The Doonan Family Band

www.doonanfamilyband.co.uk

Originally formed 30 years ago by the late John Doonan, the DFB have long been the established benchmark for entertainment with an Irish slant.

The band blends guitar, violin, Uillean pipes, flute, piccolo, whistles and acoustic bass guitar to give superb interpretations of traditional songs and tunes, and also other musical genres. Michael, Kevin, Phil and Stu skillfully link their music with good humoured Irish-Geordie patter, then frequently introduce another inspired element in the form of Irish dancers (currently John's granddaughters Sarah and Frances), whose performances include dynamic and formal step dances as well as routines integrated into song arrangements.
If you are familiar with The DFB you know exactly what to expect. If you've never managed to see one of their shows before, prepare for uncompromised entertainment.

Sarah and Frances are also running an Irish dance workshop in the Parish Hall on Saturday. (See Programme). 

Johnny Silvo

www.perrottsfolly.com/JohnnySilvo

Johnny's main aim as an entertainer has always been to make people happy. He has continuously succeeded in this over the years by mixing excellent music, brilliantly performed, with a large measure of humour. He has a wonderful voice which is superb in volume, clarity, tone and versatility. Once heard it is never forgotten. For good measure he is also a top-notch guitarist.

Long ago, in his school days, he used to listen to New Orleans Jazz.  In 1965, when the Folk movement blossomed, he started singing in Folk Clubs which were springing up all over the country. Since then, as a solo artiste, and for nine years as part of a duo with Dave Moses, he has remained almost certainly the leading all round entertainer on the Folk scene, singing a wide variety of songs ranging from jazz, folk, blues to country and soul, selected to suit each and every audience. The songs are presented in an extremely professional manner, but with great humour.
In addition to playing the Folk Clubs he has performed in Village Halls, Arts Centres, Concerts and Festivals all over the land and in many parts of the world. He has been rewarded with appearances in hundreds of TV and radio programmes over the years, an early one of which was as a frequent presenter of “Playschool.”
These days, on his annual visits from Norway, his performances just get better and better, so much so that he is fast becoming a living legend.

Jez Lowe

www.jezlowe.com

Jez is one of the best respected and most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the Nort-East folk scene. He has released a staggering 15 albums of original songs, and he contributed over 20 to the BBC "Radio Ballads" which won two Sony Radio Academy Awards.

For the last 25 years, Jez has toured the world building a formidable reputation in the USA, Australia and Europe, and gaining the respect of his peers and his audience alike. Folk supremo Richard Thompson called him "the best songwriter to emerge from the UK in a long time", and his songs are among the most widely sung by folk singers and bands around the country's clubs and festivals.
His album "Northern Echoes" won Album of the Year in the USA as part of the Indie Acoustic Project Awards. The live double disc set features 17 classic Jez Lowe songs recorded "Live on the Tyne" with his full band, the Bad Pennies, plus a "Song for Geordie" DVD that mixes documentary and music footage from his 2007 tour of the same name. Indeed in that year Jez was nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards as "Folk singer of the Year".

Jez closes our Saturday afternoon concert.

Isambarde

www.isambarde.co.uk

The Isambarde story begins in late 2001, when Chris Green (vocals, guitar), decided to form a band. As luck would have it, Chris got involved at very short notice in a musical theatre production where he met oboist Jude Rees (oboe, vocals), a fellow folkie reared on Steeleye Span, the Albion Band and other alumni of the 60s and 70’s folk revival. She had just completed an MA at Birmingham Conservatoire and leapt at the chance to do something different from the music traditionally associated with the oboe.
Chris had met Emily Sanders (vocals, fiddle) briefly at the Bridgnorth Folk Festival in 1997, but being Chris had promptly lost her number! They met again by chance at the Boggery Folk Club in Solihull in early 2002. Emily had been a regular fixture on the Staffordshire circuit since the age of 12, but was not involved with any band on a regular basis, so the other two lost no time in recruiting her talents and formidable repertoire of traditional songs and tunes.
Isambarde were now a trio and played their first gig to an appreciative audience at the Styvechale Folk Club, Coventry in April 2002. Over the last few years they have played clubs and festivals all over the country, collecting songs, tunes and friends along the way.

Full House

www.fullhousefolk.co.uk

Full House are fondly remembered by many for the energetic electric folk performances they brought to the North-East in the 1990s as a trio. We are delighted to welcome them back as a 5-piece for the Saturday evening. Full House are (L-R):

Dave Russell (Vocals; Fiddle; Bouzouki; Guitar; Bass ): Dave cut his musical teeth in his home city of Liverpool on the thriving Merseyside folk-scene. Today you will find him in The Family Mahone, the band fronted by BBC DJ Mark Radcliffe. He has also recently been playing with Roy Clinging and Neil Brookes in Roy’s folk documentary about the workhouses; “A Poor Man’s Heritage”.

Mark Woolley ( Percussion; Whistles): A highly rated folk percussionist and superb exponent of the Low Whistle, Mark has been for some years a member of Dansaul, a powerful and original English folk band fronted by Dan Plews, Saul Rose and Guy Fletcher. Most recently, he toured and recorded with Ade Edmondson and The Bad Shepherds in 2008 and 2009.

Nick Mitchell (Vocals; Acoustic Guitar; Octave Mandola): Nick is a veteran of the Chester folk scene. He has played in a number of locally based folk and folk-rock bands including The Volunteers and The Freeholders (with Chris Lee) and more recently, The Restless Bentleys (with Mark Woolley.) Nick writes or co-writes most of the original songs in the Full House repertoire.

Chris Lee (Acoustic and Electric Mandolins; Bass; Guitar; Vocals): Multi-instrumentalist whose varied musical career has seen him in  The Volunteers, The Freeholders and Full House, to national renown with The Family Mahone. Chris has often been in demand as a session musician working with artists as varied as Paul Metsers, Phil Hare, Bram Taylor, The Waite Collective and the chart-busting Shirehorses

Ian Jones (Melodeon; Flute; Whistle): From being a regular at Chester's Raven Folk Club, hosted by Full House, Ian progressively became a regular member of the band during 2007.  Ian is classically trained and in addition to being a fine pianist and a highly regarded flute and whistle player, Ian's reputation as a melodeon player is also steadily increasing through his performances with the Time Bandits,  a Chester based band specialising in Anglo-European folk dance music.

Full House are also running a Saturday morning workshop on Song & Tune Arrangement in Ceddesfeld Hall.

John Wrightson Band

www.myspace.com/jwrightson

John Wrightson has spent many years involved in music in his native North East. Initially working with bands on the club circuit he became interested in acoustic/folk music and since 1988 has been a prolific writer of excellent songs, dealing with thought provoking, contentious issues, ever since. Eight CD’s of original songs, all recorded in his own studio, are available at gigs, with many now being sung by legends of the folk world - Vin Garbutt to name but one.  
 Joan Edmundson on keyboards, vocals along with Kenny Jobson guitar, vocals join John in the band. The John Wrightson Band, quite rightly, has a strong local following and are residents at the monthly Live Music Club held at Sedgefield Cricket Club. John, Joan and Bob Edmundson organise this popular local event where many of the Festival artists have recently appeared.

The band will be first on stage on Friday night to start the festival.

Edwina Hayes

www.edwinahayes.com

Edwina Hayes is a singer/songwriter who has been a regular performer on the UK acoustic scene since 1999.

She was born in Dublin in June 1973 and grew up in Preston, Lancashire before moving to the East coast of Yorkshire as a teenager, where she has been based ever since. Dividing her time between the UK and America, Edwina's second home is Nashville where she is much loved as a songwriter and artist.
In 2005 Warner Brothers released Edwina's debut album 'Out On My Own' produced by Clive Gregson and John Wood, and her song 'I Want Your Love' from the album was included on the No.1 bestselling CD 'Acoustic Love'. 
Since then Edwina has opened several shows for Van Morrison, twenty-six shows for Jools Holland, toured the UK four years in a row with Nanci Griffith and performed twice for Michael Parkinson at his Maidenhead pub The Royal Oak. She has also toured the UK with and supported shows for Gretchen Peters, Ricky Ross, Loudon Wainwright III, Roy Harper, Tommy Emmanuel, Sam Baker, Julie Fowlis, Sandi Thom, John Tams, Daniel Beddingfield, Chris While, Julie Matthews, Tom Baxter, Boo Hewerdine, KT Tunstall, Clive Gregson, Chris Difford, Ruby Turner and Lulu. 
In 2008 Edwina released her second album 'Pour Me A Drink' on her own label Twirly Music. Much more acoustic and reflective of Edwina's onstage style, it continues to attract an increasing number of sales and excellent reviews and Nanci Griffith's June 2009 album 'The Loving Kind' features Nanci's recording of Edwina's song Pour Me A Drink.
Edwina's version of Randy Newman's 'Feels Like Home' features in the New Line Cinema major motion picture My Sister's Keeper (June 2009) starring Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin.

Misspent Uke

www.georgewelch.co.uk

Last year George Welch's ukulele workshop proved so popular that we just had to have him back. Not only a wizard of the uke, George is also an accomplished exponent of the guitar, a fine singer and the master of a well-honed sense of fun!

In his own words:  "I was born in St Peter's which is as near as you can get to Byker
                                      I was the first born so I had no hand-me-downs and from birth to the age of twelve years I was to be found naked.
                                      I do what I do to the best of my ability... so there you go..."

Bring a uke to George's workshop on Saturday morning, then see him on stage on Saturday afternoon. 

Jack Burness & Robin Dunn

www.amandalynnemusic.com

Jack's music has taken him all over the UK playing folk clubs, bars and festivals. His songs are often laced with dry humour and are usually of a semi autobiographical nature. Jack plays acoustic guitar and harmonica and has a fine, strong, expressive voice. A founder member of The Cornerboys duo  and now mostly playing solo gigs, he teams up with fiddler Robin Dunn for his festival set. 

Bert Draycott

Bert came to Sedgefield last year and walked away with the World Spoons Championship (for the umpteenth time!). Can he hold onto it in 2010 ?

He opens the Saturday evening concert with spoons and a whole lot more. Almost music hall in style, songs and stories rooted in the culture of the North-East are interspersed with unashamed nostalgia. If this is your first encounter with Bert you are in for a big surprise - and you won't forget it in a hurry!

The Scratch Band  

 The Scratch Band are the festivals workhorses. With Ernie Gilchrist on guitar/vocals/percussion, Peter Brookes on guitar/vocals, Alf Shields as the Bassman and Garth Hodgson who plays guitar, mandolin, keyboards etc.etc., the Scratch Band run singarounds and play for the competitors in the world spoons championship.

The Old Age Travellers

 The Old Age Travellers are a 4-piece band with  a wide repertoire of songs that are well loved in the folk world with  a soft spot for the music of Ireland and Scotland in particular. Their appearances are all about audience participation and "having a good time". They will be leading the Saturday evening get together in Ceddesfeld Hall from 7:45pm until the care home drags them out!

Tony Wilson

Tony  tells a wide range of traditional and self-penned stories which he links with music, actions and drama. He was a professional musician from 1977-1989 when he qualified as a teacher. After 7 years of full-time primary classroom experience in large Junior, Mixed and Infant schools and 3 years full-time lecturing in H.E and F.E. colleges in Communications, Emotional and Social development, Curriculum development and Primary Science, Tony became a full-time Professional Storyteller, Writer, Workshop leader and Conference speaker.

Working with pre-school children, Foundation stage, Key stages 1-3, College and Teaching Professionals in Universities, Tony has made visits to over 1,400 schools in the past 10 years throughout the whole of the British Isles, delivering stories, performances and workshops that meet the children's needs, language and understanding

Tony will be running Storytelling Workshops for children in the Library on Saturday morning.

Maxine Crallan (Beat Buddies)

Beat Buddies provide fun musical activities for ages 6 and under. Singing songs, learning rhymes, movement to music, and playing percussion instruments all help to develop a child’s sense of pitch and rhythm as well as being great fun. Themes such as colour, transport and animals are used to develop creativity, musical expression and confidence with performing music. Beat Buddies classes are usually split into three age groups but for the festival there’ll be a workshop with activities suitable for all ages. There is no lower age limit although parents of babies will need to take a more active part in the class themselves – which is a great way to learn musical parenting skills!

Maxine's workshop is in Ceddesfeld Hall on Sunday morning.

Northumbrian Pipers Society

The group of pipers playing at the Music Festival represent the Cleveland Branch of the Northumbria Pipers Society. They are a local group in as much that they hold their practices at the Ceddesfeld Hall Community Association in Sedgefield. They are regular contributors to many of the community activities in the village as well as having a busy calendar of events elsewhere. Their existence means that this traditional pipe music which originates in Northumbria is maintained.

They open the Saturday evening concert at St. Edmunds Church.

Lirica

Lirica comprises a group of people who have grown up in Sedgefield and have been members of the various youth choirs that have been so successful in encouraging young people to sing. Formed in 2005 following a successful Sedgefield Lyrics Youth Choir reunion concert, the aim of the group was to sing together again but in a small group, following their hearts in their choice of music, taking decisions collectively, leading each other as an ensemble, combining it all with a hefty dollop of socialising. Now Lirica has rightfully achieved a place in the music traditions of Sedgefield with an ever increasing popularity. 

See them in the Saturday evening concert at St. Edmunds Church.

Cocobolo

Although recently formed, Cocobolo is a group of musicians, based in the North East, with many years experience between them. They hail from a diverse range of musical backgrounds including  classical, military and  jazz.
The music that they play has elements of the above, with the addition of some popular and folk music, providing a wide and eclectic variety of sound that will appeal to all.

Fishburn Band

At this year’s Sedgefield Music Festival the ever popular Fishburn Band will be represented by a section who will bring the concert in the Parish Church to a close. The Fishburn Band is well known in the region and has won a number of awards at various musical events.
Beginning as a colliery band it has continued to engage people of all ages in playing music far beyond the life of the colliery. It makes regular appearances at the Durham Big Meet, always parading through the streets of Fishburn before making their way to Durham. The Fishburn Band has been a regular contributor to the Sedgefield Music Festival and can be guaranteed to provide uplifting and rousing music.

Locos in Motion
www.locosinmotion.co.uk

Locos in Motion are a mixed border morris side based at the village of Sadberge, near Darlington. We say mixed, meaning for male and female dancers but currently, the dancers are all female (although some of the musicians are of the male persuasion).

We are dancers in the traditional Welsh Border (i.e. the English counties bordering Wales) style. This involves blacking up our faces to disguise ourselves and dancing vigorously while forcefully clashing sticks of various lengths.

Our costume  includes the traditional rag jacket and clogs but, in our case, the jackets are black and silver and we wear tall, stove pipe hats with big black and white feathers and, of course, lots of bells. All these things are to represent that famous old steam engine after which we are named - Locomotion Number One. The hat is the funnel and the black, white and silver of the feathers and rags represent smoke, steam and sparks.

 Watch out for ‘Loco in Motion’ and other dance teams round the village on Saturday.