listening so they have made three tracks available to listen to at www.myspace,com/musicnfa You can also see a video of them performing an acoustic version of there song Absent Friends. If you are not on the web they will send you a four track demo free! In this current climate of safe jaded music take the time to give No Fixed Abode a listen and refresh your belief in real music.

Brian & Jacqui Ross

Jacqui and Brian have drawn on a great pool of information and their mutual interest in history and music to research and create ‘Tyrants and Traitors’. The show is performed in the style of a radio play with a live audience using the American Civil War as a backdrop that binds together the songs, personal stories, photographs and drawings of the era. ‘Tyrants and Traitors’ tells a tale that is in turn comic and tragic, yet always fascinating, entertaining and informative.
Click here for more information on ‘Tyrants and Traitors’

Friggin’ Riggin’

http://www.budelifeboat.co.uk

  Bude’s Lifeboat Crew, grand job though they do are famed for more than just rescuing those on the sea, they have managed to raise vast amounts of money playing all over the westcountry for the RNLI . Their repertoire is mainly Irish, Cornish and songs of the sea and they are a popular local act, drawing regular crowds at The Falcon Inn, where the band’s lead guitarist is also landlord.

Grimspound Border Morris
http://www.grimspound.org.uk/
 

Grimspound is an ancient hut circle on a western facing slope on Dartmoor, a wild and barren area of moorland in Devon, England. The atmosphere of the place has inspired this team of morris dancers to try to re-create the way things could have been for the people who lived there in terms of their rituals and their approach to life. The morris dance team was formed in 1994 from a group of ex-Cotswold-style dancers and a few friends, some of whom were also Rapper Sword dancers. Right from the outset they all set out to dance with vigour and in an uncompromising “border” style that celebrates “maleness”. They are not from the Welsh/English border area and so many of their dances are now their own, using figures and movements from that style to create something that is unique to them.

Moe Keast

Moe is a true tradition Bearer, from Bodmin, Cornwall, from a family steeped in the traditions of Cornish Life. Moe sings songs in both Cornish and English and tells tall (or perhaps that should be short!) stories, with an engaging twinkle in her eye fit to capture anyone’s imagination. Moe is proud to have been made a bard of the Gorsedd of Cornwall and has represented Cornwall at various Pan Celtic festivals and competitions with great success.

Andrew McKay & Carole Etherton

http://www.cranedrivinmusic.com/

Andrew McKay and Carole Etherton are singers and musicians, currently living near Swansea in South Wales, UK. Andrew is also making a name for himself as a songwriter, drawing inspiration from historical tales of Swansea, its industry and maritime traditions. Increasingly, his songs (new songs of old times) are being taken up and recorded by other singers. They sing mainly traditional-style songs either with or without concertina accompaniment. Also recently-composed songs, which sound like they're traditional, some of which they write themselves. They also sing a selection of Music hall songs.

Mike O’Connor
http://www.lyngham.co.uk/mike_oconnor.html

Soloist: Mike is a prizewinning competition fiddle player, with a stimulating style & refreshing lightness of touch. His tunes are in print in 'Piran's Welcome'
 Accompanist: Over the years Mike has gained an enviable reputation as a sensitive and responsive accompanist for Sarah Morgan, Johnny Collins, the Dunns, Jake Walton, Anne Lister & Martyn Wyndham-Read
Stories: Mike tells spell-binding stories, many with fiddle accompaniment for both adult & schools audiences. He is one of the few in the land capable of delivering epic tales and sagas.
Songs: Mike's vivid songs are recorded & sung by artists such as Martyn Wyndham-Read, Johnny Collins, Kathy Wallis, Mike Nicholson, Sarah Morgan and many more. Mike produced and directed the iconic folk operas 'The Cry of Tin' & 'Unsung Heroes'
Workshops: Mike gives workshops at festivals, & in schools & community groups.
Research: Mike is the leading researcher of Cornish instrumental music.

Barbara Griggs

Barbara is a Bude Folk regular and has recently teamed up with Mike O’Connor, creating some wonderful sounds on Harp and violin. Her playing is sensitive and intuitive and if you aren’t spellbound by the music, you’ll be enchanted by her shy smile.

George Wilson
http://www.focsle.org.uk/SCoFF/georgewilson/

Known around the Portsmouth and Southampton areas since the heady days of leaving the Navy after 24 years (he joined at 15), George has become a familiar figure as Concert MC and performer at Fareham and Gosport, Winchester and Broadstairs Folk Festivals. With a steady succession of gigs to his credit, both solo and in duos like Blo Na Gale (with Keith Holloway) and the Phatt B’Stards (with Geoff Higginbottom), George Wilson is a highly entertaining and talented singer/guitarist. Welcome back after missing last year, we look forward to more of ‘Stopper’ Wilson’s inimitable talent in 2009.





 

Wolf’s Head and Vixen Border Morris
http://www.myspace.com/wolfsheadandvixen

Since 1995 they have appeared all over the UK at Folk Festivals, Arts Festivals, Village/School Fetes, Local community events, Weddings, Pagan/New Age conferences and will consider all invites big, small, conventional, or just plain WiErD.

As a result of this policy they have been able to perform in on or near everything from STONEHENGE to TELEVISION.
 

Shake a Leg

Shake a Leg are eight of North Devon’s best singers who all share a love of songs-of-the-sea coupled with their love of entertaining. Shake a Leg are a refreshing change from other similar groups by being four men and four women with the women’s voices equalling the men’s.
All of them solo performers in their own right their strong lead voices set against lovely harmonies and unusual arrangements led a member of the audience at Falmouth Shanty Festival to say, “You are different from the other groups, you make the hairs on the back of my neck stand-up." Although shanties and work-songs form a strong part of their repertoire entertainment and variety are at the heart of a Shake a Leg concert with maritime songs and stories, humour and harmony, contemporary and musical-hall songs rubbing alongside the more traditional material.
If you fancy some of that, and want to know where their name comes from - you will just have to hear them to find out!

Peter Collins

   To hear a good song well sung by a singer whose persona is suited not only to the subject of the song, but also to the quintessential mood it is intended to induce, is a joy worth waiting for. And wait one has to, to meet, or come anywhere near meeting all those qualities wrapped up in one harmonious bundle.
It is a rare experience and we who travel the folk scene, all too often have had to suffer weedy youths pip-squeaking about brawny-armed blacksmiths; demure damsels honey-toning about a gory battle at sea; and even some poor, old near-nonagenarian quavering on about the love he left behind him "down by the banks of the sweet prim-i-roses". It must have been an unconscionable time ago.
       In fifty odd years of folk experience the most outstanding instance I have met of a singer meeting all these demands, is Peter Collins. To hear him render (the word "sing" is not powerful enough) the unforgettable drinking song, "Old Peculier",*  is to hear the reverberating echoes of drinkers down the years, rising up from the vaulted depths of the beer cellars of the earth itself. His huge frame, his generous beard, the depth, warmth and true tonal quality of his voice and the knowing twinkle in his eye all express the attitude of a man devoted to the ancient cause of beer-drinking and all it stands for.
Peter sings songs on other themes, of course, but always with that unshakable note of conviction that he knows what he is singing about and believes it to be true. A compelling performer if ever there was one.

Bob Copper, 2003.
   *or any other drinking song.

Les Sullivan

Les came to folk music in 1990 attending singarounds after which he decided to start composing his own songs. He tells the story himself "every time I went to a singaround someone would stand up and sing the song I had been rehearsing over the last few days so I decided to write my own”. Now, unfortunately, this has backfired as people stand up and sing his songs, many of them unaware that Les wrote them. He has twice been the winner of Maidenhead Folk Club Song Writing Competition and Mudcat Best Non-Commercial CD 2005.

Pat Smith & Ned Clamp
http://www.myspace.com/patsmithnedclamp

Before becoming firmly established on the Welsh music scene, Pat started playing on the linoleum at an early age. A brief period with seminal band Swansea Jack led to a 25 year career as half of Calennig, recording many albums, and taking traditional Welsh music to the four corners of Llantrisant, and subsequently all over the world. Pat calls and plays with the Calennig Big Band for twmpathau (Welsh ceilidhs). She is a virtuoso on the spoons, and her workshops, both in spoons and Welsh dance, are informative and highly entertaining.
Ned: vocals, guitar, harmonica, occasional mandolin, jew's harp and kazoo.
Ned moved to Wales from the Celtic fringes of Surrey in the 70s and couldn't find his way back. A stalwart of the south Wales folk scene for over 25 years, playing, singing, calling, promoting, some say he's been a bit of an anchor. Ned has played in various bands over the years including Juice of Barley, the influential ragtime duo Hamstrung Bones, and lately, in country roots duo Resonator, and his own occasional big band The Eduardo Clampini Allstars.
Together, we perform fascinating songs and tunes, old and new, from wherever we can steal them, "blending gentle harmonies with top-drawer musicianship".

Cat’s Eye Morris
http://www.catseyemorris.co.uk/index.html

Cat’s Eye dance their own kind of morris.  It’s Border style, but with a difference... hence the unusual kit! Not a tattercoat  in sight.
They are based in south-east Cornwall. They started dancing out in May 2006, and in their first two seasons danced mainly  at festivals all over the country. For 2008, they decided to do more dancing closer to home, and they have had some great evenings dancing at pubs with some of the other morris sides in the area.

Black Galleon
http://www.myspace.com/blackgalleonmusic

BLACK GALLEON are, an Acoustic Celtic Rock band from North Cornwall writing original songs about life and human issues.
Using their musical influences, which range from Celtic to Rock music, their songs are an eclectic mix, covering subjects such as love, time and getting old.
With the various musical backgrounds of its members and by using different instrument voicing along with vocal harmonies, their songs are sure to take you on a musical journey.

Crows Feet

Mike Jurkiewicz(vocals, guitar and banjo) and Keven Taylor(vocals, guitar and mandolin) met at Bude Folk Club, and have become a popular duo locally, bound to get your toes tapping with their bluegrassy feel.

Ukelele Workshop

"Ukethrash" with Hamish Currie: Blasting through lots of folk and some pop songs in a structured way such that the first few songs are two and three chord songs and building up over the course of the hour to modestly complicated ones. Things  like Molly Malone and Buddy Holly's Every Day. An absolute hoot: great fun and ukeleles are so cheap to buy, get yours in advance and come and have some fun!

Concertina Workshop

Concertina Workshops with WCCP - always popular at Bude, instruments available.

Bodhran Workshop

With Kevin Burrow - another popular workshop. bring your own, or use one of Kevin’s spares....he has a few for absolute beginners

Violin workshop

With Mike O'Connor.

Anita Foley

Anita lives in Cornwall. She came to Bude Folk festival as a paying guest in 2008 and wowed us so much in a sing around that we keep inviting her back as an artist to ensure more people get the chance to enjoy her beautiful singing. Don’t miss her!

Jon Heslop

JON is one of folk music's leading songwriters, producing works of quality and craftsmanship. Not only is he a writer of some considerable skill, often controversial and always hard hitting, but his songs reflect his humanity and compassion in words of powerful beauty set to deceptively easy to listen to tunes, firmly rooted in the traditions of the British Isles.

Mary McKay

Mary is a fine guitarist, with a wonderful voice, another regular at Bude Folk Club. you will see why Bude Folk is getting such a great reputation when you hear her beautiful voice.

Suntrap

Suntrap are Sarah Byers (voice, accordion, guitar, whistles, bodhran), Paul Hoad (voice, guitar, harmonica), Mary Wilson (voice, violin) and Debbie Chalmers (voice, fiddle). Together they perform a mesmerizing array of music including their own material and the best of the traditional and contemporary folk repertoire. Songwriters Sara and Paul create original, innovative works drawing on English song tradition and American Folk & Country.

Phil Williams & Sarah Deere-Jones
http://www.trehawsa.com/acousticconcerts.htm
http://www.cornwallharpcentre.co.uk/

Haunting songs and dazzling instrumentals from across Celtic Britain and England played on Celtic Harp, Wire-strung harp, cittern, concertinas and Northumbrian pipes.Including Sarah's  highly acclaimed original compositions inspired by the landscape of Britain, all  served up with a generous helping of dry humour!
Sarah runs The Cornwall Harp Centre in the village of Whitstone, just outside  Bude and Phil has just started marketing the Gazuki - a hybrid Guitar / bazouki  which has a really lovely sound. He will be running a Gazuki workshop at the festival so you can have a try on one of his lovely instruments.

Knot a Clew

A new shanty side, consisting of Kevin and Lucy Burrow, Brian and Jacqui Ross, and Andrew McKay and Carole Etherton. Bringing their own unique styles together to present songs of the sea and shore, this is possibly the only shanty crew in existence that rehearses by fax!

Barrie & Ingrid Temple

"Like friends singing to friends" - Paul Ryan, Black Diamond Folk Club

"Wonderful ... like chatting and singing to you as a personnel friend" - John Bentham, Tiger Folk Club

"A breath of fresh air ... wonderful, just wonderful" - George Papavgeris

"Not just good singers, but good friends as well" -  The Wilson Family

Barrie and Ingrid are harmony singers from Newcastle upon Tyne. Although they sing mostly unaccompanied, Barrie also adds concertina  or guitar accompaniment to some of their songs. They have been singing together  for nearly 40 years and have performed throughout the UK and abroad, at folk clubs and festivals. Their singing is mainly traditional with both serious and humorous content. They also perform lots of Barrie’s own songs, which are  written in the traditional style. They are well respected for their unique style of close harmony singing and their original arrangements. Barrie’s own songs are now being sung and recorded by other folk performers, both here and abroad.  

The Bedlam Boys
"Original, witty and fast paced, The Bedlam Boys have an infectious raw energy and stage presence that truly carries their innovative take on the traditional  songs of the United Kingdom.

Bude Folk Festival will be the second  Cornish festival for the two boys from Kent, after Lucy and Kevin met them at  last year's Wadebridge festival (in the pub, predictably!) and invited them along.

Their first album (Maudlin Tunes), collected and put together on a pub crawl from Canterbury to Padstow is out now, and although they don't make  the big money, their mothers are quite proud. Which is the main thing, after  all."

More to come...