TwickFolk Birthday Concert 2024

The String Fellows - Bernie Dembowski, John Rogers Prosser, John Davies

Sue Graves
The String Fellows - Bernie Dembowski, John Rogers Prosser, John Davies
Amrit Sond
Ivor Game
Mandy Woods
Martin, Helen and Vanessa
Michael De Podesta
Paul Solman
Paul Vile

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

21st January 2024

Paul Solman & Paul Vile

A great mix of current and vintage performers, together with the friendly and fun atmosphere that has made TwickFolk so popular for more than four decades.

Amrit Sond

Last Sunday at TwickFolk marked the final night of my year long art residency. It has an been an amazing privilege to experience such high quality performers, to hear their music and to sketch them of course. The year started with a re-brand of the TwickFolk logo and the unveiling of a new stage banner. I felt very proud to watch the performers strut their stuff in front of the banner. And it is testament to the team at TwickFolk and especially their official photographer, Riikka Gregorowski, that images of the folk musicians (and the banner) can be found all over social media.

Ivor Game

There were several highlights of the residency. First must be the quality of the floor spots. These brought both new discoveries to my attention but also an appreciation of the talent that is the TwickFolk team ranks. My favourite night of the year was the Young Folk Showcase, curated by Jennie Higgins, and featuring Sean Spicer, Seb Stone, and East Corner Trio. It's good to know that the future of British folk music is in such good hands.

Sue Graves

I'm very grateful for the Sunday night welcome I received from Sue Graves, Paul Kenny, Paul Vile, Paul Solman, Riikka and the rest of the team at TwickFolk each week. It really is a special folk club and they would not have been able to flourish for 41 years without nurturing a community around them. I feel fortunate to have been placed at the heart of this community for a year of my creative life.

Mandy Woods

Martin, Helen and Vanessa

Michael De Podesta

 

Pete Morton - Twickfolk

Pete Morton

Pete Morton

floor spots from
Paul Vile
Paul Solman
Michael De Podesta

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

14th January 2024

Paul Solman

Pete Morton fired 2024 into life for the Twickfolk audience this week. He sang from the heart, for there is no better place, delivering songs that spoke of the human condition. His passion was unquenchable, his strong voice a guiding light, especially when a string broke on his guitar, and he dropped to his knees to repair it. It was a pleasure to hear his songs, a mix of humour, politics, love and social comment.

Michael De Podesta

Pete Morton began his musical journey after he came across a Buffy St Marie record. It was from that moment on he decided to become a folk singer. Discovering the songs of the early sixties protest movement, it inspired him to write and take his songs into folk clubs and beyond. Starting out as a busker on the streets of Europe, he has entertained all over the globe with his unique and involving style of song-writing and singing. 

For thirty years, Pete has been performing to audiences all over the world. Throughout that time he has been regarded as one the best on the contemporary roots music scene.  His latest album ‘A Golden Thread’ has received rave reviews with eight newly self penned songs, a Pete Seeger classic ‘Oh Had I A Golden Thread’, and versions of the traditional gems, ‘Barbry Allen’ and ‘The Farmers Boy’.

Paul Vile

Katie Spencer - Twickfolk

Katie Spencer

Katie Spencer

Floor spots
Paul Vile
Amrit Sond

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

3rd December 2023

Katie Spencer‘s visit to a wintery TwickFolk rounded off a fabulous year of concerts in impeccable style. Beautiful, haunting and tender, her music transported us through the glistening landscapes of the North of England.

Guitarists like John Martyn and Michael Chapman come to mind, Beth Orton’s voice and touches of Joni Mitchell. Katie’s first album was the aptly named Weather Beaten, which summed up the inhospitable Twickenham streets outside, but just like Katie's words and heart, inside the Cabbage Patch there was a warm welcome. Katie was raised in Yorkshire, and the county's topography is conjured through the lush simplicity of her music. Delicate and un-rushed, her songs drift by like ships on the horizon, yet an intimacy and introspection still remain.

Paul Vile

Amrit Sond

Jack Rutter - Twickfolk

Jack Rutter

Jack Rutter: The voice of young Yorkshire

Back of a Length
Mark Worledge and John Mannel

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

26th November 2023

Jack Rutter has established himself as one of the standout voices of the folk, roots and acoustic music scene in recent years. The Yorkshire folk singer has enthralled audiences from the largest festival main stages to the most intimate folk clubs. His soaring vocals, powerhouse guitar and bouzouki playing contribute to masterful arrangements of traditional songs and contemporary covers.

Following on from his critically acclaimed second album Gold of Scar & Shale, 2022 saw the release of a brand new EP, with 2023 bringing the successor to Gold of Scar & Shale in the form of a new album of traditional songs.

John Mannel 

Back of a Length are John Mannel and Mark Worledge, who play tradition, contemporary and original acoustic folk material. Mark writes beautiful, well-crafted songs and is an excellent guitarist. John plays guitar, flute and harmonica.

Mark Worledge

Dave Ellis & Boo Howard - Twickfolk

Dave Ellis

Dave Ellis & Boo Howard

Melanie Crew & Ross Palmer

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

5th November 2023

Boo Howard

The eagerly anticipated return of Dave Ellis & Boo Howard with more great songs. Performed with their unique imaginative and stylish arrangements. Two musicians, completely in tune.

In the early 2000s Dave and Boo developed an acoustic act which returned them to their folk club roots. Their debut album as a duo, Maybe I Might Fall, was critically acclaimed and featured a simple acoustic performance. Several albums have been recorded since then, from 2002’s Amber through to Facebook Friend in 2015. The songs are intelligently constructed, elegantly articulated and never less than entertaining, drawing on influences from both the folk world and the rock scene they were involved in for so long. Their latest album is last year’s Time.

Ross Palmer 

Melanie Crew and Ross Palmer have been making music together for years, but began releasing material as a duo during that strange spring of 2020. Melanie has released three solo EPs, receiving radio play from BBC 6 Music and BBC Kent, as well as numerous local stations.​ Ross has released three EPs and a digital-only single, playing sessions on BBC Essex and BBC Kent, and gaining airplay on a host of local and independent stations.

Melanie Crew

Following their 2020 debut EP as a duo, Away from the City, Melanie and Ross released their first full-length album, Quiet After Midnight in March 2023. Self-produced and recorded in their South London home across 2022, Quiet After Midnight also features instrumental contributions from Adam Beattie, Nick Frater, and Ross’s Watertown Carps bandmate Yo Zushi.

Craig Joiner - Twickfolk

Craig Joiner

Craig Joiner

Asher Mohr

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

29th September 2023

Craig Joiner has been a professional musician for over 25 years, writing songs recorded by the likes of Heart, Bonnie Tyler, Eddie Money and Steps.  Craig’s musical journey began in 1987 as a member of Romeo’s Daughter. Their self-titled debut on Jive Records was produced by the legendary Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange (Def Leppard, The Cars, ACDC, Shania Twain) and spawned a whirlwind tour of the USA and an appearance on the Billboard charts.
https://www.craigjoinermusic.com/

Asher Mohr 

Asher Mohr has been playing on the Indie and folk scenes of Bristol and London since his late teens and quickly moved into penning his own lyrics and tunes. He’s big on lyrics and likes his songs to tell chronological stories. The folk influences are there, Simon and Garfunkel and Tracy Chapman; but a love of creating hooks that stay with you once the record has stopped, like those of Bill Withers, has imbued Asher’s music with a contemporary urgency set on a backdrop of timeless storytelling. The result is a lyrically driven, melodically rich timbre comparable to Novo Amor, Bear’s Den or Flyte.
https://www.facebook.com/ashermusicpage/

Sean Spicer, Seb Stone & East Corner Trio - Twickfolk

 

Sean Spicer

Young Folk: Jennie Higgins hosts an evening of up and coming folk artists

Sean Spicer
Seb Stone
East Corner Trio - Danny Marshall, Elye Cuthbertson and Mia Iles Perez

TwickFolk presented a young performers’ showcase, hosted by the outstanding folk musician, Jennie Higgins. Jennie personally chose three talented acts who are currently lighting up the UK scene.

Sean Spicer is a harmonicist, whistler and flautist from Bristol, performing largely in the English and Irish traditions. Sean specifically aims through his performance to explore and propagate the English harmonica tradition, and is recognised as a modern-day proponent of traditional English harmonica in Roger Trobridge’s online archive.

Danny Marshall, Elye Cuthbertson and Mia Iles Perez

Hailing from various corners of London, the East Corner Trio create a unique sound through their eclectic musical influences and unusual combination of melodeon, banjolin, and flute and pipes.

Seb Stone

Seb Stone is a traditional singer, whistle player and uilleann piper from the Peak District. In 2022 he won the Future of Folk Award and Shantyman of the Year Award at Bromyard Folk Festival.

Suntrap - Twickfolk

Sue Graves - "Surrey Nightingale"

Suntrap
Sara Byers - Vocals, Guitar, Accordion, Banjo, Whistle
Mary Wilson - Vocals, Violin, Mandolin,
Sue Graves - Vocals, Guitar, Ukulele
John Sandall - Violin, Viola, Cello, Vocals
Tom Evans - Double bass, Accordion, Guitar,

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ

www.twickfolk.co.uk

17th September 2023

Tom Evans 

Suntrap are a five piece English folk band, offering a unique musical experience of folk inspired original, traditional and contemporary songs, featuring entrancing vocal harmonies and lush instrumental arrangements.

Sara Byers

Sara Byers and Mary Wilson are two of the three original band members, and over the years, they have been joined by John Sandall, Sue Graves and Tom Evans.  Instruments played by the band include fiddles, viola, accordions, guitars, tenor guitar, ukuleles, banjo, double bass and whistle.

Mary Wilson

Suntrap launched their album, Northern Lights, at TwickFolk in September 2019.  Since then, they have used their lockdown time to write some new songs and to learn some carefully selected cover songs.  So a mixture of old and new music is to be expected this evening.

Quotes about the Northern Lights album:
“Suntrap manage to blur the lines between sublime music and dreams.  The lines between the fantastical and the possible are likewise blurred.  This album is pure indulgence”  Catherine Hume for Shire Folk

“Full of intelligent original songs, this comeback album is an immensely satisfying listen.  The ‘in the round’ style ensures the supple vocal harmonies are to the fore”  Keith Ames, Tom Short and Clive Somerville for The Musician.

John Sandall 

David Gunawardana, Friction Farm & Paul Solman - TwickFolk

David Gunawardana

David Gunawardana
Friction Farm
Paul Solman

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

17th September 2023

David Gunawardana
The light touch on his Martin guitar, his other-worldly songs, his mellifluous voice, this is David Gunawardana. A new favourite at Twickfolk and The Invisible Folk Club. His songs tell of beguiling tales, of far-off forest glades, caves and towers, happy tribes challenged or dancing spirits. With the whispers of Gillian Welch and Anne Briggs hovering around him, he casts a spell with every performance.
https://www.davidgunawardana.com/

Aidan Quinn

Friction Farm
Modern-folk duo Friction Farm is a husband and wife team of internationally traveling troubadours. Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay combine storytelling, social commentary and humour to create songs of everyday life, local heroes, and quirky observations. From ballads to anthems each song is filled with harmony and hope.

Christine Stay

September Tour Dates
Sun Sep 24th at Woodies Acoustic (Angmering Village Hall Station Rd, Littlehampton BN16 4HL, 7:30 pm)
Wed Sep 27 LATR:3Hounds (57 Beckenham Road BR3 4PR, 8:00 pm)
Thu Sep 28 Uxbridge Folk Club (388b Long Ln, Hillingdon UB10 9PG, 8:00 pm)
https://frictionfarm.com/

Paul Solman

Paul Solman
Paul Solman is a lecturer at City, University of London's Department of Journalism and a former national newspaper journalist. He is a folk music enthusiast and an integral part of the team at Twickfolk.

Mike Silver + Steve & Julie Wigley - Twickfolk

Mike Silver

Mike Silver

Support

Steve & Julie Wigley

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

10th September 2023

Mike Silver is a force to be reckoned with. Having just celebrated fifty years recording; taking his music far and wide through many European countries and further to the Falkland Islands, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, he is still gigging and touring with as much skill and enthusiasm as ever.

Mike Silver

With a career spanning nineteen studio albums, he is a highly respected musician for the initiated, and a rewarding surprise for the uninitiated. Some exciting highlights pepper Mike’s musical career, having been immersed in music full time since his twenties. For a while he was signed to Elton John’s illustrious label Rocket Records in 1973. This led to two appearances for Radio 1 in Concert supporting Randy Newman and Annabel Lamb respectively. One of his compositions –  “Maybe it’s Just Love”, was covered by Justin Hayward. In 2003 his song “Not a Matter of Pride” was picked up first by Bob Harris and then by Terry Wogan and featured no less than 14 times on Terry’s Wake up to Wogan BBC Radio 2 show and on Breakfast TV.

Julie Wigley

Steve & Julie Wigley are a duo from Derbyshire. Julie is the songwriter and they perform many of her songs, along with songs by some of their favourite songwriters such as Gordon Lightfoot, Hugh Williams and Ralph McTell. They are twice finalists in BBC Song for Lincolnshire.

Steve Wigley

Alex Seel + Pip Collings & Paul Vile - Twickfolk

Paul Vile

Alex Seel
Pip Collings & Paul Vile

Floor Spot
Tom Poslett

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

25th June 2023

Alex Seel

Alex Seel is a singer-songwriter and guitarist with roots in folk & blues. We last saw him in February 2020, and we look forward to welcoming back to the stage.
Music has led Alex from Devon to London to Ireland and back to London again. Through his wanderings, Alex has picked up a beautifully crafted rootsy song-writing style with thought-provoking lyrics and a gift for acoustic guitar finger-picking. He has a growing reputation as a solo performer. His most recent release is the album ‘Spell On A Tin Drum’. This and previous releases have been well received by press and radio.
The album, written partly in a caravan on the west coast of Ireland and mostly recorded in London, has retained a raw emotional feel and with it gained new heights of songwriting within Seel’s unique repertoire.

Pip Collings

Pip Collings and Paul Vile have been performing together since the late 80s. Paul is no stranger to TwickFolk audiences – our longest-serving volunteer is also the sound engineer, floor-spotter and until recently was the M.C, not to mention his gigs with John Prosser. Pip has appeared on the TwickFolk stage a few times, the most recent being with Paul at our 40th Anniversary bash.

This renewed activity coincides with a new album – Diaries released in March this year.

Tom Poslett

Sun Cutter - Twickfolk

Sun Cutter 

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ

www.twickfolk.co.uk

11th June 2023

Sun Cutter released his eponymous debut album in January 2022 on Bronzerat Records. The first single ‘Daylight Star’ found love on BBC 6 Music with Marc Riley, Mark Radcliffe, Tom Robinson, on Absolute Radio, and US radio. The album went on to chart in the top 20 in Germany.

Sun Cutter, real name Kevin Pearce, hails from Colchester. Three years ago, Kevin suffered a heart attack (on a golf course). As well as having to redress some lifestyle habits, his rehabilitation involved writing and recording the Sun Cutter project. It is an album of beautiful driving, harmony-drenched indie-soul and folk-rock that looks to the light for reflection. It is at times reminiscent of some purveyors of classic songwriting, such as Tim Buckley, John Lennon, Cat Stevens, albeit with a modern do over.

The Salts: Sea Shanties with Attitude! - Twickfolk

The Salts
Brian Doran
Lee Collinson
Jeremy Hart 
Richard Nash
Tim Cantrell 

TwickFolk - The Cabbage Patch Pub, 67 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 3SZ
www.twickfolk.co.uk

11th June 2023

The Salts are a co-operative of seasoned musicians, creating what is fast becoming one of the most exciting and energetic folk concepts of recent times. With their own unique sound that mixes well written original compositions alongside classic traditional tunes, it’s a guaranteed blast. Their debut album ‘She Rises’ and now their second album ‘BRAVE’ are receiving rave reviews across the board.

Lee Collinson

From the earliest age Lee Collinson has been blessed with fingers capable of guitar-playing beyond mere mortals! Reaching the BBC ‘Young Folk’ finals – twice, touring in a trio with Keith Hancock and Clive Gregson, and forging a successful solo career with his eclectic repertoire comprising folk in all of its forms. His albums, co-produced by Dave Swan, feature guest appearances from the likes of Christine Collister, Barb Jungr and Tom McConville and his career has taken him all over the world. The Salts has given Lee the opportunity to perform in a band environment and transfer his guitar skills to the 5 string banjo…an exciting departure!

Brian Doran

Born in landlocked Croydon, Surrey, Brian Doran formed his first vocal group at the age of ten. He taught himself guitar when he was 11, began songwriting and went on to study flute, voice and music theory. He even considered opera. Brian’s first band was formed at school and morphed many times into different styles and resulted in playing several of London’s top music venues and recording studios. Having already worked with Lee in the folk duo The Richard IIIs, he took little convincing to join what eventually became The Salts.

Jeremy Hart

Writing and performing for the past 20 years, Jeremy Hart has led numerous bands into battle on the London circuit, around the country and to residencies and headline spots in Europe. Supporting the likes of ex-Beatle Pete Best and playing alongside 6o’s legend Arthur Brown, Jeremy’s influences are numerous guitar-driven songwriters. However the call of the sea beckoned and compels him to lend a contemporary ear to some of our oldest and best loved shanties…

Richard Nash

Born in South London, Richard Nash took a keen interest in drumming at the age of 14. After performing in various school bands he went to art college and joined many bands of varying styles. Richard is also a self-taught guitarist, songwriter and has fronted several bands including The Story So Far. Richard has also played drums for acts such as Thunderclap Newman, Paul King, The Pasedenas and Hoorah! Boys Hoorah! His other accomplishments include recording sessions for film tracks in LA and TV music.

 Tim Cantrell 

From a long line of a family renowned for classical music, Tim Cantrell changed tack and set sights for different styles of music. Playing bass in a variety of genres for many years now, recording on several albums, TV adverts, touring in venues and stadiums in the UK and across Europe – touring with the likes of Ben E King, George McRae , Katrina & the Waves, Paul Heaton, Gus Devlin and now happily for him – The Salts!