A native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye, Brìghde's style is rooted in her language and culture, but draws inspiration from a variety of global piping traditions, such as from Eastern Europe, Cape Breton and Ireland. Her debut album ‘The Reeling’ (2019) had an extraordinary response. Produced by Lau’s Aidan O’Rourke, it was named as Folk Album Of The Month by The Guardian, given five star reviews in both fRoots and Songlines, lavished with praise by BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and listed as one of The Quietus’s Albums Of The Year. 'The Reeling' was voted one of the 20 Scottish Albums of the Year by the Say Awards (out of 293 submissions) and secured a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award win for Brìghde.

“Simultaneously ancient and modern, profound and direct” – Folk Album of the Month – The Guardian

“A unique, exciting and forward-looking album that sets the bar for 2019 very high indeed” – The Quietus

“Exciting, unusual and gorgeous” – Songlines

“Pure, vital energy… exceptional playing” – Folk Radio

“Mesmerising” - Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2

"It is a quirk of musical fate that some of the most traditional forms can produce the most experimental sounds. Brìghde Chaimbeul is an instrumentalist from Skye who is steeped in the musical and oral traditions of the islands and highlands of Scotland but whose music is as invigorating and new as anything currently being produced in either folk or contemporary avant-garde circles … A common misconception about drone-based music is that it doesn’t go anywhere or do anything. Chaimbeul’s tunes ride roughshod over this notion, unfolding, expanding, and sometimes exploding.” Folk Radio UK April 2023

“... an exciting, sometimes bewitching set of tunes. The album’s title is a quotation from Gaelic bard Iain Sheonaidh, of South Uist, who carried the old tales with him. Brìdghe Chaimbeul, deeply immersed in her culture, is doing the same. At the same time she is making the tales new, by transforming them into some of the most satisfying and complete music to be found anywhere in these islands. The Quietus, April 2023

“… an album to immerse oneself in order to reap the greatest rewards. From the opening moments of first track Pililiù (The Call Of The Redshank), the warm, gauzy sounds of the smallpipes floods the ears, starting a short musical journey that brings with it both mystery and beauty ... the album shows how Chaimbeul takes the traditions of folk music and gently reshapes and redirects them … evocative and beautiful … helps shine light on a lesser seen musical world.” **** musicOMH, April 2023

Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell

Owen Spafford (The Weaving) and Louis Campbell (Sam Sweeney) met as teenagers, as part of the first cohort of the National Youth Folk Ensemble. Since forming their duo in 2018, they have been nominated for the BBC Young Folk Award and received play on BBC Radio 2,3 and RTE1. A shared musical ‘true north’ and lasting friendship enable the duo to make two instruments seemingly sound as one; creating subtle and emotive textures that re-calibrate the fiddle and guitar duo idiom.

Their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘You, Golden’ (04/11/22) was self-produced and recorded live in just two and a half days with engineer Joe Garcia (Idles, Blowzabella) with a make shift setup in a barn in Bampton, Oxfordshire. It features a mixture of traditional and self-penned material, though the line is intentionally blurred to unite the two - leaving listeners questioning which is which.

Owen has performed for the leaders of the commonwealth states, toured with Giffords Circus and has received a scholarship to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Owen is also an All-Britain Fiddle Champion in the Fleadh Cheoil na Breataine and BBC Young Composer Competition nominee. Equally at home in a traditional session as he is in a free improvisation workshop, Spafford's understanding of the oral tradition and love for vernacular music from around the world enables an inventive and thoughtful fiddle style.

Louis has been lucky enough to perform with Martin Carthy and John Doyle and joined Sam Sweeney’s band at 19. At the Royal Northern College of Music, he studied under Martin Simpson, Stuart McCallum, Craig Ogden and Kris Drever and has been cited as ‘a talent to watch’ by the Sunday Times. Most commonly seen behind a large effects pedalboard, the duo provides space for Campbell to connect with his first love, the acoustic guitar. He has also released three solo EPs of alternative music.

The duo allows Owen and Louis to distill their love of traditional and experimental music into powerful, intricate and intimate music. Their debut album 'You, Golden' manages to orbit many different sound-worlds while staying within acoustic English folk music; seamlessly blending traditional tunes with their own material.

Improvisation, humour and musicality make each live performance unique.

“Rising stars of the folk scene” - Katie Derham, BBC Radio 3

“Beautiful, swirling, modern English folk music” - Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2

“Gorgeous Music” - Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, RTE 1

“They display a mastery and vision that, for a debut, is truly remarkable.” - Folk Radio UK

“Virtuosic, vibrant and very, very progressive. A magnificent take on the trad. tune idiom. Don't let their youth suggest these aren't two very wise old hearted musicians at the start of a very long and glorious career” - Sam Lee

“Brave, brilliant, deeply musical and creative. Listen to this....” - Martin Simpson

Manu Delago celebrates the release of his upcoming album ‘Snow From Yesterday’, teaming up with flawless vocal ensemble Mad About Lemon at the Hackney Round Chapel.

Produced by Fire in the Mountain and Woodburner Music

Manu Delago - Grammy nominee, composer, innovator and acclaimed percussionist has teamed up with vocal ensemble Mad About Lemon to craft a profound and distinct new album. Together they will perform Snow from Yesterday (out Feb 2024 via One Little Independent Records) on a European tour. 

“When I discovered Mad About Lemon a couple of years ago, I was blown away by their delicate vocal arrangements. They create really beautiful harmonies that combine the best of both worlds – lead and choir singing. I immediately wanted to make music with them and I'm very excited that after lots of songwriting and recording sessions we can now share the music with an audience”, explains Manu Delago.


The album is fluid, versatile, and powerful. Manu Delago's handpan virtuosity is the rhythmic lifeforce of Snow From Yesterday, creating majestic, emotive sounds, often with a tender delicacy, for Mad About Lemon’s interwoven vocals to pour over. Represented in all its forms, from glacial mountains, to rivers, and even the smallest drop into watercolour, the album is about journeys and the stages of life that may change you, but also links you to others, in other times and other places. 

“Lots of my recent projects were very adventurous, conceptual and environment driven. With Snow from Yesterday I wanted to make the music priority again and create the most touching soundworld I could imagine, which thanks to some magic by the singers Anna, Mimi and Heidi (Mad About Lemon) turned out really well”, says Manu Delago.

The Austrian musician has regularly collaborated with various artists such as Björk, Anoushka Shankar, The Cinematic Orchestra, Olafur Arnalds and has appeared as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orkest and many more. He has performed in more than 50 countries around the world but more importantly completed two extensive concert tours by biycle. On the so-called 'ReCycling Tour' (2021 and 2023) his band & crew performed around 20 shows along a 1000 mile bicycle route, carrying all their equipment and instruments in bike trailers.

Manu Delago is famous for his dynamic and surprising live shows. On the upcoming tour he'll be joined by the three singers of Mad About Lemon and Clemens Rofner on bass and synths. Everyone on stage not only covers various acoustic and electronic instruments, but also contributes shapes and colours to visual artworks developing live with the music. Snow From Yesterday travels far, across endless oceanic expanses, and thousands of years, telling stories that aim to help the listener to see themselves as part of a larger body. After all, all rivers lead to the sea.

“A masterful and sensitive musician” – The Telegraph

“Virtuoso” – The Times

“Dreamy acoustics” – XLR8R

TIMINGS
1900 Doors Open
2100 Manu Delago

Fire in the Mountain and the Hackney Folk Club Presents:
Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves + support from Fran and Flora
Monday 12th February 2024
£12 - £25 TICKETS HERE

TICKETS HERE on DICE

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves have been described as “one living, breathing organism”(Bandcamp Daily), with their music “transform[ing] the listener to a different plane” (No Depression). Their sound together captivates listeners through intricate and interactive dynamics between the banjo and the fiddle. They are individually recognized as leaders in the young generation of roots musicians, de Groot being known for intricate clawhammer banjo work with Bruce Molsky, and Hargreaves bringing powerhouse fiddling to the stage with Laurie Lewis and David Rawlings in addition to teaching bluegrass fiddle at UNC-Chapel Hill. The duo’s 2022 sophomore album, Hurricane Clarice reflects history, family, literature, live performance, and environmental instability in the sounds, feelings, and sensations that permeate their music. The album won “Best Instrumental Group of the Year” and “Best Traditional Album of the Year” from the Canadian Folk Music Awards and also received a Juno nomination for “Traditional Roots Album of the Year.”

Their first self-titled album released in 2019 garnered attention from CBC Q, Paste Magazine and Rolling Stone Country, earning the duo the Independent Music Awards “Best Bluegrass Album” and a nomination from IBMA for “Best Liner Notes of the Year.” The duo has performed at festivals and venues such as Newport Folk Festival, Savannah Music Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, NC, and Red Wing Roots Music Festival. Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves create a sound that is adventurous, masterful, and original, as they expand on the eccentricities of old songs, while never losing sight of what makes them endure. 

The duo appear for a special London show after a nationwide tour with the Transatlantic Sessions

Learn more and Listen:
WEBSITE
BANDCAMP
YOUTUBE

Fran and Flora

Multi-award-nominated experimental/folk duo Fran & Flora captivate audiences with their reinventions of traditional Eastern European melodies and songs. Francesca Ter-Berg (cello/vox) and Flora Curzon (violin/vox) draw inspiration from archival recordings, recovered manuscripts and studying with traditional masters, infusing source material with drones, loops, free improvisation and electronics to create a 'border-defying' aesthetic (Mojo).

Unfurl, the culmination of three years creative studio work with producer Sam Beste (The Vernon Spring), was released in February'19 to critical acclaim: ’An album of beguiling beauty’ - The Wire; ‘Brave and classy’ - Robin Denselow, The Guardian; BBC Radio 3 Music Planet ‘Album of the Year’/Amazon ‘Best Seller’/AIM Award ‘Best New Act’.

Known for their engaging live performances, the duo has performed across the UK and beyond, including Kings Place (Songlines Encounters), Cafe Oto, Hidden Notes, Between the Lines Festival, Shambala, EFG London Jazz Festival, Smugglers Festival, Shtetl Neukolln (Berlin), Ancienne Belgique (Brussels), Casa Del Popolo and KlezKanada (Montreal).

Their 2nd studio album, Precious Collection, will be released on Hidden Notes Records in April 2024.

They have been supported by PRS Women Make Music, Help Musicians, BBC Introducing and Arts Council England.

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater's jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR's Tiny Desk, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and No Depression. Through her artful banjo playing and lush songwriting, Kaia draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, all of which reflect the diversity of her background; her family’s deep ties to the Canadian folk music scene; her college years spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia and her father’s experience growing up in Grenada, arriving in Canada in 1986, after the U.S. invasion. 

Kaia released her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release three more albums, Sorrow Bound (2015), Nine Pin (2016) and Grenades (2018).  For the JUNO-nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-listed Grenades, Kaia leaned into a wide array of sounds and styles in order to convey a broad range of emotions and topics, most notably her Caribbean ancestry and her father’s experience as a refugee in Canada.  In 2020, Kaia took part in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Center, released a new single, and wrote original music for The Porter (BET+ 2022), for which she garnered a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song in a Drama Series.  Her next album, recorded in Montreal with Joe Grass as co-producer, will land in late 2023.

"...plaintive, mesmerizing...writes and performs with the skill of a folk-circuit veteran..." -Rolling Stone

"You want some authenticity in your folk music or bluegrass – I give you Kaia Kater." -No Depression

"A star in the making..."
-Folk Alley

“...One of the most remarkable Canadian folk records in some time...Kater's music is somehow ancient and brand new at the same time.”
-Tom Power, CBC Radio 2 

"Sorrow Bound is a remarkably assured debut album which both honours tradition and declares Kater’s credentials as a distinctive, original artist."  Steve Hunt - fRoots Magazine (UK) - October 2015

website - https://www.kaiakater.com

facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kaiakatermusic

instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kaiakater/

youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@KaiaKater

NPR Tiny Desk performance - https://youtu.be/jmvz0ZdVphg

Mesadorm are known for their genre-defying live performances, effortlessly melding vocal harmonies and acoustic musicianship with electronic production techniques and epic soundscapes. They have created 3 critically-acclaimed albums, and performed at Womad, Wilderness, Shambala, EartH and Union Chapel.

Led by Blythe Pepino, join Mesadorm in singing some of your favourite carols, pop songs and children's songs. Blythe will teach a new song, and invite special guests on stage to lead specific numbers. Lyrics provided!

Vegan food will be available plus hot and cold drinks.

If you have specific song requests, please email us and we'll do our best to incorporate them.

Unconfirmed repertoire:
Fairytale of New York (The Pogues)
Silent Night (Carol)
Sleigh Ride (The Ronettes)
Let it Snow (Ella Fitzgerald)
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee)
All I Want For Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)
Last Christmas (Wham)
Feliz Navidad (José Feliciano)
In the Bleak Midwinter (Carol)
Little Saint Nick (The Beach Boys)

Praise for Mesadorm:
“Some of the most interesting music this year” - The Guardian
"A beautiful record” - Huw Stephens, BBC Radio 1
“I’m absolutely addicted...really affecting and beautiful…I love it” - Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music
“Absolutely fantastic...one of the debut albums of the year, no question” - John Kennedy, Radio X

GRAB TICKETS HERE

Mikey is currently working on a new album, due for release in autumn 2023. For album tour shows, Mikey performs unaccompanied or in duo/trio formats.

With a reputation for both making quality music and producing wondrous flourishes of creativity, Kenney is also a multi-talented and in-demand collaborator, including, formerly, with band Of Burns, and now, with his electric trio World Turned Upside Down, as well as playing with BBC 6 Music favourite, Alabaster DePlume and Italian singer-songwriter, Vinicio Capossela. Mikey is also Musical Director of the Lancashire Youth Folk Ensemble.

“This is magical, medicinal music that defies labels and borders” Liverpool Echo

“Mikey Kenney is an artist for whom music is a calling, not a career choice…a singular and inspiring talent... unfettered by expectations of geography or genre, and a wanderer of worlds both seen and invisible, Kenney is an authentic free spirit”. fRoots

"This sounds great! It's got a cool blend of traditional and modern elements. I dig it." Cory Wong - Vulfpeck

Trash-trad group NoGood Boyo is the only band you need to see if you've ever wondered what would happen if you locked Enter Shikari, The Prodigy and Meredydd Evans, in one room and told them to make some noise. They are also the only band with an accordion to request extra security staff, and paramedics on standby after audiences shattered dancefloors and tables at their gigs in Brittany. Without listening to a note, and no matter what you think about traditional music, you can't deny that all this makes them like no other grassroots band coming out of Wales right now.

Dressed in attire resembling a steampunking Welsh Nana, and with their music mixing traditional Welsh language songs with the sounds of 90s rave and nu-metal, NoGood Boyo are already on their way to taking over the music industry in Wales, and they are ready to party like it's 1699.

NoGood Boyo take their genre-bending 'trash-trad' label from the purists out to stop them, and the traditional music they have proudly mashed, mixed, and moulded in to a 21st Century sound. Their uniform consists of a boiler suit, sunglasses, and a traditional Welsh hat - seen only on biscuit tins and tacky merchandise at Barry Island until now.

They are the perfect balance between paying tribute to their Welsh heritage and all out recklessness.

Go loud, or go home boyo.

FACEBOOK EVENT HERE