Music / Folk & Roots
Bristol’s month in folk & roots – December 2023
There may well be tinsel covering every surface, the dreaded Ms Carey blasting from every bar and a general feeling of forced bonhomie oozing from various tedious looking office parties but folk music will always save us during the festivities.
There are a massive amount of brilliant gigs, some of them filled with uptempo party bangers, some beautifully winter-y and some are old favourites visiting the West Country for a bit of seasonal cheer.
is needed now More than ever
December’s undisputed highlight is the magnificent Skinny Lister at The Fleece on December 14. Residents of our fair city these days, they are absolutely incredible live – a fearsome collision between The Pogues and The Longest Johns.
They are a little bit Folk-Punk, a little bit Sea Shanty, a little bit brilliant – it’s no surprise that their latest album is called Shanty Punk.
It’s filled to bursting with huge singalong, party bangers that fit snugly next to festival pleasers Trouble on Oxford Street, Six Whiskies and Wanted. Support is from the Nobel Jacks duo and Hannah Rose Platt. Guaranteed to be the best party in Bristol over the festive season.
The Christmas concert at Downend is always very special – for some of us it has marked the proper start of the Christmas season for many years.
You can put your decorations up once Downend Folk & Roots have celebrated Christmas.
This year The Wilderness Yet play on December 15. Featuring the incredible vocals of Rosie Hodgson (previously a finalist of the BBC Young Folk Award), the fine, sensitive fiddle playing of Rowan Piggott and the deft guitar and flute of Philippe Barnes.
Their last release was Turn the Year Around, a winter album of secular rewrites of classic carols and winter-y favourites. The Heartwood Chorus will start the evening to bring plenty of festive cheer.
There’s something inherently Christmas-y about St George’s, even in July. On December 12, A Winter Union play in that lovely space. Probably the best of the Christmas Folk evenings, A Winter Union were brilliant at the Folk House last year and they will, doubtless, be brilliant again.
The band features folk super duos Sanders & Savage and Gilmore & Roberts as well as Jade Rhiannon from The willows. Their mix of carols and mid-winter treats is just the thing to give you a Christmas-y tingle.
Calum Gilligan plays on December 1 as part of the Rising Folk series; influenced by the likes of Christy Moore and Paul Brady, Gilligan is exceptional live.
There are so many great things at The Folk House as the year ends. UFQ (Urban Folk Quartet) starts things off on December 3.
While they may be rooted in the Celtic Folk tradition, they add hints of Afrobeat, Indian classical, Rock and even a tiny bit of funk. They are the perfect band for a dance – high energy and huge fun.
Celebrating more than 50 years of performing live, Steve Tilston comes back to Bristol on December 9. A wonderful storyteller and Folk legend, he recorded for the Village Thing label way back when. This evening he plays with Harmonica maestro Keith Warmington and is bound to play plenty of favourites.
The Magpies are one the best of the modern folk bands around just now. Mixing traditional English Folk with Bluegrass, Americana and Appalachian tunes, they play on December 10.
Katey Brooks will be well worth a look on December 15 too. Expect Christmas tunes with a Folk-y twist from this incredible, local vocalist.
To celebrate the reopening of Bristol Beacon, there are a whole bunch of Folk friendly gigs. Billy Bragg needs no introduction whatsoever but he’s playing on December 5. Expect him to dip, liberally, into his back catalogue as he plugs his latest “best of” , Roaring Forty. He never lets you down.
For something a bit closer to the experimental indie-folk end of the spectrum, Richard Dawson plays the Lantern on December 12. Hard to define but incredibly intense live this is bound to be quite special.
Kate Rusby is, probably, the Queen of Folk-y Christmas. She plays the main hall on December 17 with her traditional take on a Yorkshire Christmas. There will be warmth, love, storytelling and one of the finest Folk voices that you will ever hear.
Martin Green’s Lighting the Dark will be in the Lantern Hall on December 20. An incredible, innovative musician, he will bring a huge amount of light into the December darkness.
Two huge Bristol favourites play The Jam Jar in December. Heroes of European Folk, Sheelanagig, play on December 2. They are absolutely impossible to sit still to and have been spreading unrestrained joy to all parts for well over a decade now.
With support from Birmingham’s Bonfire Radicals, this is bound to be an evening of high energy folk of the very finest kind.
On December 7, Moscow Drug Club show us where elements of Berlin Cabaret, Latin Tinge, French musette and storytelling meet. They are Folk-y, Jazz-y, World-y and fabulous.
To help celebrate the Solstice, Jay Terrestrial & The Firepit Collective play on December 20. Anarcho-Folk at its best.
There’s nothing especially Christmas-y about the highlights at Strange Brew but that doesn’t stop them all being absolutely essential.
Canadian Folk-rockers, Great Lake Swimmers, play on December 12. If you fancy a slightly downbeat festive season then they are influenced by the likes of Nick Drake, Red House Painters and Iron & Wine; utterly gorgeous.
Flyte are an indie-folk duo from London and play on December 14. Their storytelling is exceptional; think Laura Marling, Bon Iver and the like.
Bristol favourite, Rozi Plain, plays on December 16 and this one is going to be very special indeed. A writer of brilliant songs and creator of wonderful worlds, her latest album, Prize, should be on every Christmas list.
Other places and other stuff
Bristol’s Cut Capers might not be, exactly, folk but their live show is irresistible. They’re at SWX on December 1 as part of their biggest UK tour ever. It’ll be a high energy homecoming celebration for the hook-heavy, explosive nine piece.
Jarrod Dickenson was last in Bristol when he provided jaw-dropping support to the quite incredible Amanda Shires at The Exchange. He headlines The Louisiana on December 3 – his blues-y rock n roll growl and spirited take on country is just perfect.
Three Cane Whale play The Wardrobe Theatre on December 5. My love for them is entirely undimmed and they will be their usual whimsical, beautiful, glorious selves. Just a great band.
Also a great band are Tarren. A Bristol based, mini folk supergroup they weave intricate English folk tunes and good time foot-stomping with traditional dance at the very heart of things. They were superb at Priddy Folk Festival this year and play at The New Room on December 7.
Also on December 7 are The Bros. Landreth. They celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their classic, American roots album, Let it Lie, at Thekla with two full sets, one of which will be the whole album played acoustically.
Nile Robinson & The Countrymen launch their album at Crofters Rights on December 8 with support from The Freakshow.
Seas of Mirth and Ushti Baba co-headline at The Exchange on December 9. Ushti Baba are absolutely thunderous live, blending Eastern and Western Folk with DnB and Jungle rhythms. They are seriously infectious.
So too are Gogol Bordello who play the O2 Academy on December 12. Finally, Rachael Dadd plays El Rincon in Bedminster on December 14. It’s very tiny though so getting tickets for that one will be a good plan.
2023 has been a brilliant year for folk and roots in Bristol and December is absolutely packed full of treats. Have fun.
Main photo: Jon Riley
Read next:
- Bristol’s month in folk & roots – November 2023
- Bristol’s month in folk & roots – October 2023
- Bristol’s month in folk & roots – September 2023
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