The 2007 Performers.
Kathryn Tickell
From the North Tyne Valley of Northumberland, Kathryn took up the Northumbrian
smallpipes at the age of nine, and by the age of 13 had won all the traditional
open smallpipes competitions. She was also rapidly making a name for herself as
a fiddle player, and released her first album at the age of 16. Her third album,
"Common Ground" was chosen as one of Q magazine’s Records of the Year, and she
was named Top Instrumentalist in the Folk Roots Poll of 1988. The Kathryn
Tickell Band was formed in 1990, and seven years later, her sixth album, The
Gathering, was released to great critical acclaim and led to appearances on
Later with Jools Holland and playing live on Andy Kershaw's Radio 1 show. In
May, Sting, Jimmy Naill and Kathryn hit the stage of the Carnegie Hall, New
York, performing, "The Waters of the Tyne" at a benefit concert in aid of the
Rainforest Foundation.
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The New Rope String Band
Re-formed after the death of their founder, Joe Scoular and formerly called the
Old Rope String Band, this foursome combine brilliant musicianship with a rich
variety of styles and an amazing amount of visual entertainment and general
clowning about. Anyone who has seen them knows that Pete Challoner and Tim
Dalling are highly talented performers. Now they are joined by Jock Tyldesley
and Vera van Heeringen to continue their tradition of making folk music fun.
They play a huge assortment of things – some of them musical instruments – in an
assortment of hoedown pan-celtic old-timey up-beat down-home styles. They add
boundless energy and lots of wacky ideas. Once seen, you’ll want to see them
again. >website<
John Tams and Barry Coope
These are two of the best-known names on the English folk scene. John Tams,
originally of folk rock pioneers the Albion Band and Home Service, has won many
awards in his four decades in the music industry. Without wishing to list them
all, his album The Reckoning was voted Album of the Year in the BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards 2006, and this year his song Steelos has been nominated for Best Original
Song. From last year’s album The Radio Ballads - an updating of the 1950s
concept – it is a tale of the Sheffield steel industry. Barry Coope – one third
of the Coope, Boyes and Simpson acapella group – has won tremendous plaudits for
his present tour with Tams. He also sings on the current hit album Private
Peaceful, a tale of the trenches of World War I, and is a veteran of many of the
UK’s top folk festivals, including Celtic Connections and Cambridge.
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Vin Garbutt
A popular figure on the UK folk scene, Vin is a modern day protest singer, and
is often described as the biggest draw in British folk music because of his
combination of wry Middlesbrough humour and highly relevant lyrics. He was voted
Best Live Act in the BBC Radio2 Folk Awards in 2001, and has been nominated for
the same award this year (long overdue!) He has performed all over the world,
his success being secured mainly by word of mouth, rather than industry hype.
His patter with the audience is becoming ever more zany – and watch out for his
amazingly skilful tin whistle playing.
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