Whitby – a soul town, significant in John’s life since the 60s when the embryonic folk festival could be contained entirely in The Seamen’s Mission – Loveless, Binless et al. It is his honour to return, albeit as a soloist after over 50 years of collaborative performing – Muckram Wakes, Albion Band, Home Service, Barry Coope, The National Theatre (WarHorse), television (Sharpe), radio (The Radio Ballads) and multiple stages at festivals and clubs but never until recently alone. John’s solo adventuring is entitled “Don’t Get Me Started….” – let’s see where it takes us?

John Tams; singer, songmaker and inactivist

Rebecca Hearne is a folk singer from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and comes from a long line of Irish and English musical performers. Inspired by traditional folk music from the British Isles and beyond, Rebecca blends straightforward acapella vocal performance with contemporary pop music, academic research, and principles of mythology, folklore, and magic to create a truly enchanting sensory experience. Favouring lesser-known tales, the bizarre, and the disquieting, Rebecca blends folk songs with contemporary influences to create mesmerising performances punctuated with charisma, wit, and sparkle, resulting in a transcendent atmosphere of bacchanalian warmth and chaos.

Culverake are a new traditional singing trio promising gusto and harmonies a plenty. Made up of Seb Stone, Matt Quinn and Lizzy Hardingham, they breathe new life into timeless melodies.

Dougie Mackenzie sang mostly Gaelic songs in his youth but was introduced to folk music at the famed Inverness Folk Song Club. He is drawn to Scots ballad language and the stories it carries to us from the past.

Brian Miller is one of the most esteemed singers and guitarists on the Scottish traditional music scene with performing and recording credits including with his daughter Siobhan Miller, The Occasionals, The Singing Kettle and Tom Paxton, and is still a member of The Stars Band. In January 2024 Brian was inducted in to The Scottish Tradional Music Hall OF Fame, this honour was well deserved .

Recently Brian and Dougie have joined forces in the studio and on stage. The album ‘Along The Way’ by Dougie Mackenzie with Brian Miller was recorded and produced by Ian McCalman at his Kevock Studio. After this collaboration Dougie and Brian have officially formed a duo together.

Choras, three Scottish wifies, Aileen Carr, Barbara Dymock and Janice Reavell between them have enough performing experience, solo and collaborative, to write several books. Bringing together their considerable collective repertoire, adding harmony arrangements and a bit of panache, they present a wide ranging variety of songs that they’ve taken a fancy to over the years.

Fay Hield teams up once again with stellar musicians Sam Sweeney (Bellowhead, Leveret) and Rob Harbron (Leveret, The Servant’s Ball) to share songs of love, loss, war and general silliness. Drawn from various folk repertoires, Hield expands understanding of where the songs come from, how the tradition has evolved and what it all means to her. Expect to learn something, have a few giggles, sing a couple of choruses and enjoy an incredible performance from three of the country’s most astounding musicians.

Jim Murray started on the Tyneside folk scene in the 60s as a solo singer and with brother Phil, and Mick and Kevin Doonan in a band which developed into the legendary Hedgehog Pie. After moving to London, Jim continued to perform and to run folk clubs. Lis Stewart (duet concertina, fiddle, keyboards) performs at folk clubs, leads sessions and is the foreman and musician for Brixton Tatterjacks Morris. Alex Szyszkowski (melodeon, concertina, mandolin) is rooted in the English country dance tradition. He is a member of Cheap Jack and Islington Folk Club’s Angel Band. Chris Dyer (fiddle, nyckelharpa) is a bal folk musician on the UK festival and dance club scene. She is MC of the London Scandi Session. They got together in 2013 with Dave Wooldridge and play as Jim Murray and the Too Good To Hurry Band.

Seb Stone is a traditional singer, whistle player and uilleann piper from the Peak District. In 2022 he won Bromyard Folk Festival’s ‘Future of Folk’ award, and had his first festival season in 2023. He draws on a varied repertoire of traditional English and Irish songs, focussing on the stories they have to tell, and their relevance to our modern world, singing them with “understanding, sensitivity & strength”. Seb is a keen session player, and when he’s not poring over broadsides or field recordings, he can be found playing sessions in Sheffield’s thriving folk scene.

Miranda started her career as a musician in 1996 at the age of 18, playing bass guitar in a country rock band. After 2 years touring and playing for line dancing in working mens clubs across Britain, folk-rock band Pressgang were looking for a bass player. Miranda spent the next 2 years touring internationally with them.

After a few years of musical promiscuity playing with Firebrand, Little Johnny England, Robb Johnson, Bill Jones, Steafan Hannigan, Reg Meuross, Kirsty McGee, The Phil Beer Band, Martyn Joseph and The Scoville Units; Miranda depped for Pete Zorn in the 2004 Show Of Hands festival band line up. She worked with them for the next 20 years. Miranda also found time for a short tour and album with the Miranda Sykes Band in 2005, duo album tours with mandolin player Rex Preston and 2 solo albums.

2024 brings a second tour with Hannah Martin, a new Baring-Gould Centenary project with Jim Causley, summer festivals with vocal group Daphne’s Flight, a tour with The Phil Beer Trio and a new solo album and tour “Out Of The Woods”

Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music. Their compelling storytelling comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki and guitar. With their relaxed and personable approach to performance, Janice & Jon are renowned for the warmth of their connection with audiences. From opening Stage 2 at Cambridge Folk Festival, to playing at the likes of Edinburgh Tradfest, Cecil Sharp House and Sage Gateshead, the duo are highly sought after across the UK and beyond. Following the success of their self-titled EP in 2020, Janice & Jon released their debut album, No More the Green Hills, in Autumn 2022. The album had overwhelmingly positive feedback, finding its place in the Official UK Folk Albums Chart, as well as gaining airplay on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland.

Four of England’s finest traditional fiddle players, Bryony Griffith, Jim Boyle, Ross Grant and Rosie Butler-Hall have joined forces to create The English Fiddle Ensemble.

All with a passion for traditional English dance and its music, their combined repertoire is vast and includes rarely played and unusual regional tunes alongside more familiar session favourites. Their aim is to engage with the audience in a way that allows them to feel the bite and lift of four fiddles resonating to create joyous harmonies and striking rhythms.

Centred on the city of Peterborough, this men’s side also has members from the Midlands and East Anglia. Founded in 1979, they perform Cotswold dances, with a focus on those from nearby Northamptonshire. They wear black breeches, white socks, white shirts, blue and yellow baldricks and flowery straw hats. Much in demand locally for events in Cambridgeshire, they also regularly appear further afield.

Francy Devine, born In London, was educated in Peterborough, Leeds and Dublin, and worked as a Trade Union Tutor for the Irish Transport & General Workers’ Union/SIPTU. Active in the Musicians’ Union of Ireland, he is a member of Howth Singing Circle and has appeared at clubs and festivals in Ireland, Brittany and Scotland. With the Scots musician and singer Steve Byrne, he has recorded two CDs – My Father Told Me and An Ownerless Corner of Earth – available on Bandcamp.

Earlsdon Morris are a North West clog side who formed in Coventry in 1971. Their repertoire includes traditional dances originating from the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, and their own dances in the same style. They are a sociable group who like to dance, sing, travel and be merry. 

Founded in the early 1980s, Duke’s Dandy Clog perform dances predominantly, but not exclusively, in the Lancashire and North-east styles. They meet and practice in Retford, Nottinghamshire coming together from as far afield as Cornwall, Hull, Sheffield, Folkestone, Southwell and Grimsby. Their name comes from an amalgamation of their first dance-out at a “Duke” of Edinburgh Award Ceremony and the name given to your Sunday best – or “Dandy” – clogs. The dancers, who wear purple skirts, black blouses and matching clogs, will be ably accompanied on piano accordion by Bernard Blackwell and on fiddle by David Wigg.

Belle D’Vain were formed 32 years ago, by the wives and daughters of Pebworth Morris. They are based at The Fleece Inn Bretforton in Worcestershire and dance around the Cotswolds area, as well as festivals around the country. They took their name and our kit colours from a locally grown plum, The Belle D’Louvain. One of their favourite dances is ‘Whitby’ and they are all looking forward to dancing this in Whitby itself!