Haley Sisters

www.cometrecords.net

Chris Bannister

chrisbannistermusic.com

An evening with Chris Bannister is an evening of rare quality. Whether it is showcasing the exceptional talent of this singer-songwriter with his self-penned collection of songs, his covers of much-loved classics or undiscovered folk songs or his simply stunning tribute to the music of John Denver, it is easy to see how he has gained an international reputation which has delighted fans for over two decades.
In 2010 Chris began touring with his solo show ‘The Music of John Denver’ celebrating the life and work of the legendary singer/songwriter in his own unique way. Unlike “lookalike” tributes, Chris’s uncanny ability to recreate the sound of John Denver has brought him widespread acclaim. It is a testament to his talent that Chris now has an international reputation and no surprise to learn that he regularly performs in Aspen Colorado to sell out audiences. Chris has worked alongside Wrecking Crew saxophonist and flautist Jim Horn who was the longest serving musician in Denver’s band. Chris also worked with John Denver’s legendary lead guitar player Steve Weisberg, who played on hits like ‘Annie’s Song’ ‘Back Home Again’ and ‘Grandma’s Feather Bed’. Steve sadly passed away last year and, in recognition of Chris’s exceptional talent and for his work in honouring the music of John Denver, Steve bequeathed his 1937 Epiphone guitar to Chris in his will.
As well as continuing to write, record and perform his own music, Chris has recorded several John Denver radio specials for the BBC and toured the show extensively for the last six years. 

Catch Chris as he headlines our Friday evening concert.

Edwina Hayes

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.

Edwina headlines our concert on Saturday afternoon.

Amelia Coburn

ameliacoburn.co.uk

With a voice set to stun and a gift for interpretation that is second to none, Amelia Coburn spends every spare moment rifling through records and filtering the findings through her punky ukulele playing to wow audiences across the North East and increasingly beyond. Think Eva Cassidy if she had spent the whole of 1976 in CBGBs. To categorise what she plays would be futile but her main influences range from classic,sophisticated pop/rock (David Bowie, Kate Bush, early Elton John) through to Punk, New Wave and the first wave of Indie music (The Smiths, The Jam, Blondie) but she is constantly seeking out hidden gems to drop like lovely bombs on her audiences.
Amelia began to play the ukelele at the age of 14. Prior to this, she performed in various musicals, one of her earliest roles being ‘Little Cosette’ in Les Miserables aged 9. After attending a local open mic in 2013, she was offered her first gig. Amelia has since gone on to selling out solo gigs across Teesside, as well as supporting the likes of Vin Garbutt and The Southmartins.She has since gone from strength to strength and has been in demand across a far wider sphere since starting her studies in Nottingham.

You can see Amelia on our Saturday evening concert.

Assembly Lane

assemblylane.com

Assembly Lane brings together four young Newcastle-based musicians immersed in the shared musical traditions of The British Isles and North America. Their dynamic arrangements of traditional and contemporary material from both sides of the Atlantic effortlessly blend ancient ballads and progressive bluegrass with rich vocal harmonies and instrumental flair. Their debut album 'Northbound', recorded by Josh Clark at Get Real Audio [Kate Rusby, Flook], was released to universally positive reviews in November 2017.

See Assembly Lane in our Friday evening concert.

The Teacups

theteacups.co.uk

The Teacups consist of the singing talents of Alex Cumming, Kate Locksley, Rosie Calvert and Will Finn, though on this occasion they may be reduced to a trio. The a capella foursome have been creating a storm across the UK festival circuit in the last few years with critically acclaimed performances at Shepley Spring Festival, Beverley Folk Festival, Warwick Folk Festival and more.
The Teacups met in 2010 whilst studying on the BMus Folk & Traditional Music Degree at Newcastle University. Since then they have gone on to perform around the UK and Europe, performing at some of the top festivals and venues. The band released their first album 'One for the Pot' in 2013 which was received very well, and on July 13th 2015 they released their much anticipated second album 'Of Labour & Love'.

We eagerly  anticipate the welcome return of The Teacups to our Festival concert stage on Friday evening.

Kate Locksley with Rupert Hughes

katelocksley.co.uk

Kate Locksley is a singer of folk songs, broadsides, and other historical music. She is the alto(ish) in The Teacups, a vibrant vocal quartet based in Newcastle upon Tyne, where she studied Folk and Traditional Music as an undergraduate, and has recently completed a Masters degree based around the study of social protest in broadside ballads. Kate has also performed with an all-female unaccompained trio, Wychwood, and was the voice amongst the fiddle and guitar of Kev Lees and Dave Wood, in Night Fall until late 2018. She also performs solo or as a duo with Rupert Hughes. Rupert is no stranger to Sedgefield having appeared here last year as part of The Often Herd.

They perform in our Saturday evening concert.

Granny's Attic

www.grannysattic.org.uk

Granny’s Attic – Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne (Melodeon, Concertina, Vocals), George Sansome (Guitar, Vocals) and Lewis Wood (Fiddle, Mandolin, Vocals) – are a folk trio who play the tradition with verve, energy and their own inimitable style. These three young men are all exceptional musicians, fine singers and play a range of English, Irish and Scottish traditional music as well as their own compositions. Formed in 2009, they have since played at clubs and festivals up and down the country, and have been heralded for their lively performances and maturity beyond their years in their delivery and selection of traditional songs.

See them on our Saturday afternoon concert.

Jester B

Jester B

Jeremy Woodhead and Bryan Thomson are the duo, Jester B. They hail from Pudsey in West Yorkshire and have always had a passion for acoustic music and harmony singing. They specialise in Simon and Garfunkle tribute performances and are also well-known for their Acoustic Americana and Contempary Folk including lots of familiar material from the 60s and 70s. 

They will start our Saturday evening concert in the Parish Hall.

John Wrightson Band

http://www.johnwrightsonmusic.co.uk/

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. Several CD’s of original songs, all recorded in his own studio, are available at gigs, with many now being sung by folk professionals such as Vin Garbutt and Flossie Malavialle.  
 Joan Edmundson's keyboards and vocals along with Kenny Jobson's guitar and vocals  join John in the band. When available, Joan's daughter Jane adds violin to 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 the Parish Hall stage on Friday evening to start the festival.

Pipedream 

pipedreamband.bandcamp

The band, Patricia and John Haswell and Peter Arkle, was formed in July 2008, although Peter and Pat had been and still are members of a local folk group for several years.
Pipe Dream originally got together to perform at charity events but very soon included ventures into the local folk and pop scene. Although having played guitar for many years, Peter and John are relatively new to “gigging” throughout the North East, while Pat has appeared at many venues all over Britain, both on her own and with various bands.
Pat’s Irish roots are responsible for a strong Irish traditional flavour in her music, as are singer songwriters Joan Baez and Christy Moore. John’s love of music is steeped in bands such as Lindisfarne, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, while Peter’s heroes include The Shadows, Buddy Holly and The Rolling Stones. All three members have been strongly influenced by the Beatles.

They will be on stage to start our Saturday afternoon concert.

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 Lyrica has rightfully achieved a place in the music traditions of Sedgefield with an ever increasing popularity. 
They are available for bookings for charity events and functions and donations are passed onto a charity of their choice. Over the past few years  donations have been made to The North East Air Ambulance, The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Cancer Research, SANDS (Stillborn and neonatal charity) and The Stroke Association.

Lirica will start our Saturday afternoon concert.

Lol & Maxine Crallan

Lol and Maxine have been playing music together for 30 years.  Lol plays the guitar and ukulele. Maxine plays clarinet, flute and recorder. The mixture of instruments gives them a wide range of sounds and they play many styles of music from folk, standards, rock and pop with a few surprises and twists.
Lol has recently turned his hand to teaching and runs a ukulele workshop in Ceddesfeld Hall. Maxine is an experienced teacher of piano and woodwind and runs Beat Buddies a class for young children also in Ceddesfeld Hall.  

 This year instead of workshops Lol will be hosting a strumalong session in Cedesfeld Hall, Saturday morning at 10.30am: 
'Simple Ukulele Strumalong' 
- If you know a few chords come along and enjoy a good singalong. Song book will be provided.
Not restricted to ukuleles. Any instrument permitted.

On  Friday 4th September 7 pm:
Ukulele Kanikapila at Ceddesfeld Hall, Sedgefield 

featuring     Mor-uke's                         
Lol and Maxine
Ceddesfeld Ukulele Band 

Tickets £5 from Maxine tel 07785281471

Bring your ukulele and strum along with us
Hawaiian Dress Compulsory
No rain - No Rainbows

Old Age Travellers

 The Old Age Travellers are a 3-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 7:30pm until the care home drags them out!

Dave Wilson

Dave Wilson is a popular performer known to many around the North East's Country Music clubs. As our previous concert MC Andy McLaughlin was unable to be with us last year Dave stepped into the breach and oversaw our three Parish Hall concerts with masterful effect. Now part of the Sedgefield tradition Dave will once again be in charge of the main stage concerts.

Step This Way

Step This Way are an Appalachian clog dance team based in Durham. Their lively performances are accompanied by the Bones Creek Band. They will be performing around Sedgefield at various times throughout Saturday. Try to catch at least one of their performances!