Almost exactly nine years ago Downend Folk & Roots peeked, slightly hesitantly, into the world. Back then it was Downend Folk Club but the first, proper, headline act was Bella Hardy fresh from winning The BBC Folk Singer of the Year award. She was astonishing that night and gave the Folk club a glow ofContinue reading “Bella Hardy – Downend Folk & Roots – June”
Tag Archives: Downend Folk Club
Jackie Oates & John Spiers – Downend Folk & Roots – December
Not all Christmas concerts have tinsel and fairy lights, not all have you rockin’ around a Christmas tree or wishin’ it could be Christmas every day. Not all are polished to a high sheen or come gift wrapped. Some Christmas concerts are dark and frosty, they are full of shadows and the glimmer of aContinue reading “Jackie Oates & John Spiers – Downend Folk & Roots – December”
Jacob & Drinkwater – Downend Folk & Roots – October 2022
Tonight was a night for duos, for friends, for partnerships. Tobias Ben Jacob and Lukas Drinkwater have been ’round these parts before but Filkin’s Drift – Chris Roberts and Seth Bye – are all new to most. Filkin’s Drift are as traditional a Folk duo as you can imagine. Two intense looking young men, clutchingContinue reading “Jacob & Drinkwater – Downend Folk & Roots – October 2022”
Road Not Taken – Downend Folk & Roots – September 2022
Tonight could have been a sad one. Leaving aside the queue addled, BBC stoked country wide grief there are other reasons for sadness. Bellowhead stalwart and Folk Club friend, Paul Sartin, tragically died on Wednesday leaving a delightfully clever, oddly amusing, oboe shaped hole in the world. This is also the last (for the timeContinue reading “Road Not Taken – Downend Folk & Roots – September 2022”
India Electric Co. – Downend Folk Club – June 2022
It was an evening for bare feet, bare arms and baring souls. It was an evening for smiling, cheering and enthusiastic seat dancing. It was, for the third time (and very, very much delayed) an evening of India Electric Co. at Downend Folk Club. And those are the best kind of evenings. If there’s oneContinue reading “India Electric Co. – Downend Folk Club – June 2022”
Cup O’ Joe – Downend Folk Club – May 2022
If there’s something lovely about the early summer sun then there’s something incredibly lovely about Bluegrass played in a church as that early summer sun washes across four amazing musicians. Without wishing to get all biblical, it seems like a blessing. Cup O’Joe aren’t your porch dwelling, grizzled old Bluegrass players huddled around a single microphone,Continue reading “Cup O’ Joe – Downend Folk Club – May 2022”
A Winter Union – December 2021
So here it is, a Downend Folk Christmas, and everybody’s starting to have fun. In this very strange end to a(nother) very strange year Christ Church is hung with lanterns, lights twinkle on various trees and familiar faces gather to sing and smile, to exchange greetings and catch up with end-of-year chat and to listenContinue reading “A Winter Union – December 2021”
Carrivick Sisters – November 2021
Before the show began the queue wound its way through the graveyard of Christ Church. A decent amount of people still masked and keeping a polite distance. One woman turned to another – “Have you read Where the Crawdads Sing” yet?”. The utterly delightful Carrivick Sisters hadn’t so much as plucked a string yet hereContinue reading “Carrivick Sisters – November 2021”
Sam Carter – October 2021
It must be nearly Harvest Festival time, mustn’t it? In Christ Church, just next to the altar, is an offering of food. A collection of gifts. A cornucopia. A bounty. This evening, just in front of that altar, is Sam Carter. Delivering gifts, laying out an overflowing cornucopia, bringing us his bounty of glorious songsContinue reading “Sam Carter – October 2021”
The Magpies – September 2021
If there’s one bird that folklore is full of it’s the Magpie. A bringer of good news in Korea, a symbol of happiness in China and the favoured transport for witches in Germany. They are supposed to have a drop of the devil’s blood on their tongues and are steeped in magic and intelligence. SomeContinue reading “The Magpies – September 2021”
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