All events: Doors open at 7:15pm and music begins at 7:30pm.
Open stages: £4 on the door (cash)
Guest nights: Advance booking recommended, any remaining tickets available on the door for £10/£12.
Open stages: £4 on the door (cash)
Guest nights: Advance booking recommended, any remaining tickets available on the door for £10/£12.
22nd July - Cambridge Folk Day
The Black Fen is collaborating with the Cambridge Folk Club for a "Cambridge Folk Day" on 22nd July, hosted by Cambridge Museum Of Technology. Performers include Robin Gillan, Cambridge & Walker, Saul Bailey, Martin Baxter, Sean Courtney and Brokedown Palace!
Tickets and information here
3rd September - Open Stage (Club Reopens)
10th Sep - Gilmore & Roberts
Contemporary folk/acoustic duo Gilmore & Roberts combine award-winning songwriting with astounding musicianship and their trademark harmonies to create a powerful wall of sound. Nominated three times at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Katriona Gilmore (fiddle, mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (guitar) met while studying at Leeds College of Music and released their debut album in 2008.
Since then, the duo have toured Canada and mainland Europe, played some of the UK’s biggest acoustic festivals, toured with folk rock legends Fairport Convention and won countless accolades for their genre-spanning work.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
17th Sep - Open Stage
24th Sep - Open Stage
1st Oct - Open Stage
Contemporary folk/acoustic duo Gilmore & Roberts combine award-winning songwriting with astounding musicianship and their trademark harmonies to create a powerful wall of sound. Nominated three times at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Katriona Gilmore (fiddle, mandolin) and Jamie Roberts (guitar) met while studying at Leeds College of Music and released their debut album in 2008.
Since then, the duo have toured Canada and mainland Europe, played some of the UK’s biggest acoustic festivals, toured with folk rock legends Fairport Convention and won countless accolades for their genre-spanning work.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
17th Sep - Open Stage
24th Sep - Open Stage
1st Oct - Open Stage
8th Oct - Hannah Read & Michael Starkey
Fiddler and singer-songwriter Hannah Read met banjo player Michael Starkey at an Appalachian old time session in Edinburgh in late 2019. The moment they first struck up a tune together there was an immediate meeting of musical minds. They have since become a dynamic fiddle and banjo duo, playing repertoire deep from the old time tradition as well as newly self-composed tunes and songs.
Their compelling sound can be heard on the critically acclaimed debut album Cross the Rolling Water released on Hudson Records in June 2022.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
Fiddler and singer-songwriter Hannah Read met banjo player Michael Starkey at an Appalachian old time session in Edinburgh in late 2019. The moment they first struck up a tune together there was an immediate meeting of musical minds. They have since become a dynamic fiddle and banjo duo, playing repertoire deep from the old time tradition as well as newly self-composed tunes and songs.
Their compelling sound can be heard on the critically acclaimed debut album Cross the Rolling Water released on Hudson Records in June 2022.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
19th Nov 2023 - Luke Jackson
“He is one of the most distinctive voices, both literally and figuratively, on the contemporary folk scene.” – Folk Radio UK
“Reminds me of Jeff Buckley, which can only be a good thing.”– Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 2
Canterbury based UK singer songwriter Luke Jackson has been playing live and recording for over 10 years now, steadily developing an enviable reputation for himself in the Folk, Roots, Americana & Acoustic circuits.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
“He is one of the most distinctive voices, both literally and figuratively, on the contemporary folk scene.” – Folk Radio UK
“Reminds me of Jeff Buckley, which can only be a good thing.”– Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 2
Canterbury based UK singer songwriter Luke Jackson has been playing live and recording for over 10 years now, steadily developing an enviable reputation for himself in the Folk, Roots, Americana & Acoustic circuits.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
10th Dec 2023 - Robin Gillan + Seán Courtney
An evening of inspirational interpretations of folk songs and tunes with award-winning multi-instrumentalist Robin Gillan and moving Irish singer Seán Courtney.
Equally adept at 5-string banjo, fiddle, harmonica, guitar & melodeon, Robin's playing has a rawness, balanced by technical ability to produce an enthrallingly archaic sound rarely achieved in the 21st century.
A folk and traditional music enthusiast from Dublin, Ireland, Seán was raised on the likes of Christy Moore, Paul Brady, and Andy Irvine. His emotive interpretations of traditional song are as moving as they are unique.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
An evening of inspirational interpretations of folk songs and tunes with award-winning multi-instrumentalist Robin Gillan and moving Irish singer Seán Courtney.
Equally adept at 5-string banjo, fiddle, harmonica, guitar & melodeon, Robin's playing has a rawness, balanced by technical ability to produce an enthrallingly archaic sound rarely achieved in the 21st century.
A folk and traditional music enthusiast from Dublin, Ireland, Seán was raised on the likes of Christy Moore, Paul Brady, and Andy Irvine. His emotive interpretations of traditional song are as moving as they are unique.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
28th Jan 2024 - Hedera
Hedera is a new Bristol-based quintet of instrumentalists brought together by a desire to lean into the slower and more delicate side of European folk traditions.
Their growing repertoire draws on French, English, Eastern European and Scandinavian music, with playful and inventive arrangements that reflect the diverse array of experience brought by members of the band: violinists Maisie Brett and Lulu Ruby Rose, clarinettist Isis Wolf-Light, Bethany M. Roberts on double bass, and Tamsin Elliott on accordion and harp. Intrigued by the combination of strings and reeds that seems to lend itself to effortless arranging, they have also now begun to create original music together.
Tickets: £10/£12 in advance
Hedera is a new Bristol-based quintet of instrumentalists brought together by a desire to lean into the slower and more delicate side of European folk traditions.
Their growing repertoire draws on French, English, Eastern European and Scandinavian music, with playful and inventive arrangements that reflect the diverse array of experience brought by members of the band: violinists Maisie Brett and Lulu Ruby Rose, clarinettist Isis Wolf-Light, Bethany M. Roberts on double bass, and Tamsin Elliott on accordion and harp. Intrigued by the combination of strings and reeds that seems to lend itself to effortless arranging, they have also now begun to create original music together.
Tickets: £10/£12 in advance
17th Mar 2024 - Angeline Morrison
Angeline Morrison is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who explores traditional song with a deep love, respect and curiosity. Angeline mostly makes music
in the genres of wyrd folk and psych folk, her work infused with elements of soul music, literature, ‘60s beat pop sounds, folklore, myth and the supernatural.
With a feral approach, a handmade sonic aesthetic and a belief in the importance of tenderness, Angeline’s original compositions and re-stitchings of traditional songs focus on storytelling and the small things that often go unnoticed. Sounds like solitude, memory, nostalgia, a rainy walk amongst trees…
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
Angeline Morrison is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who explores traditional song with a deep love, respect and curiosity. Angeline mostly makes music
in the genres of wyrd folk and psych folk, her work infused with elements of soul music, literature, ‘60s beat pop sounds, folklore, myth and the supernatural.
With a feral approach, a handmade sonic aesthetic and a belief in the importance of tenderness, Angeline’s original compositions and re-stitchings of traditional songs focus on storytelling and the small things that often go unnoticed. Sounds like solitude, memory, nostalgia, a rainy walk amongst trees…
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
7th Apr 2024 - Maclaine Colston & Saul Rose
Mac and Saul isn’t the name of a new pasta dish, it is in fact a glorious combination of meleodeon and hammered dulcimer. They met while both in the ground breaking Kings of Calicutt with Eliza Carthy. A short lived but intense episode that led onto a duo and eventually their acclaimed first album Sand and Soil in 2009 and a track ended up on the 2010 Folk Awards album due to Saul’s nomination that year.
10 years on from Sand and Soil, and in its anniversary year they have got the bug again and are picking up where they left off with a new album in progress. Back again with their amusingly irreverent banter and of course their trademark immaculate and gutsy playing style. Recording for the new album is underway!
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
Mac and Saul isn’t the name of a new pasta dish, it is in fact a glorious combination of meleodeon and hammered dulcimer. They met while both in the ground breaking Kings of Calicutt with Eliza Carthy. A short lived but intense episode that led onto a duo and eventually their acclaimed first album Sand and Soil in 2009 and a track ended up on the 2010 Folk Awards album due to Saul’s nomination that year.
10 years on from Sand and Soil, and in its anniversary year they have got the bug again and are picking up where they left off with a new album in progress. Back again with their amusingly irreverent banter and of course their trademark immaculate and gutsy playing style. Recording for the new album is underway!
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
5th May 2024 - Janice Burns and Jon Doran
Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music. They find their songs in archives that span the depths of our history – songs that tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world.
Janice & Jon’s compelling storytelling comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar. Their arrangements have a spellbinding presence and an understated energy that transports their songs from the pages of books and manuscripts into the imagination of the listener.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music. They find their songs in archives that span the depths of our history – songs that tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world.
Janice & Jon’s compelling storytelling comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar. Their arrangements have a spellbinding presence and an understated energy that transports their songs from the pages of books and manuscripts into the imagination of the listener.
Tickets: £8/£10 in advance
