The ever-popular Phil Beer will be appearing solo at Wickham on Sunday 3rd August as well as joining with Reg Meuross, Marion Fleetwood & Geraint Watkins to perform ‘Fire and Dust: A Woody Guthrie Story’.

World-class award-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, arranger and composer Phil Beer is a founder member of the internationally acclaimed folk pioneers Show of Hands along with his long time collaborator, Steve Knightley. His own Phil Beer Band is much in demand as are Beer’s solo performances. A sought-after musical collaborator, session player, recording engineer and producer, Beer is also the boss of his own record label, Chudleigh Roots. 

With Knightley and Show of Hands’ then manager Gerard O’Farrell, Beer created a business model that turned the usual business of music on it’s head and they formed the label ‘Hands on Music’ in 1996. Bypassing the middlemen and building an enduring, close relationship with their audience, Beer with Knightley and Sykes, has built up a phenomenal grass roots following. 

Beer is an extraordinarily intuitive musician who really listens to his fellow performers. His playing lifts and inspires those around him. Beer is known for having no ego about playing and will not ‘hog the solos’. Famously easy-going, “except about performing standards”, he’s also highly regarded for happily trying anything out. 

Beer dedicates himself to an exemplary professional approach in all his work, and to gigging with the highest production values wherever, whatever the venue. Remaining adamant that you’re only as good as your last performance, he believes that the audience should always come away feeling they’ve witnessed a quality show “on the level of say, Clapton at the Albert Hall.” 

Bringing the same attention to detail to his recording and production work, Beer put together the Show of Hands recording studio at Riverside Studio which he ran until 2011 as well as his own studio at The Green Room in Devon where he continues to work on his own projects. These include editing and compiling a retrospective from his massive back catalogue for subsequent ‘box set’ releases, and on commissions for compositions for film and TV. He set up his own Chudleigh Roots label in 2007. 

Dedicated to paying it forward, Beer mentors young musicians amongst them Jackie Oates, producing her acclaimed second album The Violet Hour (Chudleigh Roots, 2008). His production/recording work also includes Tom Palmer’s eponymous 2007 album (Chudleigh Roots), and with Knightley, Jez Lowe’s Jack Commons Anthem (Tantobie 2007). 

After several BBC Radio 2 folk award nominations, including Musician of the Year’ Beer won Best Duo in 2010 with Knightley for Show of Hands, also picking up Best Original Song for Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed. That same year Beer responded to what he describes as ‘minor heart surgery’ with typical humour, saying: “News of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.” 

He received an Honorary Doctorate for services to music from Plymouth University in 2015, along with Knightley and Sykes. In 2017 he won the title ’Best Musician’ in the 2017 Folking Awards, voted for by the public and Best Duo for Show of Hands. Again with Knightley, Beer was voted Greatest Ever Devonian in 2006, beating amongst others, Agatha Christie, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Scott and Chris Martin to the title. 

Canadian singer-songwriter Tara MacLean will make her Wickham Festival debut on Sunday 3rd August 2025 having had to cancel her planned appearance last year due to Covid.

Tara has been an internationally renowned and award winning recording and touring artist for over 25 years. She released her first album with the Nettwerk Music Group in 1996 and Sony Music Publishing Canada. Since then has been signed with Capitol Records, and EMI Canada with her JUNO nominated band Shaye. She has written and recorded six solo albums and two with Shaye.

Tara has recently received the Senate of Canada Medal for her activist work in her community. She finished a run of three summer seasons with her hit theater show that she wrote, produced, and directed called, “Atlantic Blue-The Stories of Atlantic Canada’s Iconic Songwriters” in Charlottetown. The summer of 2019 saw Atlantic Blue produced and directed by the world famous Charlottetown Festival playing three nights a week to sold out crowds.

Tara received the SOCAN Songwriter of the Year award as well as Solo Recording of the Year for her latest album, Deeper at the PEI Music Awards. Deeper was nominated for Pop Album of the Year at ECMA 2020. Her duet with Catherine MacLellan, “This Storm”, received the award for Song of the Year. She performed “Songs from Atlantic Blue” in Concert with the PEI Symphony Orchestra. Last year, Tara received the Stompin’ Tom award by the East Coast Music Association, marking an outstanding contribution to music in the region.

Tara MacLean is an environmental and social justice activist, a zen student, a poet, author and a playwright. She resides primarily in her home province of Prince Edward Island, and also lives part time on Salt Spring Island, BC. She considers herself bi-coastal. Her greatest joy is being a mother to her three beautiful girls.

Her first book, Song of the Sparrow, hit the Best Seller List the week it was released and Tara quickly followed up with “Sparrow” – the soundtrack for the book.

Click here to order her Album, Sparrow.

Made up of two Irishmen, an Englishman and an American, the band create their own unique brand of acoustic music – a veritable 4 x 4 of voices and instruments identified by the fusion of styles which include Americana, Latino, Folk, Bluegrass and (whisper it…) Pop!

Taking festivals such as Shrewsbury, Glastonbury, Wickham and Northern Kin (to name a few) by storm with their dynamite live shows, the band will be touring their 11th album “The Essential Track Dogs: Tracks Laid, Tracks Covered” featuring the best of their originals and cover tracks plus some brand new songs and reimagined versions of already existing tracks.

2025 will see the release of Track Dogs’ 11th album, but this one is a little special. The Essential Track Dogs; Tracks Laid, Tracks Covered will be a double CD featuring the best of their originals and cover tracks (“La Banda”, “The Deep End”, “Man of Constant Sorrow”) plus some brand new recordings (“Amor De Mi Vida”, “Ruby”) and reimagined versions of already existing tracks like “Donna Lola”.

With their 20^thanniversary coming up in 2026 this is a perfect time to reflect on where they’ve been, where they are now and more importantly, where they’re going.

“Sun-shiny songs thriving on dark themes behind irresistible rhythms!”

“If you were looking to mark your card for the End Of The World party, head to wherever Track Dogs are playing…” (Americana UK)

Ian Prowse & Amsterdam will be at this year’s Wickham Festival on Sunday 3rd August. Ian toured with Elvis Costello last year and is touring with Levellers this Spring.

Ian Prowse formed Pele in 1989 along with Dally (drums), Robbo (Hammond), Nico (violin) and Jim McCallister (bass). Signed by Michael Levy, Baron Levy in March 1991 to M&G Records/Polydor, the band went on to release two studio albums (Fireworks & The Sport Of Kings), one live album and six singles. Pele’s singles never reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, with it being often remarked that Pele sold more of their famous primary colour T-shirts than they did records. However they scored a number one single in South Africa with “Megalomania”, and had other hits in Holland, Portugal and Belgium. After nine tours of the UK, including those with Del Amitri and The Pogues, they split in 1996 due to problems with the record company whose efforts to make Prowse record as a solo artist were resisted by the singer. Prowse celebrated the 25th anniversary of first album Fireworks with a UK tour in the early 2017 with a 25th anniversary of The Sport of Kings tour announced for 2018.

The excellent Reg Meuross and his quartet featuring Phil Beer, Marion Fleetwood & Geraint Watkins will be bringing their Fire & Dust / Woody Guthrie story to Wickham on Sunday 3rd August 2025.

Reg’s clever and imaginative lyrics have earned him the title of  “Master Storyteller” (PennyBlack Music) and led Mike Harding (Mike Harding Folk Show) to introduce him onto the stage of The Royal Albert Hall as  “one of the finest singer-songwriters this country has produced”. Whether it’s a village hall or the Albert Hall, Reg brings to the stage a collection of extremely beautiful songs, performed with humour and depth, and sung with the voice of an angel. Reg has that rare gift of being able to touch people, through his songs and performance, on a really human level. His words and music paint pictures that remain with the listener long after the song has been sung.

“When you have 2000 people singing along, you’re doing something right.”
Great British Folk Festival

“A mighty songwriter and an equally fine singer”
Martin Carthy

“One of the most talented storytellers of our generation”
Pennyblack Music

“Powerful and moving songwriting”
Martin Chilton, The Telegraph

A deep well of compassion and insight into the human heart and spirit.”
Mike Davies, Folk Radio UK

The wonderful Kate Rusby, Mercury Prize Winner & 6-times BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner, will be appearing on Sunday 3rd August 2025. Forever proud to call herself a folk singer, Kate Rusby’s vocals never fail to connect the heart of a song to that of her audience.

As early as 1999, aged just 26, Kate was named as one of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century. Everything she has done since has confirmed that honour. From being a 1999 Mercury Prize Winner – almost unheard of for a folk singer both then and now – to her latest albums ‘Light Years’, ’30 Happy Returns’ and ‘Hand Me Done’ Kate has stayed true to her folk and acoustic roots.

Named as one of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century, a Mercury Prize Winner, 6-times BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winner and a warm, Yorkshire sense of humour to boot, Rusby has achieved an unprecedented cross-over appeal. Despite stepping into a more contemporary production on her last few albums, she has stayed true to her roots. Her cover of Manic Monday (Hand Me Down 2020) featured on the BBC Radio 2 playlist. The guests on 2022 album 30 : Happy Returns is testament to Rusby’s wide appeal and include the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, KT Tunstall, and Beth Nielson Chapman.

Kate’s Yorkshire roots contribute to her wonderful and warm sense of humour whilst also providing the rich vein of South Yorkshire carols which together, with the passion she has for Christmas, adds the magic to her annual and hugely popular Christmas tour hailed as ‘The Start of Christmas’ for many people.

Hailing from the Isle of Skye, the legendary Scottish trailblazers have created a glorious mixture of traditional sounds and dance-floor grooves that have been embraced worldwide. Drawing upon a dazzling myriad of influences from jigs and reels through Dance Music, Jazz, African, and more, they bring the sound of Scotland fresh-faced and breathless to the new audiences around the world.

From the moment they take to the stage, the mood is set for a no-nonsense feel-good atmosphere, each number sounding like an encore itself. The traditional styles that influence the musicians are still to be heard and when an unexpected drop-down to those glorious core melodies sneaks in the result is spine-chilling! In short, it rocks, and the audience becomes part of the experience.

2025 sees the Peatbog Faeries 34th year as a band.. with new materiel and a new enthusiasm. I see a world is the first new studio album from the Peatbog Faeries since 2015’s critically acclaimed ‘Blackhouse’.

Click here to listen to and buy their new alsbum, I see a world.

Since 1996, the Peatbog Faeries have pushed the boundaries of Scottish music.. combining traditional tunes with everything from Drum and Bass to Malian guitar, creating a sound that’s uniquely their own. Guest artists include the truly beautiful voices of Heather Macleod and Gina Rae, the incredible horns of Helena Kay, the Uilleann Pipes from Ireland’s finest, Ryan Murphy, and the talents of master percussionist Krishna Kishor all the way from Chennai in India.

The band is made up of Peter Morrison on pipes and whistles, Ross Couper on fiddle, Innes Watson on fiddle, vocals and acoustic guitar, Tom Salter on guitar, Norman Willmore on keyboards and sax, Innes Hutton on bass and Stuart Brown on drums.

Invariably the band travel with their own sound engineer, as well as a lighting engineer to ensure their famous shows become a truly memorable experience on every level for their audiences.

Peatbog Faeries have become firm favourites at festivals and venues across the UK and have toured the world with their inventive and unique brand of music never failing to fill the floor and delight crowds.

“Nothing prepares you for the high octane music of the Peatbog Faeries. Powerful melodies are dextrously pumped out with a smart degree of techno attitude, while cross-rhythms ricochet over a heavy bass that hits you forcefully like a massive heart beat.”
The Scotsman

Oysterband have always been a huge success when they’ve performed at Wickham and we are delighted to announce they will be extending their Long, Long Goodbye Tour to appear at Wickham Festival on Sunday, 3rd August 2025. Having travelled the country this will be your final chance to enjoy these veterans of British folk rock and folk punk.

“We’re hanging up our travelling shoes, but we’re taking a year or so to say goodbye to our lovely live audience.And we mean to enjoy every minute!”

In the words of our own song Granite Years, we’re waving you a long, long goodbye…..come help us celebrate!”

From their earliest days as a noisy, politicised ceilidh band in the late Seventies, Oysterband have never stopped evolving or providing soundtrack to the changing times.

Initially meeting at Canterbury in Kent, at a time when pubs were alive with folk clubs and music sessions, the Oyster Ceilidh Band (as they were known then), were a band on a simple mission to get dancefloors bouncing. But with a chemistry between its members and music that made a profound connection with its audiences, greater things soon beckoned as the times became more complicated.

Emerging in the early 80s from their ceilidh band days they infused both the traditional and their own songs with a passion and energy that was electrifyingly fresh for the time. Polkas, politics and a heaving dance floor somehow seemed perfectly right for Thatcher’s Britain. Signing to new roots label Cooking Vinyl, headlining English Roots Against Apartheid, playing Glastonbury and the Fleadh several times each, touring with The Pogues in Europe and Billy Bragg in North America, hosting the Big Session Festival. All gained them a large and loyal following both at home and internationally.

Releasing music with relative prolificacy, from their debut as Oyster Ceilidh Band ‘Jack’s Alive’ in 1980; through classics like ‘Step Outside’ (1986), ‘Wide Blue Yonder’ (1987), ‘Ride’ (1989) (as Oyster Band); to mid-period Oysterband wonders like ‘Deserters’ (1992), ‘Holy Bandits’ (1993), ‘Trawler’ (1994), and latter period gems like ‘Rise Above’ (2002) or ‘Diamonds On The Water’ (2014)’; Oysterband have been a constant and uplifting presence in music throughout the decades and have ratcheted-up dozens of studio releases throughout their career.

Their collaboration with June Tabor in 1990 produced the cult favourite album ‘Freedom & Rain’, and it was renewed 21 years later for ‘Ragged Kingdom’, one of the best-selling folk-rock albums of the new millennium.

Winners of several BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including Best Band twice, Oysterband’s song-writing has never stood still, and hits such as “The Oxford Girl”, “When I’m Up I Can’t Get Down” (Best Song at the Canadian East Coast Music Awards, performed by Great Big Sea), “Everywhere I Go and Put Out The Lights” are now renowned staples of the folk canon.

The band released what stands as their final album in 2022, the acclaimed ‘Read The Sky’, which found the band taking a political stand for their environmental beliefs. As true to their political roots as they ever were, the album was released to chime with the COP26 summit in Glasgow of that year. The album hit the Official Folk Album Chart No.1, a testament to their enduring popularity across the ages.

The creative heart of Oysterband is still here after 45 years:John Jones (vocals, melodeon), Alan Prosser (guitars) and Ian Telfer (violin), with Al Scott, their longtime producer, on bass, Adrian Oxaal (cello and guitar) and newest member Sean Randle on drums.

Most recently, Oysterband undertook an extensive tour of Europe, plus a special “Decades” tour across the UK where they explored their back catalogue in greater depth. Announcing a series of shows with June Tabor in 2024, Oysterband will be going out on a high as they bid “A Long Long Goodbye” to fans and friends with a series of unmissable shows.

They’ve travelled the world but they still play with the fire of that dance band back in Kent.

“A single star is shining // Across the evening sky // Sending us a message // Then they’re waving us goodbye // They are waving us a long, long goodbye // Thousands of light-years // Goodbye…”
Oysterband – “Granite Years” (from ‘Deserters’, 1992)