Cambridge Folk Festival is excited to announce 25 new names for the 2020 line-up, adding to the wealth of music on offer at Cherry Hinton Hall this summer:
Highly rated, alt. folk band This Is The Kit, aka Kate Stables and her band (Rozi Plain, Jamie Whitby-Coles, Neil Smith), who count Guy Garvey amongst their fans. Teeside trio The Young’uns, one of folk music’s hottest properties and double BBC Folk Awards Best Group winners. Four-piece Flook, bringing Irish and English traditional roots right up to date with technical brilliance and adventurous musical imagination. Celebrating their 30th anniversary, Four Men & A Dog, with their vivacious blend of traditional Irish music and rap, Southern rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, polka, country swing, and even salsa. The award winning and highly acclaimed Le Vent du Nord, a leading force in Québec’s progressive francophone folk movement. Californian singer-songwriter and guitarist Jesca Hoop, known for her finely crafted song writing, sung with a unique intelligence and an unparalleled voice.
Celebrating their 10th year of performing together, are much-loved Yorkshire folk duo O’Hooley & Tidow, who recently penned the title song for TV series Gentleman Jack. One of Scotland’s most exciting and successful folk groups Breabach, celebrating their 15th anniversary. “Hot fiddles from cool Scandinavia” Frigg, for whom the term nordgrass was coined. Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys, whose high-octane remodelling of folk music has fuelled their meteoric rise since forming in 2016. Dubbed “the Sex Pistols of folk”, The Trials of Cato, paying clear homage to the tradition whilst twisting old bones into something febrile and modern. Orcadian eight-piece The Chair, delivering a turbocharged mash-up of folk, blues, rock, dub, klezmer, and showcasing their brand-new album.
Also joining this year’s programme, The Breath, acclaimed jazz guitarist Stuart McCallum and current BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year, singer/flautist Ríoghnach Connolly, presenting their contemporary take on alt-folk. Essex-born folk songwriter Beans On Toast, a cult hero for singing simple songs that tackle big issues. Seven-piece Americana soul band from Venice, California, Dustbowl Revival, known for their free-flowing and joyous live shows, combining their funk rhythm and brass section with a fast-picking string band section. Saltfishforty, a fresh and dynamic duo from the Orkney Islands, who combine the rich traditional music of their home with original compositions. Festival sensations, Anglo-Irish all-female bluegrass quintet Midnight Skyracer; the first British act nominated for an award by the International Bluegrass Music Association and with a highly anticipated new album on the horizon.
The longest running booked artist at Cambridge Festival, Scottish multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Brian McNeill will be leading the festival session. The Haden Triplets – Petra, Rachel and Tanya – critically acclaimed for their vocal chemistry, at once tradition-minded and modern, and their otherworldly, American heartland sound. Acoustic duo Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage, who enrapture audiences around the world with their intimate duets around a vintage microphone accompanied by dulcimer, dobro and guitar. Award-winning Kentucky duo The Local Honeys, playing striking versions of both sacred and secular songs from the southern Appalachians. Westward The Light, folk musicians Charlie Grey, Sally Simpson, Owen Sinclair and Joseph Peach, creating a new expression of an age-old sound reflective of their upbringings immersed in the nature and landscapes of Scotland.
BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winner 2019, Maddie Morris, a contemporary folk musician who is heavily influenced by traditional protest song. A dynamic four-piece of fiddle, flute, guitar and percussion from Orkney, Gnoss performing energetic tune sets and driving folk song and returning again, the ever-popular Silent Ceilidh.
Artists already announced: Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Passenger, Seasick Steve, Suzanne Vega, Show of Hands, Lankum, Martha Wainwright, Fatoumata Diawara, Patty Griffin, Seth Lakeman, Julie Fowlis, Chico Trujillo, The Delines, Elephant Sessions, Sam Lee, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, Davina & The Vagabonds.
Cambridge Folk Festival takes place 30 July – 2 August 2020 in the picturesque grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall, Cambridge. Early booking advisable. Purchase tickets from: https://www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival/tickets
Ticket information:
Full festival ticket: £182, Thursday: £30, Friday: £75, Saturday: £75, Sunday: £75