July 2023: Downend Folk & Roots Preview

NEXT AT DOWNEND FOLK & ROOTS:

OWEN SPAFFORD & LOUIS CAMPBELL + MINNIE BIRCH

FRIDAY 21 JULY 2023,
CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND.

Downend Folk & Roots round off their Summer season with one of the most exciting young duos on the UK folk scene.

Owen Spafford & Louis Campbell met as as part of the first cohort of the National Youth Folk Ensemble. Since forming their duo in 2018, they have been nominated for the BBC Young Folk Award and been played on BBC Radio 2 and 3, as well as RTE1. A shared musical ‘true north’ and lasting friendship enable the duo to make two instruments seemingly sound as one; creating subtle and emotive textures that re-calibrate the fiddle and guitar duo idiom.  

Their debut album You, Golden manages to envelop influences from contemporary classical, post-rock, ECM Jazz and bluegrass cohesively and organically into English folk music with a combination of traditional and contemporary material which is sonically indistinguishable in origin. It was recorded entirely live in a barn in the Oxfordshire countryside in just two and a half days and has seen remarkable critical acclaim for such a new act. 

The duo’s live performances present an extraordinary sense of musical intimacy, covering the full dynamic spectrum, with as much of themselves being put into every note as possible. For technically advanced young musicians they hold an unusual allegiance to the beauty of simplistic melodies, putting their musical point across as clearly and honestly as then can. 

Opening the evening’s entertainment will be singer-songwriter Minnie Birch, who creates honest, beautiful music in the folk tradition about love, loss, life, fairytales and football! Based in Hertfordshire, Minnie has toured all over the world, received national Radio play on BBC Radio 1, 2 and 6 Music. She has won the Fatea Innovators award and the Laurel Canyon Music Award, and her last album was named a Sunday Times Top 100 record of the year. After some time out for ill health Minnie is back recording, releasing and performing new music. She’ll be joined for this performance by Kathy Pilkinton. 

Tickets for the concert, which takes place at Christ Church Downend on Friday 21 July 2023, are available online at downendfolkandroots.com and from Melanie’s Kitchen in Downend (cash only). They are priced at £14 each in advance or £16 on the door. Doors open at 7.30pm and the entertainment starts around 7.45pm.

There will be a bar, stocking cider, soft drinks, wine, hot drinks and real ale from locally-based Hop Union Brewery. Audience members are encouraged to bring their own glass/mug/tankard, as well as reusable bottles for water, as part of the drive to be more environmentally aware; there is a 50p discount for those that do. There will also be sweet treats available at the bar courtesy of the Radstock-based Great Cake Company, as well as a prize draw, which helps to fund the support artists for each concert.

For further information, please email info@downendfolkandroots.com or visit the website downendfolkandroots.com.