DOGAN MEHMET and the DEERHUNTERS

Dogan Mehmet, along with his backing band the Deerhunters, creates an Anglo-Turkish, Gypsy-Punk style mix of traditions and strong acoustic grooves. A diverse mixture of Southern English and Turkish folk songs, self-penned material and driven tunes from English Morris as well as Cypriot traditions give Dogan his own captivating sound. His talent and confidence belie his young age and he makes a storm wherever he goes with his effervescent personality and huge enthusiasm for life and for his music. Brighton born and bred, Dogan Mehmet is a second generation Turkish Cypriot, with both sides of his family from the island. A fluent Turkish speaker, Dogan’s heritage forms a big part of his musical identity, alongside his love for Southern English traditional music. He is singer first but also a multi-instrumentalist, playing Violin, Guitar, Melodeon, Tenor Guitar, Cajon and other Percussion as well as a having good knowledge of traditional Turkish instruments. Dogan has appeared in sketches on national television (Omid Djalili show) and on stage with Eliza Carthy.
He performs with his 7-piece band the Deerhunters at Purbeck on the Saturday on main stage.

Click for Dogan Mehmet and the Deerhunters on youtube

MEGSON

Combining the talents of northerners STU HANNA and DEBBIE HANNA, the duo Megson is fast becoming ‘hot property’ on the British folk and roots scene. Twice nominated in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and winners of the 2010 Spiral Earth Awards the husband and wife duo of Stu Hanna and Debbie Hanna hail from Teesside and draw heavily on this heritage to create their unique brand of folk music. Their infectious sound is a mix of heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars and mandolas.

Since 2004 the couple have played up and down the country at numerous folk clubs and festivals picking up a strong fanbase along the way and selling out their extensive tour dates. Their 3rd album TAKE YOURSELF A WIFE had a 4 star review in the in the Jazz, Folk and World section of THE GUARDIAN’S Friday Arts supplement and followed this with a major feature on Megson (both written by leading music critic Robin Denslow), THE INDEPENDENT has listed Megson in their 5 GIGS TO SEE section on numerous occasions and they recently received a 4 star review for their live show from THE FINANCIAL TIMES. Their newly released album THE LONGSHOT is a collection of songs themed around work of both the past and present and is already receiving high praise from fans and critics alike. 

In addition to his role in Megson, Stu’s talents as a producer on the folk scene are very much in demand and he has produced albums for Benji Kirkpatrick, Faustus, Mawkin:Causley and the latest album from Show of Hands. 

"For my money, Megson are amongst the most exciting trailblazers of British Contemporary Folk."  (Seth Lakeman)

Megson headline the Friday night main stage.

Megson on youtube

Martha Tilson

Martha Tilston is a captivating performer, an enchanting singer-songwriter blessed with a gloriously clear and seductively beautiful voice. Weaving her magic spell over listeners wherever she plays - from the concert hall to the campfire, from folk clubs to main festival stages - she is a rare gem who has the power to draw an audience into her world and create an intimate space where her words and music dance and delight, leaving all those present with a smile, a warm feeling inside, and a few issues to ponder, too.

Martha appears with her band to headline the Sunday afternoon session.

Martha on youtube

THE MONSTER CEILIDH BAND

The Monster Ceilidh Band is a fresh, new Newcastle-based band fusing the traditional with the modern. They are bringing a new breed of ceilidh dancing to generations new and old all over the world. The Monsters are starting a revolution. Beginning as a humble ceilidh band, they used their collected knowledge of different styles and genres to form new ways of playing traditional and contemporary music together. The Monsters organized monthly dance and performance nights in Newcastle to bring folk music to a wider audience. As each night grew in attendance, the Monsters grew from strength to strength. Now the band is formidable - spending more and more time arranging and composing new music that demands attention and regularly playing with local stars like the Bahgdaddies and Emily Portman. Evolving the word 'ceilidh' with each performance. The journey from ceilidh to club has taken many directions for the Monsters. These new directions have seen many opportunities for the Monsters to flex their creative muscles. Exploring the world of electronic composition has been a large part of it. Working together with local legendary Drum and Bass producer Joseph Truswell aka ‘the touch’ is producing some truly unique listening experiences.

The Monsters play for dancers on Saturday night.

The Monsters on youtube

6 DAY RIOT 

In an East London cafe, 6 Day Riot's Glaswegian singer/songwriter Tamara Schlesinger decides that her hot chocolate isn't quite sweet enough. As she empties out a sachet of sugar into it, she confides, "If I'm to be honest, the prognosis wasn't too good this time last year. "She has a point. When you've written songs with the same person for several years and you form a band together, only for them to leave on the eve of your biggest tour (and take the bassist too) it's hard to stay positive. But, as John Lydon famously put it, anger is an energy. "More out of bloodymindedness than anything else," 6 Day Riot regrouped and boarded a plane to Toronto where they were booked to play a music festival. Whilst 15,000ft over the Atlantic, Tamara even wrote a song in the wake of it all, Go! Canada. Performed on their arrival to a rapturous response, its presence on 6 Day Riot's new album tells you that Tamara is made of stronger stuff than most immaculately-dressed, thriftstore-frequenting, ukelele-plucking frontwomen. 

Ceaseless gigging from 2008 - in environs ranging from the Cambridge Folk Festival to, on one occasion, a childrens' birthday party, and "a million indie support slots" in between - has made them the toast of the blogosphere. Drummer Daniel Deavin from the original line-up has been crucial in fleshing out the arrangements of Tamara's latest batch of songs with tom-drum heavy tribal rhythms and they have been joined by bassist Edd Harwood, guitarist Caspar Riis and Sophie Loyer on violin. Asked to attach a handle to what 6 Day Riot do, Tamara says, "I never had a problem with the word pop. It's just that our sort of pop music happens to be played with the help of melodicas, accordions, cello, violin, trumpet and whatever else we have hanging around."

6 Day Riot play on Saturday night on the main stage 

Youtube of 6 Day Riot singing 'Run For Your Life'

Gadarene

Gadarene blends obscure traditional English tunes, virtuoso acoustic musicians and a combimed with funky beats and loads of energy. Gadarene creates a sophisticated and exciting performance, drawing on many diverse musical influences, yet making a sound that is all their own.  
 
The band's repertoire focuses on unusual and compelling tunes, carefully researched from Eighteenth and Nineteenth century manuscripts. Gadarene attacks these glorious tunes with the raw energy and verve often associated with the cream of traditional dance musicians.  
 
We're very pleased to be joined by the hugely talented and charming drummer Si Paull, adding loads of energy and funkiness.

Line-up

Nick Wyke (fiddle), Laurel Swift (bass), Matt Norman (mandolin), Si Paull (drums).

Gadarene play Friday night on the main stage.

Listen to Gadarene on myspace 

KIM EDGAR

A warm and engaging live performer from Edinburgh who came to national attention via "Folk Rising" compilation from Proper Records, Kim "positively smoulders" on stage. She is very highly regarded and frequently performs with Karine Polwart's band. Kim's songs combine compelling narratives and strong, piano-led melodies, indicative of her degree in English Language & Literature, experience as a children's writer and her classical piano training.

Described as "strangely uplifting, despite the well-phrased, sombre lyrics" and "a comfort blanket for the disillusioned soul", Kim's songs capture distilled emotions, which increasingly wide audiences across the UK, and beyond, are identifying with and responding to.
"Edgar's original songs are often very moving, literate, allusive and expressively sung - and destined to travel far beyond their Scottish genesis."

Click here to see Kim on youtube singing her beautiful song "Just Outside Your Door"

Kim sings with piano and guitar at the festival on Sunday afternoon. 

LIZZIE NUNNERY

Lizzie Nunnery is a singer-guitarist and an exceptional lyricist.  She played a host of venues and festivals across uk and has made several appearances on BBC Radio including a live performance on Radio 3. Her debut album will be released by Fellside Recordings on April 26th, 2010. 

She is also an award winning playwright, with her most recent stage play “Intemperance,” receiving a 5 star review in the Guardian. Her play with songs, “The Singer”, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 08 and she co-composed the soundtrack to her short film, “Monkey Love”, broadcast on Channel 4 in September 2009.

Winner of "Best Newcomer" at the 08 BBC Radio Merseyside awards and 'Best Live Performance' at the 08 Fatea Folk awards. 

Click here for Lizzie's vid "The Sleepers" on Spiral Earth

Lizzie performs on Saturday afternoon at the festival with multi-instrumentalist Vidar Norheim. 

EMILY MAGUIRE

Emily Maguire is an acclaimed singer-songwriter whose songs have been played regularly on Radio 2 and has toured with the likes of Don McLean, Eric Bibb and Roddy Frame and Glenn Tilbrook. Originally from London, Emily was classically trained on cello, piano and flute before she discovered Bob Marley, and taught herself to play his songs on the guitar. When a chronic illness left her stuck at home for months on end, she started writing her own songs to pass the time. 

A few years later, back on her feet and fed up with grey skies and concrete, she decided to give up her flat in London for a shack made from recycled wood, tin and potato sacks on a goat farm up in the hills behind the Sunshine Coast, Australia. There she overcame her snake phobia and recorded her critically acclaimed debut album 'Stranger Place' followed 2 years later by 'Keep Walking', writing and performing all the string arrangements for both albums. She set up her own record label Shaktu Records with partner Christian Dunham, financing her albums by making and selling goats cheese on the farm. 

Emily performs with bassist Christian Dunham on Saturday afternoon.

Emily on youtube 

FRAN McGILLIVRAY + MIKE BURKE

The duo started playing folk, roots and blues venues in the late 1970s and appeared frequently at the Troubadour in London and  at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 1977 following the release of their first album ‘Into the Light’.

After playing the Blues Matters Acoustic Stage at the Colne Blues Festival as a duo they decided to investigate the acoustic scene again. They play the folk and blues clubs and venues across UK and give a sense of enjoyment with their stripped down acoustic approach. We invited them to play Purbeck after a fabulous gig at Shrewsbury Festival in 2009.

Check out their website

Fran and Mike play on Saturday afternoon.

JACK McNEILL and CHARLIE HEYS

Jack and Charlie met at College and began playing as a duo in 2007. Charlie is from Hampshire and Jack is from Cumbria. Finalists in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2008, they have since played the main stages at Purbeck Folk Festival and a host of bigger festivals and headlined many folk venues across UK and performed with Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick. They have released two albums on Fellside Records. They have played and recorded also with members of the Old Dance School.

Jack and Charlie perform on stage and Charlie runs a fiddle workshop at this festival. 

Jack and Charlie's website

Black Peak

Black Peak are Darren Black and Deborah Peake. They play as a duo and perform their own blend of original contemporary and traditional acoustic/folk, mainly around Darren's thought-provoking songs and tunes, and Deborah's creative fiddle arrangements and songs. 
 
Both multi-instrumentalists, they are also respected musicians in their own right. Deborah spent 3 years with folk-rockers 'Bluehorses', gigging and festivaling at home and abroad, including Glastonbury and the Skaagen Festival in Denmark. She is also one half of the award-winning 'Amalthea', who released their stunning debut album "Blame it on the stars" in 2006. Having recorded his first album "Silent Poetry" at Swarb's home studio in 2007, Darren released his acclaimed second solo album "Thinkers & Fools" (also distributed through Proper), in 2008.   

Alex Roberts

Alex blends genres from baroque to blues in a host of alternative tunings and with some fine lap-steel playing and stomp-boxing. His style is effortless while his technique is masterful and innovative. But it’s not just outstanding musicianship that drives him; what’s driving this artist is song. The timeless charm of his music is the perfect vehicle for Alex to present his lyrical musings. In the fashion of the troubadour, he crafts stories, love songs, ballads, spirituals, or protests into a mesmerising web of song. Alex engages the listener with rapturous allure; the vocal lines ebb and flow around elegant guitar parts and the result is an uplifting and wholesome symbiosis of voice and instrument.

Alex's website

Tinderbox

Tinderbox are an acoustic folk/rock duo featuring Monique Houraghan with a distinctive 'honey-like' vocal, and Dan Tucker with an intricate finger style guitar technique. Often joined by accomplished and talented musicians Catherine Burke (whistles), Gav Jones (percussion) and Bobby Burke (bass/vocals/guitar) Tinderbox also perform and record as a formidable folk/rock band. Tinderbox's third Studio album, 'Golden' was launched at Centre Stage in Bournemouth, with the band performing to a record-breaking audience. With Monique's powerful voice, Dan's delectable guitar style and the band's awesome addition to the entire sound and feel of the music, Tinderbox is definitely an acoustic act to look out for.

Tinderbox play on Sunday afternoon.

Tinderbox's website

Tinderbox on youtube