Born in Dungiven in 1975, surrounded and infused with the rich cultural heritage of her native County Derry, Cara has risen to become one of the finest exponents of traditional Irish song anywhere in the world. Together with her husband and musical partner, Sam Lakeman, she has succesfully steered an eclectic musical path defying the typical pigeonholes that hinder most artists in her genre. Celebrated for entwining traditional and contemporary elements she has earned both commercial success and astonishing critical acclaim. Whether she's singing her native traditional songs of lost love and emigration, or original compositions, you will be hard pressed to find a more emotive and captivating performer. Cara Dillon is at the very top of her field and one has the feeling she'll remain there for a very long time.

Legendary in the world of Gypsy Jazz, Robin Nolan is known as one of the most respected guitarists since Django Reinhardt. He's headlined every major Django Fest across the globe taking in multiple awards and a loyal following of guitar lovers. He's graced the stages of Montreux, North Sea Jazz, the Royal Albert Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center. George Harrison called him a favourite, Bill Wyman had him in his band, and Hank Marvin has frequently joined him live on stage.

Nick Harper is one the UK's best kept musical secrets. Those who have witnessed the spellbinding, one-man show will tell you this. A childhood growing up surrounded by the musical prowess of some of the 60's most revered songwriters & musicians, not to mention being son of Roy Harper, along with 20 years of crafting songs & touring the land has spawned a truly one-off, original guitarist & songwriter who stands alone as a UK great, to be cherished & revered. For over two decades, he has been dazzling audiences, reviewers & fellow artists alike with his heady mix of virtuosity, boyish charm, showmanship & sheer bravado. An imagination bursting with ideas has seen Nick release 11 solo albums to critical acclaim, earning a Number 1 spot in the charts with the seminal hit 'Blue Sky Thinking'.

Holly Clarke, a singer who draws from the old ballads and stories, conjures a performance that immediately captivates any listener. As a performer, Holly transports the listener into the heart of ballads, immersing them in the narratives that have shaped humanities experience through time. From songs of the supernatural and folklore, to the tales of love and loss, Holly Clarke sings with an infectious energy and passion for traditional song. Rising in popularity among folk audiences and performing with the likes of Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Daoiri Farrell and Queer Folk, Holly Clarke has made a name for herself as a powerful singer and accomplished guitar player. Performing at festivals and venues such as The Glasshouse International Centre For Music, Sidmouth Folk Festival, Bromyard Folk Festival, Tiree Music Festival, The Fire Station Sunderland and many, many more.

The fourth concert in the Festival of World Music is a celebration of the sounds of the Middle East. We welcome the Bristol-based duo Eastern Strings of Daphna Sadeh-Neu (double bass) and Knud Stüwe (oud) for their first performance at the Old Chapel. Their instrumental music is distinctive and exquisite, drawing together a tapestry of musical culture from across the Middle East and their performances combine world music energy with classical precision and characterful improvisations. They will be joined by special guest, zcan Ate, vocalist and master of the ear-catching traditional balama, a seven-stringed, long-necked lute central to Turkish and Kurdish folk traditions. His playing is intense and musically enriching and his vocals are lyrical, emotional and poignant. The trio's performances of an eclectic mix of Kurdish, Turkish, Ladino and Middle Eastern traditional songs and music have been described as visceral, evocative and full of surprise. Immerse yourself in these sumptuous worldly musical delights expertly plucked and sung by the ensemble in this, the finale of Calstock Arts journey around Our Music Planet.

A presentation of harp music with deep local roots and sparkling international connections. Professional harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry will present and talk about pieces composed by one of Teignmouth’s most famous 19th-century sons. Parish Alvars was born in Teignmouth in 1808 and enjoyed a great international career. His innovatory harp technique was admired by such iconic figures as Liszt, Mendelssohn, Berlioz and many others. Come and be sparkled!!

The Lantivet Duo is Cornish violinist Anna Brigham and Scottish pianist Brendan Musk. They bring a fresh, contemporary approach to the violin and piano duo, combining excellence in performing traditional repertoire with writing their own music. At the heart of their collaboration is the desire to explore. Their roots in classical, folk, jazz, pop and funk music combined with boundless creativity have earned them critical acclaim, with Classic FM hailing them as "one of the best things to see." Together, they captivate audiences with a spellbinding blend of traditional and original pieces. Their exceptional programming is completely unique and has been described as "genuinely original and exploratory". The duo take a concept or a classical work and explode it outwards, exploring deep into what inspired the composer and using it as inspiration for their own music. Contemporary folk traditions, family life, environment, personal obsessions - there are so many influences in any composer's work. Using this as a jumping off point, the duo write their own music and arrange traditional folk tunes, which when paired with the classical work, reflects back to create a deeper, richer experience of the piece.

Mark and Loz are circus performers. But circus is REALLY hard. FailFailFailFailWin! is a show about not hiding all the "try"s you did that failed. Uplifting, nurturing and agelessly relevant. Join the adventure and explore what happens inside Loz's brain when she does a big FAIL. Meet a cast of characters on Loz's quest: the unkillable Rasputin - naughty nudger and negging enthusiast, oh and of course Sven Svenstoferson, Sweden's greatest astronaut. Featuring such fails and possibly wins in the mediums of diabolo, juggling, hulahoop, and an attempt to spin 8 real VERDAGEN ikea plates, retail value £2 each. Age guide: great for 3-10 year olds. Unsuitable for specifically 15 year olds that don't want to come. And we're strict on that!

Isla Croll is an emerging singer/songwriter whose attention-grabbing fusion of genres offers the audience her special brand of music. Isla is currently studying BMus (Hons) Music - Jazz Vocal at Royal Welsh Collage of Music and Drama Conservatoire (https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/). Her early love of music was natured in the Hampshire County Youth Jazz Centre, at the local Locks Heath/Warsash schools and then at Barton Peveril studying Popular Music and Jazz. Isla is an emerging Jazz, R&B and Pop singer / songwriter whose attention-grabbing fusion of genres offers the audience her special brand of music. Her soulful voice is clear, highly emotive and athletic. As a recording artist, her wish is for people to connect with her songs messages and to feel something. Her music has been regularly featured on Radio and she has had the honour of performing on a BBC Introducing Stage. She looks forward to collaborating more with other artists in the industry and sharing more music with you

Connolly Hayes the electrifying UK Blues Awards 2025 nominees for UK Band of the Year and Album of the Year are turning heads internationally with their unforgettable fusion of blues, rock, and soul. This powerhouse group features five long-time friends Jess Hayes, Frankie Connolly, Beau Barnard, Joe Mac, and Andy Wilder. Their debut album, Remember Me, released in the summer of 2024, was an instant hit, earning Pick of the Month honours from the Independent Blues Broadcasters Association. Just months later, they followed up with Live at Echo Zoo Studios, an EP that's already capturing attention. But the best is yet to come the band is currently hard at work on their highly anticipated second album, set for release in 2026.

Even if you've never heard of American jazz guitarist B.D. Lenz it's very possible you've heard his music before - it's been featured on hundreds of TV shows around the globe. He's released thirteen recordings of his unique brand of funky jazz that fuses virtuoso musicianship with expert songwriting. Joining B.D. will be James Rosocha (bass) and Joe Falcey (drums). Together, this trio will keep you surprised with their eclectic mix of jazz standards, original jams, and pop classics

Nos Lowen is a style of Cornish social dancing with its roots firmly in traditional Celtic music. Nos Lowen is Cornish for "Happy Night" Why not join us at Calstock Arts in welcoming the Kelliwik Golowi Band and get ready for an unforgettable night of music and dance with a proper Cornish knees up, full of energy, laughter and community spirit. This event is a Gallery Bar Special with a bucket collection, all proceeds to Callington Youth Project Group.

Alan Dall and the Sea of Stories is an exciting new show from Mike OConnor and Barbara Griggs. It comprises dramatic tales from Celtic Lands, told in words and music, with harp, violin and concertina. Mike and Barbara are not only great storytellers and musicians, they are also both accomplished offshore sailors. In this show, their tales are set on the sea, in the sea, and beside the sea. They are rich with insight. They are engaging, exciting, moving and amusing. The audience is taken on a voyage of adventure, drama and magic, but they are always brought safely home. Since the Bronze Age, bards have declaimed battle honours, genealogies, histories and stories, both to entertain and also to endorse the positions of their rulers. By camp fires and hearths, families told tales to entertain and to educate both adults and children. As late as the nineteenth century, travelling storytellers in Cornwall told tales in return for bed and board. Mike OConnor OBE is a well known storyteller, with a deep knowledge of legend and folk tale, and a great skill with language. A bard of Gorsedh Kernow, he is respected as a violinist, song writer and musicologist, and is known to many for his music for Poldark. Barbara Griggs is a skilled and sensitive musician and a fine storyteller. She too is a bard as well as being a Gorsedh harpist. Her music has been described as having breath-taking beauty. She is the expert on costume and custom, and with Mike, has worked to integrate words, sound effects and music to high praise. Mike and Barbara's Return to Lyonesse won a British Award for Storytelling Excellence and Odysseus Dreaming was an acclaimed retelling of Homer. The show lasts 90 minutes, with two 45-minute halves. It is family friendly and best suited to children of 12 and over.

Mae Karthauser brings her latest band to sing the songs of Joni Mitchell including the songs from the seminal album Blue. Mae and her fellow musicians put together a one off Joni Mitchell Blue tribute at the Barrel House in Totnes, were floored by the response and have now had 3 sell out gigs in Devon performing the songs. Mae is a Devon based singer/songwriter who has toured Europe extensively. She has featured on both Radio 3 and Radio 6 and performed live on the BBC's One Show. One of the most moving gigs, if not the most moving gig I have ever attended Tracie Gillies, Programme Director, The Barrel House, Totnes.

Cole Stacey is a visceral and lyrical songwriter, singer and musician whose versatility as a performer has taken him from The Royal Albert Hall to a 14th century castle in Gdansk, from Manchester Central Library to The Westfalenhalle Arena, from festivals in Johannesburg to live sessions on BBC Radio 5 Live. With more than a decade-long association with Midge Ure and India Electric Company he has roamed the highest echelons of British folk through to 80s synth pop.

A night of stories and poetry with Robin Ince, author of Bibliomaniac and NormallyWeird & Weirdly Normal, twice winner of author of the year from the bookseller's association, winner of Celebrity Mastermind and house of Games, and for 16 years the host of The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4. In the words of Stewart Lee, Robin is like a piece of a Jenga puzzle - pull him out and a lot of things would collapse. Without Robin, comedy would be a very different shape and a generation is grateful. Robin Ince is many things. A multi award winning comedian, author, broadcaster, bibliomaniac and a populariser of scientific ideas. He is perhaps best known as the former co-host and co-creator of the Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. As a stand up Robin has toured the world and as an author he has written four acclaimed books, including Bibliomaniac, earned him the prestigious Booksellers Association Author of the Year award. His fifth, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal was published in May 2025. He co-created the Cosmic Shambles Network and created the groundbreaking science variety night Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People which has been adapted worldwide. He has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway College (University of London), and is a fellow of the British Science Association

Cornwall-based chamber choir, Levowan XII was established in 2015 by Director, Marcus Alleyne. Originally eight voices put together to perform a live carol concert for local radio, they are now 12, all of whom have a strong musical background and bring a broad range of experience and versatility. The choir performs three main concerts per year and also collaborates with other music ensembles at a variety of events in Devon and Cornwall. Delivering a vast repertoire covering almost any genre, including major works, they perform both a cappella and accompanied by piano, organ or chamber orchestra. Levowan XII also has firm links with both British and international composers and arrangers and has premiered several pieces of their work here in the UK. A highlight has been to perform alongside the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines Accompanied by Mark Smith. Mark studied piano and organ at Trinity College of Music, London, and worked as a professional accompanist in the South East before moving to Cornwall 12 years ago. He now shares his work time between gardening and accompanying. In any free time, Mark enjoys growing organic veg, walking, foraging and yet more music making Listen to Levowan here: https://levowan.co.uk/have-a-listen

Tarren is an ambassador for New-Folk; music that is fresh and dynamic, rooted in the English tradition. Original and traditional material is expertly arranged by this trio of musicians, who are creating music that moves and excites people. By incorporating modular hooks and minimalist forms, Tarren is leading folk music to a new place, while keeping the pulse of traditional dance at its heart. Tarren is made up of Bristol-based artists Sid Goldsmith (Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, Awake Arise), Alex Garden (The Drystones, Harriet Riley & Alex Garden) and Danny Pedler (Pedler // Russell). They combine cittern and concertina, fiddle, and accordion to create their music. Tarren's debut album REVEL was released in 2022 to high acclaim and was compared with the work of Faustus and Lau's legendary debut album Lightweights and Gentlemen. Just the kind of band we need on the Folk circuit today. Brilliant! - FRUK A Mini Folk Supergroup - Tradfolk

Mississippi MacDonald is an English Soul-Blues singer/songwriter/guitarist, fronting a four piece band. He is a 6 times British / UK Blues Awards and three times US Independent Blues Awards nominee. He has appeared on BBC Radio 2's Blues Show with Cerys Matthews, has played extensively in the UK and the US, and has recorded recently in the US with Vaneese Thomas (Rufus Thomas) and Benny Turner (Freddie King, Mighty Joe Young). His previous album, Do Right, Say Right was named in the top 10 Blues Albums of 2022 by Mojo Magazine. Touring his second album for APM Records, Heavy State Loving Blues, he was appraised by Blues In Britain Magazine as one of finest modern bluesmen in the U.K. and on this release he's excelled in all areas. The Heavy State Loving Blues album has charted for multiple weeks at the top of the RMR Global Blues Report, second only to Buddy Guy. Contemporary British bluesman Mississippi MacDonald proves he's as legit as they come on his hard-charging new record HSLBa compelling, engaging artist who is going to make a lot of new friends with this record. Make sure youre one of them Rock and Blues Muse Mississippi MacDonald represents the next generation of great guitarists who hail from the UKwholly authentic, he's earned the right to claim the name Living Blues, USA Hell Yeah!.fabulous, very Albert King circa his Stax days and in my world, it doesnt get much better than that, Blues Matters!

Dale Storr The Sounds of New Orleans A very, very fine piano player indeed Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2 Dale is the best New Orleans player Ive ever heard Richard Hawley Described by Jazz Journal magazine as the piano man's piano man... and a national treasure, Dale Storr's musical journey has now brought him recognition as one of the UK's leading exponents of New Orleans piano. Immersed in the styles of heroes like Dr John, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino and Huey Piano Smith, he established himself in his early career as a highly sought after pianist backing many top blues stars from the UK and America.

Hailing from Bristol, UK, The Terraplanes are an authentic Rhythm & Blues Band, with a sound echoing the 1960's British R'n'B invasion with a heavy dose of Delta Country Blues. The Terraplanes formed in 2013 when singer Nick Scrase met Eduardo Allen in Bristol, the relationship between the two founding members is the driving force of the band. Scrase' authentic vocal tones and slick guitar plus the harmonica skills and hi energy stage perfomances from Eduardo Allen make for an electric live show. They are ably supported by the rhythm section of Karl Anthony (drums) & Craig Shaw (Bass).

Join Granny's Attic as they teach you a song from their new album, "Cold Blows the Wind". Whether you're a seasoned folk singer, or just fancy trying your hand at something new, everyone is welcome for this fun and inclusive workshop. The workshop will run from 11am - 1pm with a short break halfway through. With exceptional musicianship and boundless energy, Granny's Attic are going from strength to strength. Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne (melodeon, anglo concertina, vocals), George Sansome (guitar, vocals) and Lewis Wood (violin, vocals) have honed their skills touring the UK and Europe since 2009. They are much loved by audiences up and down the country, with bookings everywhere from Cambridge Folk Festival to Cecil Sharp House. The trio have been heralded for their lively performances and skilled delivery of traditional material, playing with verve, energy and their own inimitable style. Though grounded in tradition, they are keen to push new boundaries by exploring fresh approaches and writing their own compositions. In October 2021, they released "The Brickfields", an instrumental collection which saw them reach new heights as both performers and composers. This year, they followed this up with "Cold Blows the Wind", which has gone down a storm with audiences and reviewers alike. Described by Folk Radio as one of the most exciting and accomplished English folk acts on the scene right now, this outstanding trio can hold audiences in the palm of their hand.