Events
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Sat 28 June 7.30 Holy Trinity. John Broomhead remembered: This date marks 20 years since John passed away. He was a founder member of both the folk club and the Harry Browns. Expect some names from the early days and of course the wonderful Harry Browns.
Free event.
Autumn 2025
Fri 12 Sep Martin Simpson In a class of his own: a superb storyteller and a musician of great depth and virtuosity
Sun 28 Sep Eabhal 7.30 Scottish brilliance. High energy and freshness from these rising stars
Fri 10 Oct The Haar Phenomenal. Unbelievable. Irish music as you have never heard it before. Absolute class
Fri 31 Oct Grace will lead us home. A powerful, thought-provoking concert to mark Black History month
Sat 29 Nov Opa Rosa Fast paced, mesmerising Balkan and eastern European music to get you pulse going
Fri 19 Dec Celebrating Christmas with Jon Doran and Janice Burns. A beautiful, traditional start to Christmas
Note: On-line ticket sales are subject to a 7.5% booking fee.
Fri 31 October Grace will lead us home.
“A powerful, thought-provoking concert to mark Black History month”
John Newton was a bad boy teenager. Pressed-ganged at 17, he was sold as a slave himself to an African Princess; later became a slave ship captain and after being saved from a shipwreck devoted himself to God, writing the song that's become a worldwide symbol against oppression - Amazing Grace.
To mark Newton’s 300th birthday, Angeline Morrison; Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne; Jon Bickley and John Palmer explore his life; the inextricable link between Amazing Grace and the slave trade; its iconic status as a protest against oppression and its relevance today.
Many of those singing it don’t know the story of the man who wrote it. Many more cannot reconcile his early life with the sentiments of the song.
Grace Will Lead Us Home uses traditional and new songs, linked by extracts from Newton's and Wilberforce's diaries and writings alongside other contemporary commentaries, to highlight all aspects of his life, how Amazing Grace became such an iconic statement of protest and what it means in the modern world.
It’s the latest chapter in a three-year Arts Council-funded project that's already produced a series of exhibitions, podcasts, videos, lectures, seminars and an album (currently being revised for the tour).
The Guardian: Stirring and Imaginative
Mojo Magazine: Echoes of Peter Bellamy’s The Transports – the sounds here are sweet indeed ****
Songlines: Powerful compositions, gorgeous arrangements
Folking: Heady Stuff
Roots Magazine: A truly triumphal experience
KLOF Magazine: A fine album with themes remarkably relevant to today
Angeline was born in Birmingham to a Jamaican mother and a father from the Outer Hebrides Her album Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience was The Guardian Folk Album of the Year in 2022.
Cohen is of Barbadian heritage and he was brought up in Birmingham and Worcester. Twice nominated as BBC Radio Two's Folk Artist of the Year, his trio Granny's Attic are currently celebrating their 15th anniversary with a nationwide tour.
Jon is a poet, singer, songwriter and broadcaster, who is the director of the John Newton Project. He has also recorded an album on John Newton and William Cowper’s Olney Hymns
John is a narrator, writer and producer who created Ghosts, Werewolves and Countryfolk – Songs and Stories of Sabine Baring-Gould with Jim Causley and Miranda Sykes and the Vaughan Williams 150th anniversary Cathedral tour From Pub to Pulpit with Paul Hutchinson and Anna Tam’s Coracle and acapella Broomdasher
£16 earlybird/ £18
Saturday 29 Nov Opa Rosa
“Fast paced, mesmerising Balkan and eastern European music to get you pulse going”
Fast gaining a reputation as one of Bristol’s most dynamic and virtuosic bands, Opa Rosa are an energetic acoustic ensemble sharing music from the Klezmer, Balkan, Greek & Roma traditions. With several combined decades of study and experience, all five musicians are well-versed in the musical traditions’ syntax and significance, capturing all the joy and sorrow that these traditions are so renowned for expressing.
Deeply rooted in Balkan traditions, Opa Rosa’s music aims to explore and reinvent the motifs of Eastern Europe by subtly drawing from other musical influences such as Post-Rock, Classical and Jazz. With their line-up of violin, clarinet, accordion, double bass and percussion, their unique and refined sound consists of an explosive and grooving rhythm section combined with intricate melodies soaring over rich and nuanced harmonic structures.
Following the release of their debut album ‘A Feast from the East’ they have toured internationally and captivated audiences with their high-energy and engaging performances. Recent gigs include a sold-out performance headlining Bristol Beacon, Green Note (London), Trinity Centre (Bristol), The Cornish Bank (Falmouth), Jamboree (London) and various festivals, including Smuggler’s Festival, Secret Garden Party, Valley Fest and Buddhafield.
£16
Fri 19 Dec Celebrating Christmas with Jon Doran and Janice Burns
“A beautiful, traditional start to Christmas”
Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music and songs that tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world. Their album Great Joy to the New
released in 2024 is a beautiful and collection of Christmas carols and winter tunes
Janice & Jon’s ‘clever and uncluttered musical storytelling’ comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar. Their arrangements have a spellbinding presence and an understated energy that transports their songs from the pages of books and manuscripts into the imagination of the listener.
They play lovely strings, they have gorgeous harmony arrangements. Really well crafted, intimate, beautifully understated. – Karine Polwart
Janice and Jon are both delightful singers with wonderfully musical voices. Their performances of traditional folk songs have a pleasing authenticity and they make delicious harmonies. They are also both fine instrumentalists of great skill and talent. Any appearance of theirs in a folk club or on the concert platform will guarantee you an experience you’ll remember.
– Sandra Kerr £14/£16