Saturday 29 Nov Opa Rosa Fast paced, mesmerising Balkan and eastern European music to get you pulse going Fast gaining a reputation as one of Bristols most dynamic and virtuosic bands, Opa Rosa are an energetic acoustic ensemble sharing music from the Klezmer, Balkan, Greek & Roma traditions. With several combined decades of study and experience, all five musicians are well-versed in the musical traditions syntax and significance, capturing all the joy and sorrow that these traditions are so renowned for expressing. Deeply rooted in Balkan traditions, Opa Rosas music aims to explore and reinvent the motifs of Eastern Europe by subtly drawing from other musical influences such as Post-Rock, Classical and Jazz. With their line-up of violin, clarinet, accordion, double bass and percussion, their unique and refined sound consists of an explosive and grooving rhythm section combined with intricate melodies soaring over rich and nuanced harmonic structures. Following the release of their debut album A Feast from the East they have toured internationally and captivated audiences with their high-energy and engaging performances. Recent gigs include a sold-out performance headlining Bristol Beacon, Green Note (London), Trinity Centre (Bristol), The Cornish Bank (Falmouth), Jamboree (London) and various festivals, including Smugglers Festival, Secret Garden Party, Valley Fest and Buddhafield.

Sun 28 September Eabhal 7.30 Scottish brilliance. High energy and freshness from these rising stars To our delight we are able to showcase these rising stars of the Scottish folk scene. For those who love Breabach this will prove an absolute treat. This five-piece line-up features beautiful vocals, guitars, fiddle, bagpipes and accordion. Eabhal have made a significant impact with their vibrant and energetic folk music. The bands distinctive West Coast sound and dedication to their craft have earned them a prestigious Folk Band of the Year nomination in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2022 amongst multiple other awards and nominations over the past 10 years. Eabhal have released two albums to date, the debut This is How The Ladies Dance in 2018 and the second Aisling, released in 2022, showcasing an array of arrangements of Gaelic and English songs. The bands focus on kinship and connection to people, land, elevation and language are all reflected in their music.

The Haar Phenomenal. Unbelievable. Irish music as you have never heard it before. Absolute class The Haar brings the fresh talent of traditional Irish singer Molly Donnery combined with three of the most exciting instrumentalists on the folk and traditional music circuit: Cormac Byrne (Instrumentalist of the Year 2019, FATEA Magazine Music Awards), Adam Summerhayes (a Paganini of the traditional violin fROOTS) and Murray Grainger (Gorgeous stuff BBC Radio 3). The band has its origins in a chance meeting between Adam, Cormac and Molly at a trad session at Craiceann Bodhrn Festival, Inis Orr, resulting in an improvised live performance recorded by the shipwreck of the Plassey on the wild Atlantic seafront. It was to become typical of the unique live reactive composition that characterises their music. With the addition of master accordionist Grainger, they entered the studio at the end of 2019 to record their debut album The Haar with no plans or arrangements, guided only by the live musical landscapes they created the music was recorded as it flowed, often in the first and only take. We need more music like this; spontaneous, alive and affecting, The Haar will take you on a journey and have you appreciating the purest of lifes pleasures. Wonderful stuff. Folk Radio UK. Featuring not one but two FATEA Instrumentalists of the Year Award winners, The Haar take a familiar tune and turn it into something fresh that mysteriously feels as if you have known it forever. As the band themselves say: We let our imaginations run free with these old favourites, and the result is breathtaking and ambitious. This is not a dyed-green-Guinness-and-a-bit-o-craic Ireland, this is the coast of Connemara Ireland, this is watching the fog roll in around The Skellig Islands Ireland Devastatingly beautiful Bristol 24/7 Four musicians, each at the pinnacle of their respective fields, whose spontaneity thrives on the trust they put in each other to create their unique and splendid balance of swirling instrumental magic and beautifully sung narratives (Folk Radio UK).

Grace will lead us home. A powerful, thought-provoking concert to mark Black History month John Newton was a bad boy teenager. Pressed-ganged at 17, he was sold as a slave himself to an African Princess; later became a slave ship captain and after being saved from a shipwreck devoted himself to God, writing the song that's become a worldwide symbol against oppression - Amazing Grace. To mark Newtons 300th birthday, Angeline Morrison; Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne; Jon Bickley and John Palmer explore his life; the inextricable link between Amazing Grace and the slave trade; its iconic status as a protest against oppression and its relevance today. Many of those singing it dont know the story of the man who wrote it. Many more cannot reconcile his early life with the sentiments of the song. Grace Will Lead Us Home uses traditional and new songs, linked by extracts from Newton's and Wilberforce's diaries and writings alongside other contemporary commentaries, to highlight all aspects of his life, how Amazing Grace became such an iconic statement of protest and what it means in the modern world. Its the latest chapter in a three-year Arts Council-funded project that's already produced a series of exhibitions, podcasts, videos, lectures, seminars and an album (currently being revised for the tour). The Guardian: Stirring and Imaginative Mojo Magazine: Echoes of Peter Bellamys The Transports the sounds here are sweet indeed ★★★★Songlines: Powerful compositions, gorgeous arrangements Folking: Heady StuffRoots Magazine: A truly triumphal experience KLOF Magazine: A fine album with themes remarkably relevant to today Angeline was born in Birmingham to a Jamaican mother and a father from the Outer Hebrides Her album Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience was The Guardian Folk Album of the Year in 2022. Cohen is of Barbadian heritage and he was brought up in Birmingham and Worcester. Twice nominated as BBC Radio Two's Folk Artist of the Year, his trio Granny's Attic are currently celebrating their 15th anniversary with a nationwide tour. Jon is a poet, singer, songwriter and broadcaster, who is the director of the John Newton Project. He has also recorded an album on John Newton and William Cowpers Olney Hymns John is a narrator, writer and producer who created Ghosts, Werewolves and Countryfolk Songs and Stories of Sabine Baring-Gould with Jim Causley and Miranda Sykes and the Vaughan Williams 150th anniversary Cathedral tour From Pub to Pulpit with Paul Hutchinson and Anna Tams Coracle and acapella Broomdasher

Celebrating Christmas with Janice Burns and Jon Doran A beautiful, traditional start to Christmas Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music and songs that tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world. Their album Great Joy to the New released in 2024 is a beautiful and collection of Christmas carols and winter tunes Janice & Jons clever and uncluttered musical storytelling comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar. Their arrangements have a spellbinding presence and an understated energy that transports their songs from the pages of books and manuscripts into the imagination of the listener. They play lovely strings, they have gorgeous harmony arrangements. Really well crafted, intimate, beautifully understated. Karine Polwart Janice and Jon are both delightful singers with wonderfully musical voices. Their performances of traditional folk songs have a pleasing authenticity and they make delicious harmonies. They are also both fine instrumentalists of great skill and talent. Any appearance of theirs in a folk club or on the concert platform will guarantee you an experience youll remember. Sandra Kerr

Nominated for Musician of the Year and for Best Album with Vagrant Stanzas at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014, Martin's shows are intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving. There is no doubt that after 35 years as a professional musician Martin is better than ever. Widely acknowledged as one of the finest acoustic and slide guitar players in the world, his interpretations of traditional songs are masterpieces of storytelling. Martin has been nominated an astounding 31 times in the 15 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards -- more than any other performer -- with 12 nominations for Musician of The Year, which he has won twice. 2008 saw an incredible five nominations for 'Prodigal Son' and two wins, whilst in 2010 he had an unprecedented six nominations for his CD, True Stories and a win for Best Traditional Track, 'Sir Patrick Spens'. Whether playing American old-time music, blues, a Dylan song or his own material, Martin Simpson is unpredictable, individual and a guitarist of immense subtlety.