We are delighted to announce that Chris Difford, singer-songwriter and co-founder of Squeeze fame will be performing on Thursday 4th August 2022.   Squeeze proved extremely popular at Wickham Festival 2018 so it is a real treat to welcome his return for 2022.  He has written lyrics for over 40 years, of course most prominently in partnership with Glenn Tilbrook. The two were primary members in Squeeze and Difford & Tilbrook.

After the break-up of Squeeze in 1983 Difford continued writing songs for artists such as Elvis Costello, Helen Shapiro, Billy Bremner and Jools Holland. He has also written lyrics for music by Elton John and Wet Wet Wet amonst others.  In 2017, Chris published his autobiography Some Fantastic Place: My Life In and Out of Squeeze.

Will Varley is a singer-songwriter, musician and visual artist. He is one of the founding members of the arts collective Smugglers Records. In 2011 he recorded his debut album ‘Advert Soundtracks’ with Smugglers, and then set out on the road and walked a hundred and thirty miles with a guitar and tent on his back. Starting the walking tour at London Bridge he headed south east, strolling through the rolling hills of the Kent wield and singing songs to whoever would listen. He slept in barns, camped at the side of canals and played gigs in the corner of crowded pubs. By the time he strolled back to deal, despite the blisters and the aching muscles, word of his album had begun to spread and he had many a story to tell.

Since then he has toured extensively across the world as a headline act and opened for the likes of Billy Bragg, The Dead South and The Proclaimers. He has headlined venues including Union Chapel and Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

His live performances have become more and more anarchic over the years. Audience interaction, surreal improvised comedy between songs and chaotic stunts like playing two songs at the same time are now more often than not included in his shows, though he will just as quickly deliver a melancholic and heartbreaking ballad or a fiery protest song as he will a shaggy dog story or an amusing talking blues.

Will’s songs have been covered by acts as diverse as The Pretty Things and Frank Turner. In recent years Will has co-written songs with numerous artists including Skin of Skunk Anansie and Shae Dupuy. His sixth studio album The Hole Around My Head was released in 2021.

Los Pacaminos celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2022. The band appeared at our 1st Wickham Festival in 2006. Guitarist Jamie Moses was at Wickham in 2021 with The SAS Band.

The spirit of Tex-Mex lies somewhere between the Mariachi and Norteno styles of Mexico and the Country/Blues sounds of South-West America. It’s played by such luminaries as Ry Cooder, Flaco Jimenez, The Texas Tornados and Los Lobos.

We’re all seasoned musicians in our own right, but you’ll probably have heard of one of us in particular. A certain Mr Paul Young, one of the UK’s best-loved vocalists, fronts the band.

As Paul says: “Los Pacaminos started out just for fun, playing simply for the pleasure of it. It all took off from there. It’s real bar room stuff: foot stompers, not too many slow songs – a real party atmosphere.”

A typical Pacaminos set might include ‘Wooly Bully’, ‘La Bamba’ and sometimes, if enough tequila is flowing, ‘Speedy Gonzales’.

The wonderful singer-songwriter Grace Petrie will be at our 2022 Wickham Festival on Thursday 4th August, 2022.

‘She’s the urgent, pulsing, compassionate talent this world desperately needs.’
The Observer

Protest singer Grace Petrie has an army of loyal fans across the alternative, folk, political and comedy scenes. She’s toured to arenas with Frank Turner, has supported comedian Hannah Gadsby, toured with comedy phenomenon The Guilty Feminist , has done a prestigious live session on the BBC Radio 2 Jo Whiley Show and reached the top 40 in the UK album charts in autumn 2021 with her new album ‘Connectivity’. Festival appearances have included The Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival in Australia, Vancouver Folk Festival in Canada and many more.

‘She writes the sort of songs you want to pin the lyrics of on your bedroom wall, or on the office door, to remind you and everyone else who might read them what is important and true’
Buzz Magazine

Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is an English electric folk, folk rock, and folk punk band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976. The band formed in parallel to Fiddler’s Dram, and under the name Oyster Ceilidh Band played purely as a dance band at first. The name Oyster comes from the group’s early association with the coastal town of Whitstable in East Kent, known for the quality of its oysters.

“Polished, vibrant and passionate…” – Martin Ellis, The Journal

10cc first appeared at Wickham back in 2013 as a support slot which proved one of the big hits of the 2013 Wickham Festival.  They then played in 2015 and 2017 as headliners by popular demand.  Well … drum roll … they’re back at Wickham Festival 2022!!!  With a string of top 10 hits including Donna, Dreadlock Holiday, Rubber Bullets and I’m Not in Love, this evergreen act will bring our opening night to a fantastic finale.

Among the most inventive and influential bands in the history of popular music, 10cc are one of the very few acts to have achieved commercial, critical and creative success in equal measure. Fronted by original band member Graham Gouldman they are still going strong 40 years on.

10cc consists of:

Graham Gouldman
That loyal little song-bug has stood him in good stead through decades of distinction as one of the UK’s most productive and imaginative hitmakers. We’re talking very much in the present and future tenses, too, since he continues to write with contemporary hitmakers and see his classics renewing themselves constantly, as with the news that ‘For Your Love’ and ‘Heart Full Of Soul’, two of the timeless hits he wrote for the Yardbirds, have lately been part of live sets by the White Stripes. The headlines of Graham’s career may always be his early compositions for the scenesters of the ’60s, his crucial role in the super-intelligent ’70s pop of 10cc, and his livewire combination with Andrew Gold in Wax during the ’80s.

Rick Fenn
Born in Oxford, Rick was plucked for a band called Gentlemen to join 10cc towards the end of 1976, at the launch of the Deceptive Bends album and has been part of the team ever since. From 1979, he also toured and recorded with Mike Oldfield and with him co-wrote the song Family Man, which become a worldwide hit for Hall & Oates, and won him an ASCAP award for best song in 1984. In 1985, Rick wrote and recorded his own album Profiles, with Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason. The single from the album, Lie for a Lie – sung by Dave Gilmour and featuring Maggie Reilly – was a hit in the USA.

Mick Wilson
Mick has performed and recorded with artistes such as Lionel Ritchie, Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Cher, Alice Cooper, Alison Moyet, Chris Rea, Donny Osmond, Robin Gibb, Cliff Richard, Lulu and the K.L.F.  He is also a regular member of The SAS Band which play all over the world, with guest performers such as Brian May, Roger Daltrey, Roger Taylor, Kiki Dee and Tony Hadley.  For over 20 years, Mick has had his own recording and production facility, which has been the base for a varied career as a producer and songwriter, as well as composing music for TV and live events, for companies such as Sky, BBC, ITV, Marks & Spencer, McDonalds, BT, Levi’s, Toyota, Mercedes, Ford and Mitsubishi.

Paul Burgess
Paul met Graham Gouldman in the early days of 10cc when recording at Strawberry Studios and when they planned to start touring asked him to join as an auxillary member, playing drums, percussion and keyboards for what was to become a ten year period. He started recording with them in 1976. In 1982, he toured throughout America and Canada with Jethro Tull and in 1983 played his final tour with 10cc around the U.K. The ’80s became a tour fest with Camel in (’83/’84), Elkie Brooks (’85), Joan Armatrading (’86), Alvin Stardust (’87), Gloria Gaynor (’88) and Icicle Works (’89).

Mike Stevens
Born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, Mike is a musician, producer and writer graduate from Birmingham School of Music, where he studied clarinet, euphonium and piano. He is widely known as the Musical Director for Take That, having performed with them on every tour since 1993, including the Progress stadium tour last summer.