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Tom Robinson
Further collaborations with folks like Elton John, Todd Rungren and Billy Bragg cemented his place in the upper echelons of the music metaverse. In recent years, his role as a broadcaster on BBC Radio 6 has underlined his commitment to utilizing his status to open doors and provide needed exposure to new artists deserving of a wider audience.
We couldn't be more thrilled to have this venerable artist and songwriter headline SongFest 2025!
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Dean Friedman
Dean Friedman burst onto the scene with the Top 20 chart success of his infectious hit single, Ariel, a quirkily irresistible and uncategorizable pop song about a free spirited, pot-smoking, vegetarian Jewish girl in a peasant blouse who lived, as the lyric goes, "...way on the other side of the Hudson". Friedman scored again with the release of his follow up album, “Well, Well,” Said the Rocking Chair’, and the now classic hit single, Lucky Stars. This magical duet, performed with singer, Denise Marsa, zoomed to the top of the UK singles charts, going instantly gold. Lucky Stars paved the way for a slew of Friedman hits, including familiar radio staples such as Lydia, Rocking Chair, McDonald’s Girl and Woman of Mine. Oh, and did we mention he composed, produced and performed the soundtrack to the TV series, 'Boon' along with the low-budget classic horror flick, 'I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle'?
“Every song in this show is a classic.” (London Theatre Guide), “Songsmith Extraordinaire” – (Music Week), “Stunning Musicianship” (HotPress), “Dean Friedman is entirely unique and utterly brilliant!” – (ThreeWeeks)… are just a few of the superlatives used to describe his unique and original talent.
In addition to his many multi-media projects, Dean is the author of 'The Songwriter's Handbook' and conducts 'Songwriting Masterclasses' around the world. Dean will be conducting a Songwriting Masterclass' to be held in the early afternoon - 1pm to 2:30pm - prior to the main festival performances.
Tickets to the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' can be purchased as 'ADD ONS' during the ticket-order process.
Dean's friends and family remain incredulous that he continues to make any kind of a living pursuing his art as a multimedia musician and performer. Dean, himself, is both astonished and gratified that his loyal and enthusiastic audience continues to support his indie efforts. He remains humbled and appreciative, but also wishes they'd stop waiting until the very last minute to buy tickets to his gigs, which can be a bit nervewracking - but he's not complaining. Well, maybe a little, but that's just what comes with plying your trade as an indie artist in a corporate world of soulless, omniverous multinationals.
Also, this whole
SongFest concept was
concieved by Dean's
so he'd have a chance to catch his favourite songwriter/friends perform,
at the same time he was on tour! ;-)
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Although often mistaken for a humble village in Lincolnshire, in point of fact, Boothby Graffoe is a critically acclaimed and award-winning, English comedian, singer-songwriter and playwright. He is particularly known for his surreal sense of humour and work with Canadian band, Barenaked Ladies, as well as actor/comedian Omid Djalili. Following his awesome performance at the first SongFest, Boothby is back to delight audiences at both SongFests 2019 (south & north).
Here's what comedian Stewart Lee once said of Boothby Graffoe: 'Most stand-ups secretly want to be rock stars, their ambitions thwarted only by their total lack of musical ability. This man is unique amongst comedians, in that he’s a real musician, who has been moonlighting as a funnyman since re-naming himself after a Lincolnshire village sometime during the Thatcher era. Boothby Graffoe is a multi-talented, darkly hilarious, grade A British eccentric, who can twist your funny bone one minute, and break your heart the next. A musical comedy act who is more musical than most musicians, and funnier than most comedians.’
We are pleased that Boothby is joining us for his 6th appearance at SongFest and hope that, given the fact that his concerts have been selling out all over the UK, we'll still be able to afford him next year!
Note: Boothby Graffoe will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Alumni' Song-Circle on Sunday late afternoon, along with SongFest veterans Tracey Curtis, Charlotte Campbell and Lach. He'll also be dropping into the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' Artist Panel Discussion to be held from 1pm to 2:30pm, prior to the festival performances. Tickets to the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' can be purchased as 'ADD ONS' during the ticket-order process.
Also, against his better judgement, Boothby has, once again, consented to host the 'Boothby Graffoe Invitational Golf Tournament', to be held 11:00am Sunday afternoon, right ouside the hotel, on the Practice Putting Green. Up to 12 people are invited to join Boothby and other Artists for a fun, relaxed, nonsensical game in which there are no rules to speak of. You can register for your spot as an 'add-on' item during the SongFest ticket-order process.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boothby_Graffoe
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enres.
Nicola Farnon is a stunning vocalist and accomplished double bass and cello player, and recognised by jazz aficionados as one of the classiest jazz and swing artists in the UK. She's also a world-class songwriter whose enchanting lyrics, combined with her charismatic stage presence and captivating delivery, has endeared her to audiences across the country. Impossible to categorize, Nicola is a unique talent with an effervescent personality, posessed of extraordinary musicianship and the endearing quality of projecting sheer joy in her perforrmance.
"She has such stage presence, it totally at ease with her audience, and can make each number sound like she is singing it for the first time, just for you. The general consensus at the end of her set, from the full house of 200 fans, was that this most talented artist just gets better and better." - Lincoln Jazz Festival
"Ms Farnon is everything a performer should be; accomplished, communicative and effervescent, her expressive voice a delight. She writes her own material and gives it 100%, winning new fans wherever she goes." Durham Jazz
“Her own singing, charm, beauty and bass playing and the utter togetherness of her quintet were unrivalled for entertainment value.” - Hawick News,
We're delighted to have Nicola Farnon join us to share her exceptional talent for the first time with the SongFest audience.
https://www.nicolafarnon.com
In a glowing review, Richmond Magazine once wrote, “If Joni Mitchell and Richie Havens had a love child, with Rodney Dangerfield as the midwife, the results might be something close to the great Vance Gilbert". That's not a bad characterization of Vance's stellar songwriting and unique persona. He's the kind of songwriter who, when I hear him perform his songs, has prompted me to think, on more than one occasion, 'Damn, I wish I'd written that!'. Vance compositions like, 'Unfamiliar Moon', 'Dear Amelia', 'Goodbye Pluto' and 'Black Rochelle' prove him to be a master songsmith and deft perfomer, with an original and affecting voice.
Vance is an integral part of the national folk scene, in the US and, given his eclectic songwriting style, has toured with a broad range of performers, including the likes of Shawn Colvin, Arlo Guthrie, Anita Baker, George Carlin, Chrstine Lavin and Southside Johnny to name just a few.
Vance's appearance was a highlight at last summer's SongFest and he had the room - walls and ceiling - literally shaking with the sheer power and energy of his performance. The helicopter landing right outside might have contributed to the dramatic effect but, even so, Vance was outstanding. And we're thrilled that Vance has inexplicably agreed to risk life and limb, once again, by flying across the Atlantic ocean, for the expressed purpose of favoring all of us, attending SongFest, with his unique and wonderful, musical talents. Check out this surprisingly poignant ode to a demoted planetary body, 'Goodbye Pluto'...
www.vancegilbert.com
Tracey Curtis
Tracey Curtis has been a regular featured performer at SongFest since the very beginning and we're so delighted that she is able to join us, again, at this year's SongFest. An audience favorite, when she performed at the very first SongFest, Tracey Curtis returns for her 6th SongFest to perform her uniquely personal and thoroughly engaging songs. Tracey Curtis describes herself as an anarchist, a vegan, an activist and mother who bases herself in Ammanford, West Wales. Tracey was a member of the truly wonderful post-punk pop band, Shelley's Children. Since then she's released three acclaimed solo albums containing deftly crafted and beautifully performed, heartfelt songs about real life, love, and politics. If you've never heard Tracey perform her joyous, delightfully poignant and bitingly funny songs, you're in for a rare treat.
Warning: Tracey has been known to enlist the help of the entire audience to assist her in illustrating one of her most delightful and endearing songs, 'I Should Have Kept it Simple'. Any attendees who may be allergic to audience participation or suffer from dizziness, dyslexia (or any syndrome beginning with 'd') or happen to be, or are planning to become, pregnant, are advised to hide in the corner to avoid being selected.
Note: Tracey Curtis will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Alumni' Song-Circle on Sunday late afternoon (see schedule), along with SongFest veterans Boothby Graffoe, Charlotte Campbell and Lach. Also Tracey will be dropping into the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' Artist Panel Discussion to be held from 1pm to 2:30pm, prior to the festival performances. Tickets to the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' can be purchased as 'ADD ONS' during the ticket-order process.
https://www.reverbnation.com/traceycurtis
https://www.facebook.com/traceycurtisinfo
"Lach is the mastermind of Antifolk, like a Lower East Side rendezvous of Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. Like black snow, stalled subway cars and random violence, Lach is a Manhattan institution." - NY Times
"Lach is incredibly bright, he's influential, he's funny, he's smart, and he’s got his own, sort of, counter-culture charm. A very intelligent songwriter, funny, poetic. He became part of New York folklore." - Suzanne Vega “
"He's a street-corner ambassador. Lach is beat. He's a ringmaster. He's a poet's poet." - Michelle Shocked
"Lach is a star! More Woody Allen than Woody Guthrie and a raised middle finger to the folk purists." - NME
“Lach’s Great.” - Bob Dylan
In recent years, Lach and his anti-folk movement has been transplanted to Edinburgh, where he's been embraced by UK audiences, and celebrated due to the success of his The Lach Chronicles radio diary series, which ran for three seasons on BBC Radio 4 and has been heard by hundreds of thousands of fans world-wide. The show was chosen Top Radio Pick by The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Daily Mail and Radio Times! We're very excited to welcome Lach back for his third (or fourth - I can't remember) apperance at SongFest! He'll also be irate when I reveal here that, in spite of his usually sarcastic and grumpy demeanor, he's actually a sweet guy with a romantic soul that tears up a bit whenever he watches his favourite movie, 'The Princess Bride'
Note: Lach will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Alumni' Song-Circle on Sunday late afternoon (see schedule, below), along with SongFest veterans Boothby Graffoe, Tracey Curtis, and Charlotte Campbell. Also Lach will be dropping into the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' Artist Panel Discussion to be held from 1pm to 2:30pm, prior to the festival performances. Tickets to the 'Songwriter's Masterclass' can be purchased as 'ADD ONS' during the ticket-order process.
Charlotte Campbell delighted audiences with her debut performance at SongFest, and she's been a beloved musical presence at every SongFest since. Over the last few years, she has rightfully earned the title of 'Queen of Busking', as a London Street Artist, charming the ears of locals and tourists alike. Through glorious summers and bitterly cold winters, she can be found sharing her original music with crowds along the Southbank. As a teenager, Campbell attended the BRIT School in South London and went on to study songwriting at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. Building an online fanbase through street art, Charlotte has released 3 albums; her singles “Streets of London” and “Songbird” have gained attention from Mark Forest’s BBC Introducing, as well as having her single “Free The Night” featured and named official song of London’s Night Tube. Most recently, Charlotte's musical efforts have been featured on a segment of the TV series, 'Secrets of the London Underground'. Charlotte's latest release is a compilation album of songs from my previous three albums; including new recordings and remasters of her most requested original tracks. Instead of braving the crowds and chancing the weather along the Southbank, enjoy this chance to hear the heartfelt, honest and hope-filled songs of this delightful and original singer-songwriter in the intimate indoor setting of SongFest. Bumbershoots not required! [Editors note: Don't be decieved by her dulcet tone, angelic appearance, and irrepressible optimism - Charlotte is all those things and more; because that gentle tone and hopeful lyric disguises a richness and depth of meaning that, once you surrender to it, will resonate deep in your heart and soul.]
Note: Charlotte Campbell will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Alumni' Song-Circle on Sunday late afternoon (see schedule, below), along with SongFest veterans Boothby Graffoe, Tracey Curtis, and Lach.
Daniel Cainer
Daniel Cainer is a multi award-winning Edinburgh Fringe Festival favourite. His heartwarming and richly detailed story-songs are about all our families with all our foibles, lovingly and intelligently depicted. Smart, funny, timely and deeply moving. 'A truly gifted musician and an extraordinary performer. At times heartbreakingly poignant, at other times laugh-out-loud funny. Utterly charming, thoroughly recommended’ (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine). ‘An hour in Cainer’s company is a true pleasure’ (Stage). ‘Heart-rending, delicate and witty’ (Daily Express).
Virtual audiences who've attended Dean's 'Holiday Zoom Extravaganza's will be familiar with Daniel's often bittersweet tales of scandalous family lore and misadventure. He tells stories in words and music with an original voice and quiet mastery of his songwriting craft. Irreverent songs like 'Bad Rabbi' offer an hilarious take on the Jewish heritage his music draws on, poking serious fun at the hypocracy which is endemic to our painfully flawed humanity.
We're so pleased to welcome Daniel Cainer to his first SongFest and invite you to check out a small sampling of what's in store for SongFest attendees, come August 2025 in Rugby!
https://www.danielcainer.com
Note: Nia Nicholls will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Jr. Alumni' Song-Circle on Saturday afternoon (see schedule), along with other SongFest Jr. Alumni including Colm Gavin, Jess Silk and Barbara.
Nia Nicholls is signed to Bob Patmore's Record Label, Uniq Recording Artists and has been recording and performing, and receiving raves and acclaim, for her music, on both sides of the Atlantic. Check out Nia's music video for her stunning song, 'Attached', in the clip below:
Here's what folks have to say about his folk-pop-jazz inflected songwriting:
“Songs this beautiful deserve to be heard” - Paul Williams (songwriter for The Carpenters/Cher) “They’re just great songs. When you put Randy Newman, Fats Waller & Clifford T Ward in a melting pot, you get Colm Gavin” - Mike Kennedy (Welsh Connections)
Note: Colm Gavin will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Jr. Alumni' Song-Circle on Saturday afternoon (see schedule), along with other SongFest Jr. Alumni including Nia Nicholls, Jess Silk and Barbara.
Have a listen to this cool, evocative track, 'On Firebird Avenue' (Quarter to Five) off of his 'The 1992 Tapes' collection:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0AgvL1uxl9Msds0GiHm0ai?si=289b5b4fc4fb4d0d
https://www.facebook.com/colmgavinofficial
Jess Silk is a guitarist, singer and songwriter from the Black Country. Her shouty but melodic brand of folk/punk music often has her being likened to a female Frank Turner or Billy Bragg, and it gets people sitting up and listening.
Armed only with an increasingly sticker-covered acoustic guitar and a distinctive, gravelly voice that many don’t expect, Jess plays to audiences up and down the UK and has shared stages with many well known names among the folk/punk scene.
Jess released her debut album, Break the Bottle, in May 2018 with a packed out show at her spiritual home of Katie Fitzgerald’s in Stourbridge. Since then she’s shared a number of other releases including two live EP’s with tracks taken from shows at Katie’s and HMV Merry Hill. 2020 saw the world shut down and Jess release two (almost completely) self produced EP’s, the first of which, If We’re Damned, was put together from songs that had been gathering metaphorical dust on her harddrive, and the second, There’s A Bar At the End Of the World, a collection of songs written between March and August taking their inspiration from the events of the year. At the end of August 2021 released her second full-length album Blitz Spirit. Jess first joined the SongFest family when she delighted audiences performing on one of Dean's 'Holiday Zoom Extravaganzas!', back in 2021 (see video below).
Jess has performed support for The Levellers' recent UK Tour and continues to wow audiences at festivals all over the UK, including Bearded Theory, Rebellion, and Glastonbury, where she shared a stage with Billy Bragg as part of his Radical Roundup. With her deft, poetic and thought provoking lyrics, her passionate delivery and mesmerizing presence, Jess has cultivated a growing and devoted following in the UK music scene. We're so excited to welcome Jess back for her second SongFest and can't wait to hear her perform her wonderful songs in her inimitable, captivating style.
Note: Jess Silk will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Jr. Alumni' Song-Circle on Saturday afternoon (see schedule), along with other SongFest Jr. Alumni including Nia Nicholls, Colm Gavin and Barbara
www.jesssilk.bandcamp.com
Award winning musical comedian Kate Lucas is known for her razor sharp and deliciously dark songs. [Editor's note: She's funny as hell!] She combines catchy melodies with original lyrics to showcase her playfully bitter musings on life. Audiences have come to expect examples of what not to say and how not to behave from this gloriously talented young comic.
In 2014 she took home the title for the prestigious Leicester Mercury 'New Comedian of the Year' and her performances since have been met with huge critical acclaim.
'A true musical genius’ Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
‘Wickedly naughty and deliciously dark’ Broadway Baby
‘Belly laughs and wide-eyed did-she-really-say-that horror’ Fest Magazine
Lucas since gone on to build a seriously impressive reputation on the circuit, storming it every weekend to packed out crowds at the country’s most famous comedy venues including The Glee Clubs, The Comedy Café and Up the Creek.
We are delighted that Kate will be joining us for SongFest 2025!
www.instagram.com/katelucascomedy
www.katelucascomedy.co.uk
Barbara is the delightfully bold and inspired music project of Henry and John Tydeman, two charismatic brothers from Brighton and Hove, England. Bucking the current music trends of hip hop, dancepop, 80s revival, EDM and post punk, their sunny, uplifting sound is a charming and anachronistic blend of – in their own words – “a bit of 70s US AM radio, a dash of English music hall, the effortless catchiness of a Broadway musical, a sprinkling of sequined power pop, luscious Disney strings and glorious golden harmonies.” The musical result is disarmingly joyful. And their unique and engaging sound has led to sold-out tours as a band, in support of major acts including Haircut 100 and Paul Weller.
Barbara made such a great impression on the SongFest audience last summer- they were awesome - we're delighted to have them back again.
Barbara will be entertaining the SongFest audience as a stripped-down duo, a format that will feature their familial vocal blend and provide an intimate setting for their delightful lyrics.
Note: Barbara will be performing as part of the SongFest 'Jr. Alumni' Song-Circle on Saturday afternoon (see schedule), along with other SongFest Jr. Alumni including Nia Nicholls, Colm Gavin and Jess Silk. Welcome back Barbara!
www.barbaratheband.com
Wesley Stace is a songwriting craftsman of the highest order. He’s released many albums under the name John Wesley Harding, before switching back to his birth name in recent years. He’s recorded with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed and Rosanne Cash. His songs are smart, funny, biting and enchanting.
"A storyteller par excellence, a witty raconteur and a winning songwriter with a knack for memorable words and music." New City Music
In addition to his songwriting/recording career, Wesley is also an accomplished author, having published four novels, including the international bestseller ‘Misfortune’. We’re pleased and delighted to welcome him into the SongFest family.
www.wesleystace.com
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