Club Programme

2021 marks 26 years of making music together for this popular wife and husband duo. Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman have long established themselves as one of the UK folk scene’s most rewardingly enduring partnerships. To celebrate and acknowledge this milestone, the couple will revisit and reinterpret songs which span their career. From the early days of folk supergroup ‘Equation’ through to the current release ‘Personae’ with a nod or two along the way to their extracurricular musical adventures, the evening promises a whistle-stop tour through their artistic journey to date. ‘It’s folk music for the modern age.’ The Telegraph

Folk music’s legendary triumvirate of musical magpies Mike McGoldrick, John Doyle and John McCusker are out on the road again in 2021. As winter turns to spring Mike, John & John will wrap up their stint on Transatlantic Sessions for another year and bring you their own blend of top class folk songs, tunes and charming bonhomie. With their recently released album, ‘The Wishing Tree’ this will be an evening to remember. Described as the masters of flute, fiddle, song and guitar they have worked with the biggest and brightest and bring you a night of beautifully crafted music. Having shared stages and recording studios with everyone from Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler to Paul Weller, Joan Baez and Linda Thompson. Mike, John & John are a rare musical treat you’ll savour for a very long time. "The Wishing Tree is exceptional and has to be a front-runner for album of the year" Folk Radio "A sparklingly tight programme... an excellent sound balance... never tiresome" The Scotsman "It takes a lifetime of playing to sound as effortless as these guys" The Herald "What an absolute pleasure to share in their warmth, intimacy and richly talented company" Folking.com

Spellbinding... Hannah and Ben were born to play and sing together’ FRoots Huddled round a single microphone, singing intimate duets with just mountain dulcimer, dobro and guitar, Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage are an acoustic duo that sound classically timeless, yet their music is unique. Since emerging in 2016, the duo recorded two studio albums, Before the Sun (2016) and Awake (2018), produced by award winning producer David Travers-Smith in Toronto. Both albums have gathered praise for the craft and skill of their musical writing and arranging. ‘Awesome… a supremely divine album.’ Americana UK

Rachel Sermanni has announced a new EP, ‘Swallow Me’, that charts her journey to motherhood. Written predominantly while pregnant on tour in the US, the lead single actually sees us begin at the journey’s end. The Scottish songwriter celebrates the innate spirituality that inspired her to surrender to the tides to achieve a clarity. Those already familiar with Sermanni’s music will know her from her appearances at Celtic Connections and her associations with Mumford and Sons, Elvis Costello and Rumer. ‘Think Joni Mitchell meets Lisa Hannigan, with a delectably eccentric Scottish twist’ The Guardian ‘Beautifully honest…sweetly poetic in its lyricism yet deadly accurate in arrangement’ Clash

Allan Taylor is one of the last of the travelling troubadours who came through the London and New York Greenwich Village folk music scene of the sixties and seventies. He’s travelled the world performing at festivals, concert halls and clubs. Considered to be one of the foremost singer-songwriters and guitarists in his genre, with more than one hundred and fifty recorded versions of his songs by Artists in ten different languages, he’s made more than twenty CDs/Albums and continues to write, record and tour throughout Europe.

For more than 50 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music’s greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers, not only from within the folk scene, but also far beyond it. Trailblazing musical partnerships with, amongst others, Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick and his award-winning wife (Norma Waterson) and daughter Eliza Carthy have resulted in more than 40 albums, but Martin has only recorded 10 solo albums, of which the much anticipated Waiting for Angels (Topic TSCD527) was the latest. Whether in the folk clubs (which he continues to champion), on the concert stage or making TV appearances (he was the subject of the acclaimed `Originals’ music documentary strand on BBC 2) – there are few roles that Martin Carthy hasn’t played. He’s a ballad singer, a ground-breaking acoustic and electric-guitarist and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. He always prefers to follow an insatiable musical curiosity rather than cash in on his unrivalled position. Perhaps, most significant of all, are his settings of traditional songs with guitar, which have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, on both sides of the Atlantic. `Arguably the greatest English folk song performer, writer, collector and editor of them all’ Q Magazine ‘Carthy is a master of the ballad of substance, songs that tell stories, whether they are traditional, his own or from contemporary writers.’ The Telegraph

For more than 50 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music’s greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers, not only from within the folk scene, but also far beyond it. Trailblazing musical partnerships with, amongst others, Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick and his award-winning wife (Norma Waterson) and daughter Eliza Carthy have resulted in more than 40 albums, but Martin has only recorded 10 solo albums, of which the much anticipated Waiting for Angels (Topic TSCD527) was the latest. Whether in the folk clubs (which he continues to champion), on the concert stage or making TV appearances (he was the subject of the acclaimed `Originals’ music documentary strand on BBC 2) – there are few roles that Martin Carthy hasn’t played. He’s a ballad singer, a ground-breaking acoustic and electric-guitarist and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. He always prefers to follow an insatiable musical curiosity rather than cash in on his unrivalled position. Perhaps, most significant of all, are his settings of traditional songs with guitar, which have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, on both sides of the Atlantic. `Arguably the greatest English folk song performer, writer, collector and editor of them all’ Q Magazine ‘Carthy is a master of the ballad of substance, songs that tell stories, whether they are traditional, his own or from contemporary writers.’ The Telegraph

Moved from 25 October 2021. All tickets purchased for the original date(s) are still valid. A folk singer, songwriter and activist from Leicester, UK, she has been writing, recording and touring relentlessly for ten years. Her unique takes on life, love and politics, and the warmth and wit with which they are delivered, have won over audiences everywhere, across the alternative, folk, political and comedy scenes.

In the making of their fourth album Headlight, Grammy award-nominated band Della Mae has claimed a more daring sense of freedom than they’d ever allowed themselves before. Their first full-length since their 2015 self-titled record, Headlight matches its raw intensity with an unbridled joy. Described as ‘the record we’ve always wanted to make’, Della Mae views their newfound lack of restraint as an imperative for the all-female band. Boldly breaking genre convention, the band have pushed beyond their bluegrass roots and followed their instinct to their most sonically adventurous body of work to date – embracing the album’s potential as a platform for change and delivering a collection of songs at turns fearlessly personal and powerfully resonant. This is a seated show. Tickets booked for previous date valid for this performance. Promoted by The Black Swan Folk Club and Please Please You.