The Village Folk Club with Laura Smyth, Ted Kemp and Laurel Swift AND The Beech Band

Tuesday 21 October 2014 

 Taurus Bar, 1 Canal Street 

(just five minutes walk from Piccadilly station) 

 7.30pm doors open for 8pm start 

 £8 full price / £6 for concessions
To buy tickets in advance, please click here

Wow, have we got a line up for you! Not only do we welcome Laura and Ted – formerly Manchester based but now calling London home – to the club for the first time, but they'll be flanked by Chorlton's infamous Beech Band playing a few tunes. It's going to be fantastic!

First of all, there's a good chance you haven't witnessed Laura and Ted in the flesh before... they're relatively new to the gigging circuit, but you might recognise Laura's name as she's recently been made director of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House in London. So she certainly knows her stuff! The duo have recently released their debut EP and we're looking forward to their thoughtful interpretations of lesser known traditional material, with a Manchester and Lancashire bias. Laura and Ted often perform with Laurel Swift, who you will have seen leaping through the air with a variety of different morris sides. To have a sneak preview, take a listen here.

Laura and Ted were also members of The Beech Band, before they left Manchester for the big smoke, so we're delighted that the band will be on hand to regale us with songs and tunes. For more information about The Beech, please visit their website.

The Village Folk Club with The Rachel Hamer Band

Tuesday 16 September 2014 

 Taurus Bar, 1 Canal Street 

(just five minutes walk from Piccadilly station) 

 7.30pm doors open for 8pm start 

 £8 full price / £6 for concessions
To buy tickets in advance please click here

There's nothing more exciting than when you hear a few excited whispers and decide to book a band on that strength alone. So come along; Rachel Hamer and her musicians could be your new favourite band...

Here's what the band say about themselves:

The Rachel Hamer Band are an exciting new four piece folk band based in Newcastle. The band is made up of North Eastern singer Rachel Hamer, Jedburgh guitarist Graeme Armstrong, Saltburn’s fiddle player and clogger Grace Smith and Glossops’s whistle, flute, pipes and bassoon player Sam Partridge. Forming in 2013 over a shared love of music and song. They perform an exciting blend of traditional and contemporary songs. Since their formation they have performed in and around the North East and are looking forward to the future!

Join the Facebook event page here and visit the band's website here.

Club's out for summer!

Yup, we're off to frolic at festivals in the sun. See you for an icecream?

We'll be back on Tuesday 15 September with the Rachel Hamer band. Check them out, they're pretty awesome.

The Village Folk Club with Bryony Griffith and Will Hampson

Tuesday 15 July 2014 

 Taurus Bar, 1 Canal Street 

(just five minutes walk from Piccadilly station) 

 7.30pm doors open for 8pm start 

 £9 full price / £7 for concessions

Bryony and Will hail from sunny Yorkshire and will be familiar to any of you who frequent folk festivals around the UK. English fiddle player and singer Bryony Griffith and melodeon player and dancer Will Hampson have been performing together for almost 20 years. They were both members of the acclaimed ceilidh band, Bedlam; the exciting young Cotswold morris side, Dogrose; the celebrated rapper dancers, Newcastle Kingsmen, and have been key members of the brilliant and award-winning Demon Barbers for the last ten years. Bryony was also a member of the much-missed a cappella group The Witches of Elswick. She has been described as having “the vocal power of a young Norma Waterson, the poise and attitude of the late Sandy Denny and the stage presence of Janis Joplin.” (Allan Wilkinson, Northern Sky). Add to that her ‘deliciously rustic’ fiddle playing’ (Colin Irwin) and Will’s driving yet sensitive melodeon playing and you get a distinctive repertoire of dark ballads, chorus songs and dance tunes delivered with good-humoured Yorkshire banter!

Don't miss this one. Reserve your tickets by emailing VillageFolkClub.Mcr@gmail.com and join our Facebook event here.

The Village Folk Club with Claire Mooney

Tuesday 17 June 2014 

 Taurus Bar, 1 Canal Street 

(just five minutes walk from Piccadilly station) 

 7.30pm doors open for 8pm start 

 £8 full price / £6 for concessions

Manchester's very own Claire Mooney has been singing and songwriting for as long as she can remember. You may have seen her at a union benefit or leading protesters in song at a demo, as social justice and activism fuel her songs. A workshop leader and community arts practitioner, Claire has worked with youth groups, community groups and schools for over twenty years. She's produced radio shows and directed short films, worked in prisons, and co-ordinated projects for Councils, the NHS and colleges and universities. We're delighted to welcome her to The Village Folk Club.

Read more about Claire here and join our Facebook event.