FiBFEST III - 20 Years of Folk in the Barn with Ralph McTell, Banter and Edwina Hayes

Join Folk in the Barn in celebrating 20 enjoyable years of promoting and hosting some of the World’s most beautiful and inspiring Folk and Acoustic Music in East Kent, with a line-up of wonderful and talented friends from the top echelons of the Folk world.

Ralph McTell

One of the great storytellers, Ralph McTell, is now celebrating more than 50 years on the road. Known for his virtuoso guitar style, he is primarily a prolific and gifted songwriter. With a style that invites you into a unique world, he weaves a narrative that is both significant and poignant.

Ralph made his debut in 1968 with the album ‘Eight Frames a Second’ and in 1974 the release of ‘Streets of London’ earned him an Ivor Novello Award.

In 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

We are so thrilled that Ralph agreed to headline this special evening.

Banter

Four fine musicians whose roots are firmly in the traditional English genre, but who enjoy stretching the limits.  Banter are: Simon Care on melodeon, Nina Zella on keyboards & vocals, Tim Walker on drums, percussion, brass, vocals & dance calling and Mark Jolley on bass, fiddle, guitar & vocals.

Formed in 2015, they realised that a common love for the living traditions of English song and dance music was at their core and began to pursue it’s evolution, bringing in flavours from a wider palette of musical influences.  They have gained a reputation for being powerfully unique in the English traditional music genre.

“Featuring percussion, trumpet, Melodeon and keyboards. Banter are an infectious, genre hopping trio mixing Morris tunes, soulful vocals and raucous chorus songs into a concert to ceilidh headliner”

Steve Knightley (Show Of Hands)

Edwina Hayes

Edwina’s beautifully written songs, charming stage presence and voice of an angel have won her a reputation as a true natural talent of gentle folk-Americana. She has opened numerous shows for Jools Holland and Van Morrison as well as her own gigs playing stages everywhere from Glastonbury Festival to The Royal Albert Hall. Edwina numbers Michael Parkinson and Mike Harding among her fans and the title track of her album Pour Me A Drink was covered by Nanci Griffith who calls her 'the sweetest voice in England'.

Edwina first wowed us at Folk in the Barn almost ten years ago when she supported Fairport Convention on their 2014 Winter Tour at the Gulbenkian.   She has become a lovely friend and last played for us in our back garden in Summer 2020, one of our socially distanced pandemic gigs, driving here and back to East Yorkshire in the same day to do so!  What a star!

‍