Saturday 17th April: TOWN HALL - MAIN STAGE
Cara Dillon
Originating from Northern Ireland, Cara Dillon was brought to the nation's attention as part of the folk supergroup, Equation. Since leaving the band, she has teamed up with husband, Sam Lakeman, and beguiled countless fans with her heartbreaking voice and expressive delivery on a range of traditional and original material.
Demon Barber Roadshow
Trying to describe the Demon Barbers to people who haven't seen them before is a hard task. More of a spectacle than a band, they combine driving, folk tunes with one of the best rapper sides in the country (and some pretty good clog dancing too).
Megan Henwood
The Radio 2 Young Folk Award Winner 2009 graces the Oxford stage for the first time, all the way from Henley! Described as ‘vibrant, melodic, fresh, energetic and bloody good’, she’s certainly one to watch!
Torvaki
Torivaki join us at the Oxford Folk Festival from their native Rhone-Alps in France. The band are influenced by the traditional music of the Balkans, but delight in leading their audience on a musical journey through different styles and cultures. Parade rhythms and gypsy melodies twist and turn, telling stories of far-flung peoples.
Luke Daniels & Sam Proctor
Squeezebox wizard Luke Daniels plays everything from Irish reels to Brazilian waltzes on a two-and-a-half row button accordion. Sam Proctor is a Nottingham-based fiddle player who sounds like he has spent a lifetime playing feverish sessions in Ireland. This scintillating duo combines passion with pin-sharp precision.
The Gael Academy
Outstanding young performers from 'Folk Academy' based in Bracknell get a richly deserved main stage appearance this year after wow-ing us on the Cornbury Stage in the past. Expect dazzling skills on fiddle, mandolin, clasarch harp, uilleann pipes, bamboo flute and melodeon.
Roots Union
A five piece band from the south of England (although their music nods towards the the US). The band fuse acoustic guitar, dobro, violin, beatbox harmonica, bass, percussion and harmonies. Their live show combines their own bluesy compositions with a young confidence and enthusiasm.
HOLYWELL MUSIC ROOM
Oxford Concert Party
Europe's only Baroque and Tango Orchestra! Fronted by the incomparable ARne Richards, this 'bunch of superb musicians' (Daily Telegraph) combine Vivaldi with Finnish polkas, Irish laments and French café music, to create a rich, expressive cocktail is served up with humour.
Rising Voices
Oxford Folk Festival’s own community choir is back to show how singers of all ability can join in to create stunning a cappella harmonies. Singing from their repertoire of local traditional music, plus some more contemporary songs, prepare to be impressed!
TOWN HALL - CORNBURY STAGE
The Dalai Larkin with Balalaika
Inflatable Buddha front man and "Spoken Word Guru" (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Steve Larkin takes on the world armed only with a medieval stringed instrument, a loop pedal, his voice and a boat load of opinions. Expect unbridled poems, songs and a raucous finale.
Scarlett in the Wilderness
Oxford's only (and therefore best) burlesque-tinged gypsy folk band, playing an amalgamation of folk, ska, skiffle and blues, with heavy Eastern European and Klezmer influences...and rather divine corsetry. Thrill to tales of decadence and deviance, from murderous tangos to merry sea shanties.
The Reverenzas
Melodeon player Jamie Huddlestone, fiddler Henry Webster and singer/guitarist James Bell join forces. Formed in the local folk Mecca, The Half Moon pub, they play down-and-dirty traditional English folk music... too fast, too loud and with too much relish. We hope you like.
Colin & Jane
Jane Griffiths (fiddle) & Colin Fletcher (guitar) play spell-binding arrangements of traditional and original tunes, drawing on classical and jazz influences. They have performed at folk clubs and festivals all over the country as a duo and with a number of singer-songwriters.
Giles Lewin & Steph West
Sharing an early music background, Steph brings her harp and Giles his fiddle expertise to the earlier repertoire of the folk tradition. They draw in their audience with their subtle manner, teasing out new approaches to old tunes as well as including new compositions.
Susanna Starling
Susanna Starling, of Inflatable Buddha renown, will be singing her own material alongside traditional British folk songs, music hall and European cabaret – accompanied by trademark double bass and human beat box – you won't see anything quite like this!
Short Drag Roger
The amazing Short Drag Roger sing shanties. As one person on the Isle of Wight said, "They sing like seamen, not a close harmony group. Or as my wife puts it, they are North Atlantic not Norfolk Broads".
Duo Komitas
From Oxford's twin town Leiden, Maaten Witkam, singer and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, violin, flute, saxophone), accompanied by an Armenian accordionist, brings us an exotic euro-mix of French/Armenian/Italian/Greek/gipsy Russian folk music.
Sam Twigg Johnson
Sam's 'darkly smoky, sensual songs and incredibly rich voice' are accompanied by Puerto Rican cuatro. Drawing on flamenco as well as American folk, rock and blues, she explores questions of beauty, distance, and survival with tenacity and grace.
Mountain Parade
Ramshackle, folk-pop collective The Mountain Parade invite you to join them on their journey through oceans, jungles, canals, glaciers and local museums.
Al Marshall
Al sings and plays melodeon. Sometimes he even does both at the sametime. With a background in the morris, Al's music is rooted in the English tradition but shamelessly plunders material from other sources, both traditional and contemporary.
Jon Fletcher
Dazzling finger-style guitar, gently soulful vocals and songs aimed straight at the heart: Jon Fletcher weaves strands of English folk, jazz and acoustic pop into a compelling and original take on the troubadour tradition.
Huffenpuff
The saxophone and accordion duo Huffenpuff, are favourites of the Oxford music scene. They delight audiences with their wonderfully warm and infectious sound, including Breton, Eastern European, English folk, French café, and home-grown compositions.
