Yves Lambert is well known for his charisma and generosity on stage, and is considered a reference point when it comes to Québécois folk music. Certain Québécois critics even regard him as a guiding light on the whole subject of Québec’s cultural heritage. Through his long-time association with the band La Bottine Souriante, Yves Lambert was a founding member and pillar of the group from 1976 to 2002. For the past 40 years M. Lambert has been a driving force in giving traditional music the place that it deserves beyond the Québec and Canadian borders. From 2002 to 2021 Yves Lambert released 7 albums, earned 3 Album Traditional of the Year at ADISQ, Group of the Year at the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Awards and Singer of the Year at the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards. For his last release “Lâche moi l’tordeur” in November 2021, Alexandre Vigneault, Canadian journalist from La Presse, called him “a National treasure”.

In 2022 he was awarded the “Order of Canada” for his role in the revival, modernization and promotion of traditional French-Canadian music.

Martha Wainwright is beginning again … and we are more than delighted to welcome her to the Wickham Festival stage on Friday 5th August 2022!

The beguiling performer and songwriter returns with Love Will Be Reborn, out in August. Not since 2012’s Come Home to Mama has a Martha Wainwright record been so full of original written material. Wainwright’s fifth studio album follows recent years of loneliness and clarity in search of optimism and joy.

Wainwright wrote the first song—and what would become the title track— of the record a few years ago. It was a very dark time, she says, but the positivity and luminosity of “Love Will Be Reborn” signalled what was to come. The song simply poured out of her.

Much of Wainwright’s songwriting since 2016’s Goodnight City felt too raw. “There were several years where I picked up the guitar, and I was so, so sad and depressing. I would just put it down because I was terrible.” Before writing it out, or writing through it for catharsis, Wainwright had to live it. Album opener “Middle of the Lake” reinforces Wainwright’s path forward as she sings over voltaic chords and percussion, “I sing my songs of love and pain / Winds of change or simply singing, I’m singing in the rain.” Her work never shies away from an existential throbbing wound. “There are a couple major subjects on the record. From what I can tell, there’s really dark and then light,” she says,” It really is reflective of a very difficult period of divorce. Then, after that, it’s meeting somebody new and amazing. And so you hear certain songs about this new love.”

Wainwright enlisted Canadian producer Pierre Marchand for Love Will Be Reborn. “Hole In My Heart” is an upbeat song, with Wainwright singing, “I got naked right away when I saw you / My love was like the rain when I saw you,” as is the track, “Getting Older,” which is about aging and new love. Other songs, she says, “represent me trying to shake away the past a little bit, the ball and chain of that anger, try to escape from it.”

There is no song more gripping than “Report Card.” The song is stripped to essential instrumentals punctuating her anguish. Wainwright expresses on the sombre track a feeling of deep loneliness, evoking emotional nuances particular to parents and individuals separated from their children because of custody arrangements.

Martha Wainwright’s role as an artist has always been to embrace her wildness and sketch out her raw depth. This edge is what makes Wainwright uncompromisingly herself and continues to draw in an audience two decades on. To begin again does not mean starting over. This process of rebirth honours the past to move forward. Love Will Be Reborn captures Wainwright’s heart in transition. In an effort to rise out of some painful depths, as she says much like a phoenix from the ashes of an existential twilight, Wainwright bore witness to what her heart endured to find a new joy once more.

Maz O’Connor grew up in the wild Lake District of the Romantic Poets, studied literature at Cambridge and is now settled in East London. Her roots are in Ireland, and all of these diverse influences work together to make her songwriting something unique. Her exceptional voice provides the perfect vehicle for her powerful songs.

Maz spent her teenage years singing in folk clubs, and in 2014 was the recipient of a BBC Performing Arts Fund Fellowship (Adele was a previous recipient) which paired her as an emerging artist in residence with The English Folk Dance and Song Society. During this year she wrote, recorded and released her album ‘This Willowed Light’, which earned her a nomination for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Horizon Award and appearances at high profile festivals such as Cambridge Folk Festival, WOMAD and Glastonbury. The Guardian called it ‘folk album of the year thus far’.

Maz began to explore her own songwriting further, addressing themes of Millennial angst in her second album ‘The Longing Kind’, about which Songlines wrote: ‘There is an inquiring intelligence as well as an emotional sensibility at work here…she plays and sings beautifully *****’. She toured the U.K. and Europe, including opening for such artists as David Gray, Thomas Dybdahl and Rosanne Cash.

An EP of cover songs ‘The Undercover EP’ followed, a collection of some of her favourite songs by other artists, from Bob Dylan to Louis Armstrong, via Greenday. Accompanying shows included appearances at Henley Festival and How the Light Gets In, and a packed London’s Kings Place.

Alongside her own performances, Maz is also busy as a songwriter for special projects, commissions and theatre. She has been commissioned to write songs for UK Parliament and The Royal Shakespeare Company, and is now working on her own piece of music theatre.

Her background in folk continues to inform her storytelling and feminist themes are a constant in her work: from the song ‘Derby Day’, which she was commissioned to write about Emily Wilding Davison and the feminist re-telling of the creation myth ‘Mississippi Woman’ (both on her first album ‘This Willowed Light’), to the songs giving voice to women in portraits who have been silenced as muses (on her second album ‘The Longing Kind’).

She considers new album ‘Chosen Daughter’ – a collection of darker, story songs – a bigger, more concentrated feminist statement. The album was inspired by the stories of her female ancestors, grandmother-mother-daughter relationships, and ideas around female inheritance. It is not protest music, but a very personal album which explores, and celebrates, the feminine.

By the time John Spiers and Jon Boden had hung up their highly regarded hats as the Spiers & Boden duo in 2014 they had earned a place in the hearts of the folk audience that few could rival. Described by The Guardian as ‘the finest instrumental duo on the traditional scene’, Spiers & Boden first rocketed onto the music scene in 2001, quickly winning a clutch of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and went on to become one of the best loved duos on the English folk scene and beyond. John and Jon were also founding members of the pioneering and hugely successful folk big band Bellowhead, whose stellar career increasingly came to dominate their time. But now, after exploring solo projects, the duo is back with a the album ‘Fallow Ground’ (Hudson Records), plus festival appearances and a 23 date UK comeback tour in October ’21, which included the sold out Spiers & Boden Festival at Cecil Sharp House, London.

‘It’s all exquisitely played – the pair are still the dons.’
The Observer

‘Boden’s impassioned singing brings fresh life to little-heard songs, along with the perfectly balanced pairing of his fiddle with Spiers’s melodeon.’
The Scotsman *****

‘This is traditional folk delivered with modern verve’
EDS

‘I guess we were looking for songs during lockdown with a sense of fun and light relief. I realise that there are zero songs about death on this album, which is probably a first and may get us expelled from the English Folk Dance & Song Society. Yes, traditional songs with a joyous edge’.
Jon Boden.

Despite the impact of Covid-19 on live music audiences in autumn 2021, the Spiers & Boden tour went on to numerous sell outs and ‘Fallow Ground’ reached number 3 on the UK & Ireland Official Folk Albums chart for September ’21 and is a Mojo magazine top 10 album of 2021.

Sharon is a musician who continues to surprise. While she is known for her arrangements of traditional Irish tunes and Irish influenced compositions, she has always been eager to explore new styles, and to meet and work with other musicians. The accordionist from Ireland has achieved legendary status throughout the world and has made the much-maligned accordion ‘cool’ in her home country. Renowned for her collaborations, not just in Irish traditional music, but through all music genres, Hip Hop, Cajun, Country, Classical and Rap.

Sharon has recorded and toured with a who’s who of the Irish and Global Music Industry, including The Waterboys, John Prine, Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra, The Chieftains, Shane McGowan, Willie Nelson, Nigel Kennedy, Kirsty MacColl, Bono, Adam Clayton, Sinéad O’Connor, Imelda May and- a list that is testament to Sharon’s versatility as well as talent.

While crossing-over into many genres of music, Sharon’s style is uniquely traditional Irish and she has been hugely influential in promoting Irish music not only in her own country but in the USA where she has collaborated with John Prine and Steve Earle/ Canada with Natalie McMaster/ Japan with the Kodo Drummers/ Malawi with Umoza Children of Mzuzu and most recently recording and touring with Seckou Keita, Kora and percussion master from Senegal.

A prolific composer, Sharon continues to defy genres and her 10 studio albums are testament to a fearless adventuring spirit when it comes to making music. In 2018 she recorded a traditional Irish music album with Irish rugby star Robbie Henshaw and the Henshaw family and friends. Her last studio album was Sacred Earth 2017 and has released a double live album Live in Minneapolis in early 2019.

Swan Samba are a drumming and movement group open to ages 11+ and all abilities, run via Roynon Performing Arts, a school established for 40 years. Workshops are held for all ages and abilities to learn new and exciting drum and performance skills every Tuesday term time. The drumming band plays a fusion of samba styles and have gigged at local carnivals such as Romsey and Hedge End, as well as exciting events such as Winchester’s Hatfair and Wickham Festival.

They have also been featured in the media, including The Portsmouth News, Voice FM and South Today. Swan Samba can be found on all relevant social media streams and all enquiries are very welcome, whether it’s to try out in the band, set workshops in schools, or to pencil in future performance opportunities. If you’re in the Southampton / Winchester areas, why not get in contact and try three taster sessions for £15?

Over the last 10 years, Dave has established himself as a reputable singer/songwriter who has developed his own brand of British-infused Americana. Dave is as authentic as they come, and his music, live shows and personality have attracted a loyal community of music lovers.

As a result of this loyal support, Dave has been able to self-fund and release two full-length albums. The most recent ‘Tennessee and 48th’, was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in January 2018 after an 8-month fundraising campaign that raised £23,000. He has also self-produced and released eight EPs, been on numerous tours around the UK, Europe, Ireland and Australia. He also has his sights firmly set on touring in North America.

To celebrate his 10th anniversary as a singer/songwriter, Dave has announced that he will make his next album in the most famous recording studio in the world.

Recording a full-length album at Abbey Road Studios is a huge undertaking that will require nearly double the funding of Dave’s Nashville album. But it is under this kind of pressure that he produces his best work, as he aims to exceed expectations.

In a year when the Grammy award for Best Album was won by an album recorded in a bedroom, some will argue that no one needs to spend thousands of pounds making an album anymore, nor does the location of recording determine the quality of what is produced. But Dave knows the value of Abbey Road’s history and is excited about forming a connection with those who came before him. Paying tribute to the experiences that inspired this next venture is a noble mission, and Dave will move forward as an advocate not only for quality but also for an endeavour we can all believe in.

Accordion maestro Luke Daniels and The Cobhers will be making their Wickham debut on Sunday 7th August 2022.

A BBC award winning folk musician and former Riverdance band member who has performed with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Cara Dillon and De Dannan. Folk Musician in Residence of the Scottish National Museum of Rural Life and tutor on the traditional music course at Royal Conservatoire Scotland in Glasgow. His 2015 album of melodeon music transcribed from early wax cylinders and 78s was described in the Scotsman as “outstanding.” A soloist on the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit soundtracks he performed at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. His commissioned work for the PRS for Music New Music Biennial in 2014 was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 from London’s Barbican Centre and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival’s Assembly Rooms and on Broadway with Riverdance. His musical partnership with the School of Philosophy at Edinburgh University culminated in sell out shows at Celtic Connections Festival on two consecutive years with Songs of the Scottish Enlightenment. He recently sang and played live for Mark Radcliffe on his BBC Radion 2 folk programme and was described by Mark as a “master melodeon player.”

Town of Cats will be bringing their dance rhythms to Wickham on Saturday 6th August 2022, their first visit to our Festival.

Grabbed by their scruffs, thrown in a rough hessian sack and tossed in the lake shortly after birth by some farmer or other, Town of Cats shoulda been goners before they even got started. But attempted euthanasia’ll do funny things for friendships — that, and lack of oxygen. Rescued from the water’s numbing embrace by Mama Biscuits and her pack of feral moggies, Joe, Adam, Barney and Ben were shoved unceremoniously behind instruments, mewling and dripping. Ol’ Ma took up her trusty sax, and told the four to play up or pack it in.

FOS Brothers will make their Wickham debut on Saturday 6th August 2022.  The force behind the FOS Brothers has always been Dave and Sam McCrory. Born in Belfast during the height of the troubles their influences derive from hard schooling on the streets and strict Northern Irish evangelical church attendance, sometimes 6 days a week.

Dave left Ireland at the age of 19 to study at Oxford Polytechnic and Sam came over 4 years later to form the band. They met Rom Dobbs and have collaborated with him for 25 +  years. Rom started out in punk bands and developed an fascination with world music when living in Devon near Dartington College where his dad was head of music department. Pete Bingham is best known for his band Waulk Elektrik who became very popular on the Roots music circuit in the 90’s.

They are a right bunch of characters all weird in their own way but managing to merge into a wall of sound when let loose on stage.

Hard to button hole their appeal sometimes as they move seamlessly from tear jerking Irish ballads to full on rocked out floydian space rock – they are equally happy with a pin drop silence Arts Centre or a bouncing Festival Marquee. They adapt their set to suit the audience always aiming to have a shared experience and an uplifting evening.

In seven years of existence, THE CELTIC SOCIAL CLUB has succeeded in imposing a sound, a style and a name on a well established Celtic music scene. With four studio albums and two live albums so far, They have crisscrossed stages, festivals and continents. These seven Franco-Irish troubadours continue to refine their elegant and daring reinterpretation of the traditions of Celtic music, blended with great amounts of rock energy, of pop harmony and folk melody.

The astonishing journey for this band began in July 2014 and was only meant to be a one off event at the Vieilles Charrues festival. The energy, the desire and the freshness, forged a band from an event. This meeting of adventurers, gathered around a name, THE CELTIC SOCIAL CLUB. A band with a cultural mission: to advance traditional music from Celtic cultures (Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Asturias) by fusing them with rock, pop, folk and groove.

Organized like a guerrilla group , the collective pops up all across Europe, but may surface in Asia, and has been known to materialize in The United States, even showing up in Central Park, NYC. Having toured the world, The Celtic Social Club’s sights are set on The United Kingdom, which has a history of musical superiority and a lack of tolerance for French artists. The Pogues and the Clash have often been cited in an attempt to summarise the spirit of energetic and ambitious musical mash-ups. Taking the torch from these pioneers, The Celtic Social Club has gradually forged a new and stable path to original territory.

Their fourth album, DANCING OR DYING? was released on October 8th 2021. Irish singer, Dan Donnelly added his voice to his Breton counterparts: Manu Masko, Ronan Le Bars, Goulven Hamel, Pierre Stephan, Mathieu Péqueriau and Richard Puaud. They have levelled up their recording game over the last year and are keen to prove that with the new material, that love they will be a force to be reckoned with

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’.

Southern American folklore tells of song-catchers: individuals who possess a spiritual, almost supernatural, connection to the music of a culture. They gather important songs and preserve them, providing voices to give them life and ensuring they’re remembered.

Rumer is such a song-catcher. Songs written by the British singer, like “Slow” and “Aretha,” made her a worldwide million-seller but she also has an unerring instinct for the work of others. On Nashville Tears, Rumer immerses herself in the catalog of Hugh Prestwood, a songwriter whose name is spoken with reverence by his colleagues. An album to savor, Nashville Tears collects fifteen of Prestwood’s finest songs, many never recorded until now, revealing truths of the heart, both intimate and universal, realistic and romantic.