UK Bluegrass - news and information about the British bluegrass music scene

John Dowling banjo workshop

Admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:20:15 +0000

John Dowling will be running a bluegrass banjo workshop on June 24th in London. John has been playing banjo for 17 years and teaching for 15. He won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2000, and went on to become the only European to have won the USA National Bluegrass Banjo Championships in 2002. [...]

Bluegrass in Weston-super-Mare

Admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:15:59 +0000

The Weston Rock festival will be dedicating a whole day to bluegrass music on June 3rd. The event will be held at the town’s rugby club, across four days from June 1st - 4th. The day of bluegrass will feature Flats and Sharps, The Hog Ranch (pictured), Chris Moreton and Roots and Galoots. Camping will be available [...]

On tour with the Deadly Gentlemen

Admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:27:49 +0000

The Deadly Gentlemen toured the UK in March to promote their album Carry Me To Home. The Boston-based band played across England and Scotland, including at the Celtic Connections Big Top festival on the Isle of Skye. Maria Wallace attended many of the gigs and has written a report of the tour. Read the article here.

Third Little Opry coming up

Admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:25:14 +0000

The third Little Opry will be on Saturday, May 26th. The regular evening of music is hosted by Native Grass and this month will feature an open mic followed by headliner band Rattle On The Stovepipe. It takes place at the Tom Thumb Theatre in Cliftonville, Kent with doors opening at 7.00pm and tickets costing £6.50. Bands lined [...]

Sore Fingers in action

Admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:20:53 +0000

A session featuring the teaching and tea staff at last month’s Sore Fingers Week was caught on camera by John Breese. The video of Red Prairie Dawn shows Grant Gordy, Mike Witcher, Rex Preston, Laura Carrivick and Miranda Sykes playing in the grounds of Kingham Hill School. In similar news, John’s popular documentary about bluegrass in the [...]

Punch Brothers on the telly

Admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:46:24 +0000

In addition to last night’s gig in London, Punch Brothers will be appearing on BBC TV during their visit to the UK. The band will perform on Later Live…with Jools Holland on BBC2 tonight (May 8th) at 10pm. They will also be on Friday’s (May 11th) Later…with Jools Holland on the same channel at 11.50pm. Details [...]

Summer starts at Orwell

Admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:29:27 +0000

The 2012 summer festival season kicks off on May 11th with the Orwell Bluegrass Festival. The festival is now in its 6th year and will have concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, an open mic and workshops. This year there will also be an extended programme for old-time music and dancing. Bands playing include New Essex [...]

Woodberrys win slot at Ely

Admin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:16:08 +0000

Congratulations to The Woodberrys, who have been announced as the winners of the band competition for the Ely Folk Festival. The band will be rewarded with the opening slot at the festival which runs from July 13th- 15th in Cambridgeshire. Since forming last year for the Sore Fingers student concert, the five-piece band has gone from [...]

The Wagon Tales with Krystle Warren

Admin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:12:58 +0000

The Wagon Tales will be backing and collaborating with American singer/songwriter Krystle Warren on her UK tour in May. Warren, a member of Rufus Wainwright’s group and currently his featured support act, is a friend and colleague of The Wagon Tales’ Ben Somers, who says that “Krystle’s music has an extremely eclectic range of influences, but [...]

Leeds Bluegrass Club celebrates 30 years

Admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:20:20 +0000

Leeds Bluegrass Club will celebrate its 30th anniversary this Thursday, 26th April. The club has run on the last Thursday of each month since April 1982. In its formative years it hosted top US musicians including Del McCoury, Bob Paisley and Peter Rowan. More recently, European acts The Sons Of Navarone and Four Wheel Drive have [...]