“Flossie entranced a Nottinghamshire audience yet again under a different guise with a sell-out Piaf/Brel show.
Ably accompanied by Chris Parkinson on accordion, Paul Donnelly on classical guitar and Simon Keegan-Phipps on piano, the French singer from Nemes via Darlington showed a sultry and enticing side not seen in the folk clubs! The charismatic French singer gave a passionate performance, delighting her audience on Sunday with favourites “La Vie en rose”, ”Je ne regrette rien” made famous by Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel’s powerful “Amsterdam” and “Ne me quitte pas”.

From moving love songs to tongue-twisters, Flossie’s pure and beautiful voice had people queuing for CDs after the encore or just for a chance to speak to this stunning vocalist. – Review of the Jacques Brel/Edith Piaf show which took place in Lowdham Nottinghamshire.

Please Note if you book online we do not send out tickets – please bring your PayPal receipt with you. We will have a list of all online bookings on the door.

Full Price £12.50
Concessions £11.00

Blending folk with classical music and comedy plus the odd music hall song thrown in.
If you like Mozart, Beethoven, Elvis Presley and The Spinners avoid them – you have been warned!

In 1995 Paul Hutchinson (accordion) and Paul Sartin (oboe, violin and vocals) shared a musical passion borne out of the desire to earn sufficient money to support their extravagant lifestyles. Their amazing musicianship coupled with wry humour stunned audiences around Europe and the States. After a brief sabbatical, they’re back!

“Tantalizing tunes performed with wit and finesse” – Verity Sharp, BBC Radio 3

“My personal find of the festival – Paul Hutchinson and Paul Sartin play like no-one else you’ve ever heard. Their music is breathtaking and wickedly inventive and the between-tunes interchange as intelligent and hilarious as the music. But don’t let me give you the impression they’re a lightweight comedy act: they finish the set with a haunting piece of oboe and accordion magic which has the audience spellbound.” – Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2

Paul Sartin is a member of BBC Radio 2 Award-winning big band Bellowhead and English music trio Faustus. He combines his busy performing career with teaching and outreach work, at St Edward’s School in Oxford and for community organisations, most notably Live Music Now and SuperAct. He dabbles in academia, recently assisting on a number of publications of old tune manuscripts, and regularly deputises with the Choir of Winchester Cathedral, where he gets to wear a dress to work.

Paul Hutchinson is a member of the innovative and progressive folk trio, Hoover the Dog as well as Okavango – the collaboration between Hoover the Dog and Fluxus (Belgium).  Paul is also a seasoned accordion tutor for Folkworks, Hands On, British Council (in Czech Republic and Belgium) and the University of Limerick. His favourite colour is pink

Photograph: Copyright David Angel

Please Note if you book online we do not send out tickets – please bring your PayPal receipt with you. We will have a list of all online bookings on the door.

Full Price £12.50
Concessions £11.00

Six specialist musicians – five voices – thirteen instruments – international artistes – US network television
- nobody does it like Europe’s top 40s and Western Swing sextet -
Watch out for the band’s first concert recorded for British television! Coming soon.

Please Note if you book online we do not send out tickets – please bring your PayPal receipt with you. We will have a list of all online bookings on the door.

Full Price £12.50
Concessions £11.00

Kerfuffle members Sam Sweeney, Hannah James and Jamie Roberts plus a special guest perform material from Lighten the Dark their acclaimed seasonal CD

Bright Young Folk Review of the CD

I must say that it is strange listening to a recording destined for the depths of winter in the warm sun and blue skies of October. But not, I suspect, as weird as it must have been for the band to record it in May.
However, the result is undeniably excellent. There are a mixture of carols and seasonal songs, dance tunes and other instrumental pieces. Kerfuffle aren’t known for fussy or overworked music and this is no exception. ‘Three Ships’ is a fine start and very similar to the familiar version. It starts softly with Hannah singing, accompanied by guitar and bells and builds with bass and fiddle to a fine singable carol.

The second track is quite unusual. ‘The Cherry Tree Carol’ has a quiet guitar and pizzicato backing. The lyrics are quite quirky, featuring a distinctly grumpy Joseph refusing his pregnant wife’s request for cherries. A desire granted by her unborn child, this version apparently gathered from the Appalachians.
A set of three jolly and rather rustic renaissance dances from France make up track four. Called Bransles, the first sounds distinctly like Ding Dong Merrily on High and the others are less familiar but equally catchy. Good tunes all, with accordion, fiddle, guitars and bagpipes.

Another song I found fascinating; ‘Lullay My Liking’ is a beautiful lullaby based on a medieval text. The lyrics are tender and quite charming, with a soft harmony in the chorus. There is a gently rollicking version the ‘Sussex Carol’ and on track nine a fine interpretation of my favourite carol, ‘The Holly and the Ivy’.
The last two tracks are sharply contrasting – the ‘Gower Wassail’ is (rather obviously) a wassailing song, sung traditionally door to door rather in the way of modern carollers, Hannah having fun with the deep notes of the chorus.

The last track is very different. ‘The Bitter Withy’ is a quite savage song of a most un-Christlike Christ child drowning three contemptuous young lords, then cursing the willow branches with which his mother punishes him. A rather sinister centre section features the tune of ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ on the bagpipes.

This is a really wonderful Christmas collection – a sharp and timely reminder of a time when the Feast was a genuine religious festival in an grim time of the year, not the culmination of six months of consumerised madness. It is an album I shall be happy to listen to in season, year after year. Gentle but lively and uplifting, what better for a Christmas album of really first class traditional folk music?

Martin Pain

Please Note if you book online we do not send out tickets – please bring your PayPal receipt with you. We will have a list of all online bookings on the door.

Full Price £12.50
Concessions £11.00