Going to the West Fest
 
Artists
We are proud to bring to our first festival a fantastic line up giving the perfect combination of dance music, old ballads and up-beat songs.
Moonshine Johnny Moynihan of Sweeney’s Men, Planxty, DeDanann, The Fleadh Cowboys: vocals and accordeon, mandola, mandolin, fiddle and more. Lena Ullman of The Higglers Jug Band: vocals and five-string banjo. Frank Hall of The Monks, Easy Street Stringband, Rhythm In Shoes: vocals, fiddle, guitar. Old-timey dance music from the southern Appalachian region of America, some say the errant son and daughter of Irish music, ranges in style from sensitive waltzes to nervy breakdowns, all safely musical. Wild and edgy, backbeat and funky, bluesy and ballady, the child is also father and mother to country and rock. It’s roots music, the spud and the bog carrot, butter fried and salted. http://www.myspace.com/kinvaramoonshieshapeimage_4_link_0
Sara Grey and Ben Paleyhttp://www.maclurg.com/saragreyhttp://www.benpaley.comshapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1
Once you have heard Sara Grey you will never forget her. She has a certain quality of voice that compels you to give her your undivided attention. One of the best things about her singing is that it reflects her great knowledge of and feeling for traditional music. She is a ballad singer of great strength with a fine understanding of the importance of understatement in the art of ballad singing. On many of her songs Sara accompanies herself by frailing a five string banjo and, when playing tunes, it is obvious why she is regarded as one of the foremost exponents of the old-time style.
 
 
Jock Tyldesley and Vera van Heeringen
Jock Tyldesley is a virtuoso fiddler with an enviable reputation in Cajun music circles. Not only is Jock the lynchpin of the Flatville Aces - one of Europe’s most highly regarded Cajun bands - but he has also toured extensively with U.S greats: Balfa Toujours, Sheryl Cormier, Dirk Powell and the legendry Eddie Lejeune. Vera van Heeringen's roots are in bluegrass, which she studied from an early age, developing a rich and individual style on the guitar. She possesses a full but plaintive singing voice, and has become a demon at playing old-time fiddle tunes on the mandolin, as well as being a highly sought-after Cajun multi-instrumentalist with The Flatville Aces. The both also play with Sugar Moon and The New Rope String Band.
The Kittyhawkshttp://www.thekittyhawks.comshapeimage_7_link_0
The KittyHawks are a new old-time band based in the UK. Whilst their repertoire is rooted in traditional old-time, some songs are contemporary and some are plucked from other musical styles and given an old-time twist. All are interwoven with beautiful harmonies creating a mix of high and lonesome, gospel and good old foot-tapping stomps. The nucleus of the group is Lucy Ray (vocals and mandolin) and Mo Jackson (vocals and banjo), who met one rainy afternoon at a FOAOTMAD (Friends of American Old-Time Music and Dance) summer camp in August 2005.
 
The Grumpy Bush String Band
The Grumpy Bush String Band are a group of old-time enthusiasts from south west Wales. They play American old-time tunes and songs on streets, in pubs and for square dances to whoever will listen. They are: Jackie Kempton fiddle; Pete Jenkins banjo; Jo Cooper guitar, fiddle; and Mansel Kedward mandolin, guitar.
 
At 6 years old, Ben began playing the fiddle, taking formal violin lessons as well as learning traditional tunes and taking his place in the musical life of his family. When he was 9, they moved to Morganton, North Carolina, where Ben began to learn about harmony, improvisation, and playing nicely with others. Three years later Ben and his family returned to England, and he discovered Swedish fiddle music and Punk Rock. Some years later he washed up in Brighton: hanging out at Irish sessions; busking; touring the UK, US and Europe; playing recording sessions, festivals and folk-clubs; and playing for more bands than he can possibly remember.