Farm festival offers weekend of music and a few surprises
FOLK on The Farm festival, which from small beginnings in 2013 has quickly established itself as one of the highlights of the folk festival calendar, will return to Tyddyn Môn, Anglesey on July 11-14.
The festival which attracts hundreds each year, and features some of the best folk artists from around the UK, is organised by Tyddyn Môn, a charity which supports adults with learning disabilities; and Jon Hippy, the festival director. All proceeds from the charity are used to support the charity and its activities.
The weekend starts on the Thursday with a Folk Plus Night, an open mic night with special sets from Blanty, Karen Pfeiffer and Paul Walker.
The line-up this year has 26 acts, which includes local bands like Holyhead-based Brodyr Magee, and Cowbois Celtaidd from Amlwch, and Tyddyn Môn’s own band, the Tyddyners, consisting of some of the adults with learning disabilities supported by Tyddyn Môn.
Other acts include Ellesmere Port-based Fiddlestone, which offers traditional and contemporary music and song with a Celtic flavour.
The Goat Roper Rodeo Band preaches Country Blues like you never heard, and Spiral Earth writes: “The Goat Roper Rodeo Band take a slightly psychedelic route to the finish line and include some serious footstompin’ rock ‘n’ roll along the way, mix in a little gospel fire and a sprinkle of Gram and these boys ruled our last afternoon”.
Ex-Liverpool Echo journalist Raphael Callaghan, who is a singer, harmonica and slide guitar player, songwriter and music enthusiast, brings his own style of acoustic blues, gospel and roots.
Young Birmingham-based outfit, The Urban Folk Quartet, performs fiddle-led music that draws heavily from Celtic dance forms and traditional song, but from there on it is unlike any folk band you have ever heard.
The UFQ’s approach to the folk ethos is to embrace any and every influence that genuinely makes sense of their time and place and makes sense in their music.
These range from funk grooves to middle-eastern melodies, afrobeat to north Indian rhythms.
Also appearing will be veterans Henry Priestman and Les Glover. Priestman played with the British power pop band Yachts in the late 1970s, and during the 1980s and 1990s
he was a member of the Christians, and teamed up with Les Glover six years ago.
Les Glover has been entertaining and playing music for 40 years, performing all over the UK and across Europe.
The festival is sponsored by Caprice Furniture and Flooring, Hogan, Owen and Owen, Cymell Cyf, Adelphi Vaults of Amlwch Port and Pawson & Roberts MBE.
To order tickets, and book your camping pitch, check out the festival’s website: www. folkonthefarmfestival.com, which also includes an archive with videos of selected acts from past years’ festivals to give a flavour of what you may expect.