Dani Larkin is a songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Belfast. Her debut album, Notes For A Maiden Warrior (2021), received widespread critical acclaim and catapulted Larkin to the international stage with performances at SXSW and WOMEX as well as tours with Snow Patrol, Lisa O'Neill, Glen Hansard, and Rufus Wainright. Larkin has since collaborated with the Ulster Orchestra and RT Concert Orchestra and released Walking With Natives (2023) which saw her tour Australia, Korea, Finland, Canada, Ireland, the UK and a run of sold out shows at the Irish Arts Centre NYC. With television appearances on BBC 1, Virgin Media Ireland's Fanning At Whelans, Canada's CTV, alongside radio performances on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and RT Radio 1, Larkin has accompanied her songwriting prowess with insights into story and song taking the listener on a pathway to the beyond. With a profound performance at the RT Folk Awards coupled with her tours in Europe, Australia, Asia and North America, Larkin has been heralded as a must-see live performer on the national and international stage. Described as a beguiling and powerful, songwriter and virtuoso guitarist (Songlines Magazine) Larkins live performances enrapture audiences within a seamlessly woven narrative within carefully considered sonic landscape.

Enigmatic Swedish post-psych quintet DEN DER HALE make their Newcastle debut! Presented by Wandering Oak. This is an 18+ event

Chris Brain emerged out of Leeds’ vibrant folk scene in 2022 with his debut, critically acclaimed and widely distributed album, Bound to Rise, reaching Number 22 in the UK Folk Charts. His much-anticipated second album, Steady Away, moves inward and takes on a more self-reflective quality, whilst retaining glimmers of soaring figures and pastoral imagery. Brain’s distinctive warm vocal and finger-picked guitar style are sustained alongside expansive strings and delicate piano arrangements, taking shape through evolving and introspective impressions on tenderness, loss, pain and awe in nature. Glancing off The Nave’s eaved ceilings with natural reverb, Steady Away’s 11 tracks, recorded by Tom Orrell, capture the intimacy of Chris’ songwriting. Steady Away further embeds Chris Brain within the contemporary folk scene, whilst gesturing towards the folk tradition. His commitment to folk is only deepened by the two folk clubs and folk festival in Leeds that Chris founded and runs, attracting a wide range of audiences and musicians alike.

When Dan Walsh first picked up the banjo, he did so with the passion and enthusiasm of a youngster who simply thought it sounded cool. His career since has been characterised by this infectious excitement: he explores the full breadth of what folk music can do and be - and encourages his audiences to have fun while doing it. Whether as a solo artist, key member of the acclaimed Urban Folk Quartet, or in-demand session musician for the likes of Darius Rucker and Ward Thomas, Dan wows audiences with a performance style equal parts blisteringly kinetic and accessibly conversational. This ever-burgeoning reputation has seen him tour the world, from Canada and the USA to Australia, New Zealand and across Europe, everywhere winning new fans for this rare mix of virtuosic musicianship, moving and amusing songwriting, and winning charm. With his new album, At The Station, Dan has returned to one of his first loves, American country music - and made his most joyous, surprising and above all entertaining music yet.

Slime City - Existentialist nerd rock from Glasgow! with: Zilch Patrol Baker Island

Jon Doran & The Northern Assembly are a ground breaking new collaboration who seek to capture the excitement that lies within traditional song. The trio aims to breathe new life into old stories from across the British Isles, injecting the energy they feel these narratives deserve. With striking vocals from Jon Doran (BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Finalist 2019), combined with the virtuosic playing of Jordan Aikin (trailblazer - Calum MacCrimmon, Breabach), and Heather Ferrier (accordion virtuoso Tom Robinson), the trio perform songs that create a cohesive musical framework with intricately layered arrangements, each song from the traditional folk canon unfolding a vivid drama (Folk London). Their eponymous debut EP, released in 2024, gained an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and secured airplay on BBC Radio 2, BBC Introducing North East, and BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Filled to the brim with energy, excitement and a lust for life (TradFolk), the trio move away from a conventional folk song performance style and lean heavily upon their varied musical upbringings and experiences to conjure emotions and communicate a story far deeper than the words of the song. They blur the lines between two contrasting sides of the folk genre - the bright, vibrant energy of contemporary instrumental folk music, and the intensity of traditional storytelling songs. KLOF describe their songs as overflowing with ideas for the production of imaginative, entertaining music.

Lily Seabird’s life has been in perpetual motion, spending nearly half of that time on the road performing her own music and as a touring bassist. While she thrives in transit, back home she is anchored by ‘Trash Mountain’, a pink house surrounded by other artists situated on a decommissioned landfill site at the back of Burlington’s Old North End.

Catch The Shackleton Trio on their Summer tour - known for their vibrant songwriting, fiery musicianship and close three-part harmonies. Weaving together mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo, their distinctive sound tells stories rooted in East Anglia, while reaching far beyond it. The trio brings together Georgia Shackleton (fiddle, vocals), Aaren Bennett (guitar) and Nic Zuppardi (mandolin, banjo). Drawing on British, American and Scandinavian folk traditions, the band balance deep respect for the past with a fresh, contemporary approach. Georgias flair for uncovering lesser-heard East Anglian material keeps the music grounded in place, while the trios arrangements feel modern, dynamic and alive. The Shackleton Trio have featured on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, BBC 6 Music, RT Radio 1 and BBC Countryfile, alongside widespread critical acclaim including reviews. Their live highlights range from the prestigious main stage at Cambridge Folk Festival to major UK and European festivals and international touring. Above all, this is a band with a palpable on-stage chemistry. Engaging, inventive and unmissable live.

Memphis Gerald brings his distinctive blend of folk, indie and Americana to The Cumberland Arms for a rare headline performance. Following the release of the 2025 recordField Recordings from a FieldMemphis has built a reputation for raw, unfiltered songwriting and quietly magnetic live shows. Expect intricate flatpicking, wry burr, and of course - devastating honesty. This is a unique chance to catch him up close and personal. Support from local folk duo Watersmeet

North-East punk-folk outfit Driven Serious has been gigging in the North East and beyond since 2011. Its current lineup combines pairs long-time members frontman and songwriter Rob Jones and bassist and multi-instrumentalist Tim Packer, with newer arrivals Weardale singer and keyboardist Sinéad Livingston, Scots fiddler Joe Cherry, drummer Neil Nattress and cellist Caroline Hoile. The band’s first album, The Importance of Being Serious, was released in 2013, and followed in 2016 with the Ballad of Bones EP, featuring new music as well as live tracks from headlining gigs at the Cluny in Newcastle and the Twisted Lip in Middlesborough.

Dick Valentine (stage name for Tyler Spencer) is the lead vocalist and co-founder of the Detroit-based rock band Electric Six, known for his eccentric, high-energy stage presence, witty lyricism, and genre-blending music.