Brown Wimpenny are an 11-piece folk ensemble based in south Manchester. Celebrated by The Quietus for the “energy, eccentricity, communion and joy” inherent to their raucous and powerful live shows, they weave traditional reels, hornpipes and songs from the British Isles and beyond into a web of drones, dense textures and choral harmonies. While all being involved in various classical, experimental, contemporary noise, post-punk, and electronic projects, these young musicians have converged on traditional music for its beauty and possibility. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Crackled radio-like transmissions from Norway’s rural hinterland. Juni Habel’s fragile finger-picked lullabies warm themselves by the open fire with her rich intimate voice atop twinkling arrangements and strange percussive instrumentation. Like glowing embers in the dark, these songs are odes to life and death, the beauty of belonging and human kinship with nature. “Right on cue for the dark days of winter comes this pensive, intimate album, conceived and recorded in the south Norwegian countryside..... That the album’s jazz-tinged brand of folk could as easily have come from the 1970s as the present day is no criticism. An affecting, timeless piece of work from a writer on song.” The Observer “there's also an underlying folk wildness, a sense of antique sheet music rustled by strong winds, muddy boots on piano pedals” ★★★★ MOJO “Carvings is a captivating musical and poetic experience, a fearless conception that is thoroughly contemporary while almost traditional in its authenticity of expression and directness of communication.” Folk Radio Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Henry Parker Henry Parker’s contemporary take on folk, which he explores via thoughtful yet deeply accomplished guitar playing, unfurls and moves much like the landscape itself - mirroring the unpredictable, yet beautifully flowing, rolling hills and valleys of his native county of West Yorkshire. Parker’s musical roots go back to a self appointed upbringing in prog-rock and metal. However, enthralled at the age of 20 by the ethereal playing of Bert Jansch and Nick Drake, finger-picking and open tunings rapidly became the essence of his sound. The result is a strain of informed, progressive folk music found nowhere else. Henry has recorded 2 albums: the eco-conscious ‘Silent Spring’ (2019) and ‘Lammas Fair’ (2021), bringing him to the forefront of the progressive folk music world. In 2023 he curated and recorded for American label Tompkins Square Records, bringing together a tribute album to Michael Chapman, one of his most important musical influences. Joost Dijkema The dutchman saw the light of day in 1989. Although originally a drummer, he picked up the guitar when a teenager and it quickly became his main focus. After hearing Leo Kottke's 1969 album ´6- & 12-string guitar’ and Michael Chapman’s ‘Time Past And Time Passing’ he was determined to develop the fingerstyle guitar technique. From then on the guitar was his guide through some messy years. The introspective aftermath resulted in his first solo guitar record ‘Sacred Revelations’ (LP/CD/Digital) in 2016 on the local record label Twin Dimension Records. Playing 6- and 12-string guitars with a spontaneous approach to composing, ‘Sacred Revelations’ was an artistic reflection on the ‘wasted years’ and his personal redemption. Long, deep instrumentals like ‘The Sun Behind The Mountain’, ‘Heathland Home’, ‘Both Sides Have Two Sides’ and ‘Cutting Loose’ go hand in hand with heartbreaking ballads with vocals like the title cut, ‘Gold Wing’ and ‘To Be Here No More’. The record received some rave reviews locally, nationally and internationally. (See Reviews) The colourful follow-up 'Time Thief' (2019) expands the horizon of Dijkema’s music with meandering and intense guitar explorations on acoustic (6- and 12- string) and electric guitar, mutated bluegrass and lazy yet lingering folk-rock. On 'Time Thief' Dijkema explores the concept of time in regard to (sudden) loss, failure, anxiety, corrupted memories, love, strength, and the hope and insecurities relating to the near future. Again, Dijkema’s mesmerizing guitar playing - lively, transcendental and sometimes slightly rushed - and melodies are staggering. In the beginning of 2023 his third solo album 'After Thunder Sun' will be released including 10 creative various songs. Besides his solo records Dijkema collaborated with dialect singer-songwriter Bert Hadders on the full length ‘Kokeleko’ (2019). Dijkema and Hadders also provided the atmospheric and haunting soundtrack for ‘De Poolse Bruid’, a play by TgECHO and Noord Nederlands Toneel (NNT) based on a movie with the same name. The play was staged in a monumental farm in Onderdendam from 2019 to 2022. Since 2011 his other musical output is Reverse Cowgirls (with Michiel Hoving and Harry Kingma). Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

The Rheingans Sisters’ new album Start Close In was released in September 2024 to enthusiastic acclaim; The Guardian declaring it Folk Album of the Month - “a radical leap into darkness” - and MOJO Magazine hailing it one of the Top 10 Folk Albums of 2024 “Immersive is the word - the sisters create atmospheres” RnR Produced by New York based Adam Pietrykowski (whose genre-diverse work spans rock, Contemporary classical and prog folk) the visionary duo's new album is “wildly expressive; at the forefront of the recent upsurge in experimental, drone-led folk” (KLOF) The sisters’ new live show is an immersive and uplifting musical journey. Taking in baroque Fiddle tunes and trance beats, metal-inspired arrangements of traditional ballads and improvisations with phone voicenotes, Rowan and Anna once again make music like Painters; revealing in bold colours the next soaring chapter in their unmistakable brand of Avant-garde trad, blending ancient song and universal stories with future imaginings, Dystopias and dreams. “Joyous - take a bow” MOJO Previous winners of BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for ‘Best Original Track’ and nominees for ‘Best Band’, with their uniquely blended sound of fiddles, voices, feet, banjos, electric guitar, synths and the powerful bass drones of the medieval tambourin à cordes, The Rheingans Sisters remain one of the most visionary acts on the British folk scene today. Press Quotes: “A radical leap into darkness” - The Guardian, Folk Album of the Month “Gorgeous, vivid songwriting” - Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio “A meditative look at the world around us” - Morning Star “It’s the Rheingans Sisters: expect the unexpected” - Songlines Magazine “Experimental and brave and genuinely magical” - Trad Folk “Too good not to play” - Ian Lynch (Lankum) Fire Draw Near Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Teilhard Frost is a multi-instrumentalist and banjo maker from Canada, specialising in traditional fiddle tunes, with a particular interest in the Appalachian Mountains. He has spent the last 20 years touring with critically acclaimed band Sheesham, Lotus and ‘Son, and is currently touring his most recent solo album, Four and Twenty Blackbirds Dancing on a Deer Skin. Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Dancing on a Fawn Skin) is another collection of old time Appalachian fiddle tunes, banjo songs and harmonica pieces, on which Teilhard is joined by Tom Power, Scott Prouty, Chris Coole, Daragh Lynch and Jason Mercer. Jock Tyldesley is perhaps best known for his fiddling in Cajun bands such as The Flatville Aces and the Bearcats, as well as more off-the-wall antics with The New Rope String Band and The Chipolatas. He also nurtures a long-time passion for Southern Appalachian old time fiddling for many years and has spent more time concentrating on this, whilst touring worldwide with his regular bands and US acts such as Eddie LeJeune, The Dirk Powell Band, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Martha Scanlan, Beverly Smith and Carl Jones and Balfa Toujours. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Riley Baugus represents the very best of old time American banjo and song. His powerful singing voice and his expert musicianship place him squarely in the next generation of the quality American roots tradition. Riley is a native of the southern Appalachians. The Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina is where his roots lie, and he grew up learning the music and art of storytelling of the region from older musicians in the area. His solo show consists of a focus on banjos, ballads, stories and songs. He has toured in the UK for many years with Ira Bernstein, as one half of the hugely popular Appalachian Roots project. He has played at Celtic Connections several times with Dirk Powell, and also toured with Tim Eriksen in the States, as part of the Cold Mountain film tour, and as a duo. Riley has also recorded with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and with Willie Nelson - both T-Bone Burnett projects. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

The Canadian folk singer renowned for her purity of voice and composer of the ever-fresh ’Morning Dew’; once at the heart of Greenwich Village heyday when she sang at Gerdes Folk City with the likes of Paul Simon, and Bob Dylan. The UK’s premier purveyors of Cosmic Americana riding a wave of creativity and acclaim, with two successive classic albums Hollow Heart and On A Golden Shore. The spry octogenarian and the psychedelic cowboys proved a match ripe to be made. Since Bonnie’s reemergence, at Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown, she’d been interacting with a host of London musicians, but when the Stars came onto her horizon she sensed she’d found the perfect accompanists for her new compositions. With no concrete plan they worked up a few songs, then went into Sean Read’s Famous Times to see what might happen. What might happen is now a forthcoming album with some new titles, notably the autobiographical ‘Dreams’ giving the lie to ‘Morning Dew’s finality, and opening up the future that former song closed down, an older favourite ‘Stay With Me Tonight’, and a revisit to Dino Valenti’s 60s anthem ‘Get Together’. Their album “Dreams” will be released on 11th July 2025 on Loose Music. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Gemma khawaja performs "portrait of Joan baez" in full Portrait of Joan Baez is the first compilation album by Joan Baez, released in the UK in 1967. It includes material from her early 1960s traditional folk repertoire and her Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs covers. \- With the exception of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez was the most important artist to rise from the folk music movement that first blossomed in the late 1950s and early '60s. Baez was also the finest and most influential interpretive singer in contemporary folk; blessed with a soprano voice of uncommon clarity, her performances were emotionally compelling without resorting to histrionics. Early on, she recorded striking renditions of classic folk standards, as on her 1960 debut album Joan Baez, while later she would help popularize the work of songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Richard Fariña; songs by all three appeared on 1964's Joan Baez 5. Her early recordings were austere acoustic sessions, but in time she would learn to work effectively with a band, as well as adding her own songs to her repertoire, and the title track to 1975's Diamonds & Rust, a biographical recollection of her relationship with Dylan, would prove to be one of her most enduring hits. Baez would become nearly as well-known for her political activism as her music, lending her talent and media profile to a long list of progressive causes from the early stages of her career to her farewell concert tour in 2019. And while Baez is best remembered by many for her work in the '60s, she continued to release strong and committed music well into the 21st century, including albums like 2003's Dark Chords on a Big Guitar, 2008's Day After Tomorrow, and 2018's Whistle Down the Wind. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

For over 60 years, Hurley wrote and recorded original songs that parse through bluegrass, freak-folk, and blues with an ear for eccentric ideas and stripped-back moments. Though his music and album artwork was playful-a wolf devours whoopie pies at a diner on the cover of 1994’s Wolfways-Hurley found a way to tap into the serious parts of life simultaneously, using minute details and sweeping reflections to encourage listeners to take a step back and admirer the bigger picture of life before them. Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, several days before Christmas in 1941, Michael Hurley started playing music and writing his own songs as a preteen. Summers were spent listening to Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton, and making up simple songs during roadtrips with his family. He dropped out of high school to design fanzines, play music, and hitchhike with a guitar slung over his back. It was on one of those wandering routes that he was picked up by Fred Ramsey, a folklorist who lived up the road and ended up producing his debut. After recovering from a years-long struggle with mononucleosis, a 22-year-old Hurley finally recorded his debut album, the aptly titled First Songs, in 1963 for Folkways, the famed label home to Woody Guthrie and Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Brown Wimpenny are an 11-piece folk ensemble based in south Manchester. Celebrated by The Quietus for the “energy, eccentricity, communion and joy” inherent to their raucous and powerful live shows, they weave traditional reels, hornpipes and songs from the British Isles and beyond into a web of drones, dense textures and choral harmonies. While all being involved in various classical, experimental, contemporary noise, post-punk, and electronic projects, these young musicians have converged on traditional music for its beauty and possibility. Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

‘New Music for the 6 String Guitar’ is the 7th studio album from Radnorshire based guitarist Toby Hay. His debut in 2017 ‘The Gathering’, and 2018’s, ‘The Longest Day’, were both nominated for the Welsh Music Prize. This new album is a follow up to 2019’s ‘New Music For The 12 String Guitar’. Since then, he has released two collaborative albums, 2023’s self-titled ‘Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay’ released on the legendary Topic label, and 2024’s ‘After a Pause’, with Aidan Thorne, released on his own, Cambrian Records. Like it’s 12 string predecessor, the concept for the new record was dreamt up by London label The state51 Conspiracy. The idea was to ask Roger Bucknall of Fylde guitars to build a new custom instrument specifically for a guitarist to write and record music for. The ‘Curlew’ custom 6 string is made from Macassar Ebony & light-coloured Cedar and is set up to play in Toby’s unique tunings. The album was recorded over three days in the Wood Room at Real World Studios. All tracks are live performances with no overdubs. “It is a beautiful studio, my brother Tim engineered the session. It is a very honest album, just me, in a room, one guitar, a mixture of compositions and improvisations. We were invited to watch the football with Peter Gabriel and a few of his friends on the final evening, a memorable experience!.” The natural world is a recurring theme across these 12 tracks, with inspiration ranging from Hay’s time working for the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, to his recent Masters in Music & The Environment from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Inspiration also comes from Hay’s connection to his local landscape, his home in the Cambrian Mountians, and his sheep dog Bear. But ultimatley this is an album that explores the relationship between musician and instrument. With the guitar being built by Roger Bucknall, the album mixed by Tchad Blake, and the photography by Julian Broad, this album is full of talented contributuions from masters in their fields. “I have been very lucky. Tchad and Julian are both local to me here in mid Wales, and to have them involved is such a privelidge. Roger is an absolute legend in the world of guitar making, and this instrument is stunning” Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event

Goblin Band perform in various formations alongside a billing of their favourite folkies. \- Goblin Band formed organically from intimate sessions of the same name run out of Hobgoblin Music, a folk instrument shop in Central London, and organised by a group of queer folk obsessive friends and shop employees. These sessions gave rise to a six piece band which, though firmly rooted in the traditional music of the British Isles, draws widely on medieval and early music, as well as the folk musical traditions from abroad. The sound concocted employs all manner of strings, squeezeboxes, hurdy gurdy, flutes, horns, jaw harps, and bells and whistles. The Goblins interpret folk song in relation to the political upheavals of past and present and strive to make a space for new audiences to experience traditional music in a manner which is both riotously joyful and deeply sincere. "They can play and they can sing and they’re fearless...When I saw Goblin Band singing recently, I just thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?...They move stuff around...They go back to versions that we were too snotty to touch and they turn them into stomps!" - MARTIN CARTHY \- Macdara Yeates Described by The Sid Valley Folk Show as “an absolutely stunning singer-a complete tour de force,” Macdara Yeates is one of a crop of young artists associated with the recent resurgence of traditional singing in Dublin City, alongside acts such as Lankum, Ye Vagabonds, and Landless. In 2012, Macdara became a founding member of The Night Before Larry Got Stretched, a Dublin folk collective counting such singers as Lisa O’Neill, Ian Lynch and Radie Peat (Lankum) among its earliest members. From 2013 to 2017, Macdara toured and recorded with seven-piece trad ensemble Skipper’s Alley, performing across the UK, Europe, India, Zambia, Canada, and the USA. With a booming baritone, described as “a crystal-clear voice that contains echoes of the declamatory style of Luke Kelly and the emotional depth-charge of Liam Weldon,”, Macdara’s debut solo effort marks a new arrival in the Irish folkscape. The singular ten-track record features a range of material; from lighter numbers such as Dublin comic song The Herrin’; to a haunting rendition of Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye, the 19th century anti-war ballad sounding ever relevant in today’s geo-political climate. Siobhán Long of The Irish Times writes; “Raucous, bawdy, reflective and wistful in turn, Macdara Yeates’s solo debut is a robust collection in which this Dublin singer revisits age-old tales and renders them anew with his own unforced imprint.” Presented by Broadside Hacks. This is an 18+ event