Acts

Hailing from Cheshire, a classy and infectious twin-vocal 6-piece blend of Folk, Country and Americana, based around the music of leader David Boardman and lyrics of Mark Radcliffe. Through 3 well received albums, the band have been steadily building an audience through gigs, festivals and prestige tour support slots to the likes of A-lister Keifer Sutherland and his band, plus Americana legend Sid Griffin and the Long Ryders. Their sound takes in pan-Atlantic influences, the vocal blend of Fleetwood Mac, shades of Dylan and The Band, the occasional muscularity of Springsteen, the pioneering Country-Rock of the much missed Gram Parsons, all seasoned with a sprinkle of classic British indie-pop.

A recent rejig to the line-up has seen the addition of guitar playing vocalist Helen Walford-Insley and drummer Emily Bailey, join the aforementioned Mr Boardman (guitar/vocals), plus Emily Doggett on fiddle, Jim Broughton on Bass and the magnificent keyboards of Gary O’Brien

Virginia Kettle is the very heart of the multi award-winning folk-rock band Merry Hell. Her songs, spirit and energies have helped drive the band ever upwards, giving a significant outlet to her creativity, providing anthems such as Bury Me Naked, which had 20,000 fans swaying in a Cropredy field, as well as irresistible dancing tunes, and slices of wry humour as seen in ‘VIOLET’, her solo tour-de-force during the band set, where she often forgoes the need for amplification and wanders freely among the audience. Her solo album ‘No Place Like Tomorrow’ was a critical and popular success, hitting the heights of No.1 in the Amazon Folk Charts within days of its release.

ROLLING FOLK

As a prolific writer of songs, Rolling Folk gives Virginia the chance to share a variety of songs not included in Merry Hell’s sets. It is not a replacement for the band, but an additional outlet for her creativity and energy. Offering the same level of songwriting excellence as Merry Hell, but a different, more intimate feel, plus additional musical explorations, Rolling Folk surrounds Virginia with a fabulous and interesting selection of players, particularly multi, multi-instrumentalist Chris Lee, (Full House, Time Bandits, Family Mahone, Galleon Blast, Rad Co., etc, etc etc) and percussionist, whistle player and flautist, Mark Wooley (Ade Edmondson's Bad Shepherds, Full House, session master and more) and more recently ace fiddle player Clare ‘Fluff’ Smith, again a (young) veteran of numerous projects, including a stint with The Incredible String Band. Add in Virginia’s bandmate and husband John, all giving breadth and depth to her musical and lyrical visions. She has been described by Folk North West magazine as ‘The best thing to happen in British Folk for years’ and who are we to argue?

The Jake Leg Jug Band brings you the authentic sounds of 1920's and 30's America - jazz, blues, ragtime and gospel. Songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption.

After self-releasing their debut album Cotton Mouth, the band signed to one of the UK's most prestigious Jazz labels, recording three albums as part of the 'Vintage Recording Project', recording live around ribbon microphones, as it would have been back in the 1930’s. ‘Next Stop!’ ‘Everythin's Jake’ and ‘Break a Leg’ all met with rave reviews;

"A masterpiece of nostalgic music. The band display real virtuosity and create a wonderful sound that will be hard for any other band to repeat" Folk North West

The band followed up with the compilation 'Fifth Avenue', their debut release for the Green Bullet record label in late 2018.

January 2020 saw the release of album number 6, 'Goodbye Booze' which commemorated 100 years since the start of the American prohibition, followed in 2021 with an additional vinyl release on Coastal Light Records.

2022 marked the 10th anniversary of the band and saw them play over 100 gigs plus the release of their first ever live album – ‘Live at Audley Theatre’.

“It’s hard to pick out favourites. Thoroughly entertaining” Blues in Britain

In 2023 they released ‘Hello Central’, heralding in a new era as a permanent 3-piece band, augmented by additional live musicians. The album proved to be the band's most successful release to date both critically and commercially, receiving airplay on BBC Radio 2.

"A truly unique and talented group of musicians, their talent shines through on each and every track” Blues Blast Magazine (USA)

"Probably their best CD. Thoroughly enjoyable - excellent entertainment” Just Jazz

In 2024 the band released its 9th album in 12 years, 'Some Glad Morning' a full album of spirituals.

“An entertaining and varied mix...the Band shows how warming and moving spirituals can still be today…” Rootstime (Belgium)