Music / Folk & Roots
Bristol’s month in folk & roots – May 2023
You would have thought that, following the excitements of Bristol Folk Festival, things might calm down a bit through May. You’d be wrong about that.
Far from easing into the summer it seems as though Bristol has decided that May is the time for an enormous amount of brilliant folk and roots shows – some of which clash horribly with one another.
Traditionally, of course, May and folk music go together like a banjo and a fiddle. It’s traditional for Morris sides to assemble, on May 1, to dance the sun up as May morning breaks.
is needed now More than ever
Rag Morris will be dancing at Cabot Tower at 4:30am while Bristol Morris Men will be doing the same at St Peter’s Church, Castle Park at 5:43am (precisely!).
If you enjoyed the Wet Leg Brits performance, and fancy seeing some Morris dancing in the wild, then May Day is the perfect opportunity.
Aside from that, these are some of the highlights for May…
It’s pretty difficult to look beyond Dublin’s Lankum at SWX on the May 12 as the highlight of the month. They have been at the very forefront of really exciting, forward thinking folk for a little while now and their fourth album, False Lankum, is an absolute masterpiece.
Sadly this gig has been sold out for ages but, for those lucky enough to have a ticket, you can expect some deliciously dark gothic folk, interspersed with moments of bliss and some good, old-fashioned mighty tunes.
Folk in its widest sense can be found at St George’s in May. Richard Dawson, the folk experimentalist from Newcastle, plays on May 4 in support of his recent album The Ruby Cord and it’s likely to be an incredibly immersive live experience with his wonderful, quavering voice right at the heart of it.
Two other voices that should need no introduction whatsoever are O’Hooley & Tidow who return to Bristol on May 6. Acting as an extra Folk Festival show, the much loved Yorkshire duo are touring their first new album in seven years, Cloudheads.
They may be best known for their contribution to the BBC’s Gentleman Jack series but they are among the very best folk musicians in the country.
Lizzy Hardingham plays as part of the excellent Rising Folk season on May 12 and has been compared to KT Tunstall and Joni Mitchell. What is beyond question is that she has an unbelievably powerful voice that will perfectly fill the Glass Studio space.
Laura Cortese is an American fiddler with a fantastic voice who is touring the UK with her “and Friends” show. In Bristol (May 5) her “friend” will be brilliant English singer and instrumentalist Nick Hart.
Expect a blending of American – Cortese often brings a Cajun flavour to her music, along with some rock n roll sass – and English folk traditions by two incredible voices.
Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (May 27) are a Canadian-American fiddle and banjo duo who draw on old time Americana and Bluegrass. If their last album, Hurricane Clarice, is anything to go by, they’re going to be pretty amazing.
Equally amazing is Jim Moray (May 28). Moray has consistently been one of the most interesting and innovative voices in English Folk music for the last twenty years, releasing some of the very finest albums in the genre.
His debut, Sweet England, is heralded as one of the albums that changed the way that we think about English folk music and his live shows are always breathtaking. If the Lankum show is May’s highlight then this one is not far behind. Not to be missed.
Jon Wilks is the custodian of Folk website/hub/community tradfolk.co and presenter of the Old Songs Podcast. He is a wonderful interpreter of the English Folk tradition, as well as a superb songwriter, and plays Downend on the May 19.
His new album, Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost, is also out in May and is a very lovely thing indeed.
Boiling Wells is a stunning woodland and conservation site just a few minutes walk from St Werburghs City Farm. This year they are running a series of Folk evenings under the name Outlandish Nights.
Tarren and Tamsin Elliot are playing on May 5, Honeyfeet vocalist Rioghnach Connolly and Ellie Davies on the May 12 (Connolly plays the Trinity on May 4 too, along with Sally in the Woods), Baque Luar – a collective of all female and non-binary percussionists and vocalists – on May 19 and Dublin based singer, Eoghan O Ceannabhain, on May 26.
All of them promise something pretty special but Tarren will be well worth a look. A mini Bristol supergroup they feature Sid Goldsmith (of Sid & Jimmy and Awake Arise), Alex Garden (of The Drystones) and Danny Pedlar.
Talisk are, very simply, one of the most exciting live Folk bands in the UK right now and they play in the 900 year old church on May 17.
Mohsen Amini is a concertina playing rockstar, winner of countless awards, including BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year, and a magnetic frontman.
The last time they played Bristol they turned St George’s into a pounding folk and roll monster complete with dry ice and a fancy lightshow.
Who knows what they’ll bring this year but, one thing’s for absolutely sure, it’s going to be immense. A truly brilliant live band.
One of the finest Folk albums of the last few months has been The Young ‘Uns Tiny Notes. It’s a collection of songs that will reach into your chest and pull out your heart, such are the moving stories that they tell.
They play Bristol on May 28 and are always a compelling, and often utterly hilarious, night out.
The songs on Tiny Notes will have you in tears one moment but clenching your fists in defiance the next. Doubtless their live show will do the same.
Other interesting places and things…
The Langan Band are playing The Jam Jar on May 20 and, if their new album is anything to go by, will rip the roof straight off of the place.
Reliably wonderful Granny’s Attic are at The New Room on May 18 but Elephant Sessions play Lost Horizons and Vieux Farka Toure plays Trinity on the same night. A very difficult decision to make there.
The next night (May 19) local singer/songwriter Harri Mason and her band play The Louisiana.
Bristol Americana/Slacker Rock favourites Langkamer play Strange Brew on May 24 and there is a Bal (sort of a European Ceilidh) featuring Hartwin Dhoore on May 25.
Finally The Devil Makes Three bring some sweaty, punky Americana and Bluegrass to Thekla on May 28.
All of which just leaves a quick mention of the Folk Session at Hare on the Hill on the May 31 (it’s always the last Wednesday of the month).
Go and sit in and play, or just listen to other people. Either way, it’s a fine night out.
May is packed with brilliant things to go and see. I wonder whether June will be as busy?
Main photo: Paul Blakemore
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