Siobhan Miller Trio

One of Scotland’s most celebrated folk singer-songwriters, Siobhan Miller embarks upon an intimate trio tour, joined by two of Scotland’s finest musicians: Innes White on guitar and Charlie Stewart on fiddle.  This acoustic setting is the perfect opportunity to see Siobhan’s richly celebrated Scottish folk songs up close and personal.

Siobhan’s musical prowess has earned her numerous accolades, including four BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards; Scots Singer of the Year titles and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Track.  Her discography boasts five solo releases, all of which have been shortlisted for BBC Alba STMA Album of the Year, including her latest album, Bloom.

An out and out, freewheeling celebration of much-loved Scottish songs, Bloom deftly balances a love of traditional song with modern influences.  Joyous and cathartic, it adds to the wide ranging accolades and radio-play enjoyed throughout Siobhan’s solo career.

Having grown up in Scotland’s rich folk scene, Siobhan has been a regular performer at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival, where she was Artistic Director for the 2016 Opening Concert and featured amidst the star-studded Transatlantic Sessions line-up in 2022, duetting with Paul Brady and Sarah Jarosz.

Siobhan’s unique vocal style has been honed through collaborations with many of Scotland’s top musicians, including Eddi Reader, Kris Drever, & Phil Cunningham.  She has also made guest appearances with the National Theatre of Scotland, spent a season on Broadway, returned to the US for a month-long residency in Boston’s Majestic Theatre for Brian O’Donovan’s Celtic Christmas, and can be spotted on US/UK TV drama Outlander.

This is a rare opportunity to see Siobhan Miller in intimate surrounds, and experience her stunning vocals and lyrical songs in a truly special setting. WemsFest are delighted to be introducing Siobhan, Innes, and Charlie to our audience – though we suspect plenty of you will need no introduction to her music!

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.

Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

FARA

In celebration of their 10th anniversary, Orkney-born folk quartet FARA embark on a whistlestop tour around the UK in 2025, returning to some of their favourite venues and towns from a decade of touring. Presenting an evening of highlights from their three critically acclaimed albums, FARA’s fiery fiddles, foot-stomping piano, and enchanting three-part vocal harmony will take you on a joyful journey through their time performing at the forefront of Scotland’s folk music scene.

FARA have played at WemsFest several times previously and are a firm favourite with our audience! We are delighted to be welcoming them back to The Old Malthouse for a special 10th anniversary show.

“The album (Energy Islands) beguiles right from the pizzicato strings and dancing piano that herald the first track.”  – The Scotsman

Comprising Kristan Harvey, Jeana Leslie, & Catriona Price – each on fiddle and vocals – and accompanied by Rory Matheson on piano, FARA have racked up a number of nominations and awards, including:

Scots Trad Music Awards Best Live Act Nominees 2022 & 2019

Belhaven Bursary Nominees 2019

BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award Nominees 2017

German Critics’ Choice Award Winners 2019

“Torch-bearers of a freshly reinvigorated tradition. . . one of the most exciting Scottishfolk discoveries in recent years” – AllMusic

“Gifted, imaginative, complex and engaging. . . a sound that just exudes joy” – FRUK

“Bring contemporary fiddle music to new heights. . . enthralling vocal arrangements” – Scotsman

“From delicate, elegant and beautiful to full and rich and fiery. . . spellbinding” – Fatea

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.

Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now (and selling fast already!!) at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

Steve Knightley – The Winter Yards in Spring, Solo Tour 2025 – SOLD OUT

The ‘Winter Into Spring’ tour features songs from the critically acclaimed Winter Yards album, described as “a deeply atmospheric journey” (Spiral Earth) and “a must-have for anyone seeking unforgettable music” (Here Comes the Song). Alongside these new favourites, Steve will revisit and reimagine some of his most iconic songs in a completely fresh performance.

WemsFest are thrilled to be part of Steve’s ‘Winter Yards in Spring’ Solo Tour 2025!  Don’t miss your chance to experience one of the UK’s finest singer-songwriters. Known for his “powerful narratives and captivating stage presence” (Rock and Reel), Steve promises an unforgettable evening of music and stories. Book now—tickets are limited.

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.

Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest – as always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now (and selling fast already!!) at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please get in touch with us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, is very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert. You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and you’ll need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

Kris Drever & Chris Stout

Kris Drever and Chris Stout are icons of the Scottish roots culture and two of the most powerful contemporary voices to sing out of it in the last quarter century.

Both come from the Northern Isles (Kris from Orkney and Chris from Shetland) and represent the strength of those identities in the music they inhabit. Inherited through childhood, family and osmosis, you can hear the wind whistling through the strings, the rhythms washing against your animal self and the old stories whispering out from the ingleneuk.

In Glasgow in 2019 the two found themselves to be neighbours in the West End and began meeting up and playing music together. Both musicians found a sound of great interest and emotional power in these little get-togethers, and it soon became a more regular happening.

Now they’ve decided to share the experience with a wider audience. Come and hear songs and tunes you know and some you don’t, shining through the unique prism of these two ‘one of a kind’ musicians.

Kris is a guitarist, singer and founder member of the trio Lau. He’s a multi award winning singer songwriter and has played and written with a galaxy of stars (Eddi Reader, Roddy Woomble, Mark Knopfler, Kate Rusby, Jack Bruce, Karine Polwart…).

 

Chris is a virtuoso violinist, viola player and composer, founder member of the legendary Shetland band ‘Fiddlers Bid’ and long time collaborator of the genius harpist Catriona McKay.  He has performed in venues as storied as the Sydney Opera House and has composed for and performed with The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and a great many more.

Don’t miss Kris & Chris in the intimate atmosphere of The Old Malthouse, Chidham.

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.

Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now (and selling fast already!!) at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas have been performing together for 20 years and we have finally got them booked for our WemsFest stage!

Known as “the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling”, Alasdair’s musical partnership with Californian cellist Natalie is a true delight for all listeners.

The musical partnership between consummate performer Alasdair Fraser, “the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling”, and brilliant Californian cellist Natalie Haas spans the full spectrum between intimate chamber music and ecstatic dance energy. Over the last 20 years of creating a buzz at festivals and concert halls across the world, they have truly set the standard for fiddle and cello in traditional music. They continue to thrill audiences internationally with their virtuosic playing, their near-telepathic understanding and the joyful spontaneity and sheer physical presence of their music.

Fraser has a concert and recording career spanning over 30 years, with a long list of awards, accolades, radio and television credits, and feature performances on top movie soundtracks (Last of the Mohicans, Titanic, etc.). In 2011, he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.  Haas, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, is one of the most sought after cellists in traditional music today.  She has performed and recorded with a who’s who of the fiddle world including Mark O’Connor, Natalie MacMaster, Irish supergroups Solas and Altan, Liz Carroll, Dirk Powell, Brittany Haas, Darol Anger, Jeremy Kittel, Hanneke Cassel, Laura Cortese, and many more.

This seemingly unlikely pairing of fiddle and cello is the fulfillment of a long-standing musical dream for Fraser. His search eventually led him to find a cellist who could help return the cello to its historical role at the rhythmic heart of Scottish dance music, where it stood for hundreds of years before being relegated to the orchestra.  The duo’s debut recording, Fire & Grace, won the coveted the Scots Trad Music “Album of the Year” award, the Scottish equivalent of a Grammy. Since its release, the two have gone on to record five more critically acclaimed albums that blend a profound understanding of the Scottish tradition with cutting-edge string explorations. In additional to performing, they both have motivated generations of string players through their teaching at fiddle camps across the globe.

‘You would think they’d been playing together for centuries. While his fiddle dances, her cello throbs darkly or plucks puckishly. Then Haas opens her cello’s throat, joining Fraser in soaring sustains, windswept refrains, and sudden, jazzy explosions. Their sound is as urbane as a Manhattan midnight, and as wild as a Clackmannan winter!’ – Boston Globe

‘As many gigs as they must have played together over the past decade or so, there remains a striking spontaneity about Fraser and Haas’s music-making. He has tonal variation and attack to spare, but what makes them so consistently absorbing is the responsiveness each shows to the other. Haas is more than a cellist: she’s the rhythm section who uses the percussive chip’n’chop of her bowing and the double bass-like pulse of her pizzicato playing to great effect. The accompanist’s role moves so fluently between them, building tension all the while, and then they’ll slip into unison and it’s like floodgates opening.’ – The Herald

‘Fraser, one of the most respected of all exponents of the Scots fiddle, would look long and hard to find a more appropriate cellist as a partner…A positive joy.’ – The Scotsman

 

Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.

Licensed Bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now (and selling fast already!!) at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

Justin Adams & Mauro Durante

An acclaimed collaboration between Robert Plant‘s former guitarist Justin Adams, and Italian fiddle, guitar, and percussion player Mauro Durante.  Their music is rooted in the fascinating tradition of Taranta – the healing rituals of Southern Italy. It’s atmospheric and hugely danceable.

Justin Adams, guitarist, producer and composer, has been a chief collaborator with Robert Plant in his band, the Sensational Spaceshifters, co-writing a series of 4 albums and touring the world.  His production on landmark albums by Tinariwen and Rachid Taha highlight his feel for North African groove, while his award-winning project with Gambian maestro Juldeh Camara, ‘JUJU’, linked griot tradition with raw blues spirit.  His recent solo album of guitar atmospherics, ‘Ribbons’, was cited amongst the top 50 albums of the past decade by Songlines magazine.

Mauro Durante toured the world for many years with Ludovico Einaudi playing violin and frame drums.  He is one of the leading players in the pizzica style of Southern Italy and leads Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, who have played great festivals all over the world. Last year CSG were featured in their own concert at the BBC Proms (where Justin Adams guested with them) and they won Best Group in the Songlines Music Awards.

This new collaboration stems from a concert led by Ludovico Einaudi, the Notte della Taranta in Puglia, where the two first played together, recognising kindred spirits in the trance rhythms of Taranta which transcend “melancolia” or the blues. Together they create a raw, stripped-back sound that moves and mesmerises.

Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

The Magpies

Bella Gaffney (guitar, banjo, vocals), Holly Brandon (fiddle, vocals), and Ellie Gowers (guitar, vocals) combine to take you on a journey to distant lands with their ethereal voices and glistening instrumentals.  They come to us off the back of a hugely busy summer playing at many of the major festivals.

It has only been a short space of time since The Magpies burst onto the UK folk scene, but they have already made a huge impression with their fresh brand of transatlantic neo-folk and have been ‘making waves wherever they play’ – Phil Beer, Show of Hands.

Based on a deeply felt musical friendship, The Magpies work collaboratively, arranging material led by powerful vocals and glittering instrumental ornamentation. They each draw on their wide-ranging influences to create a unique blend of transatlantic folk, transporting audiences to distant lands and capturing imaginations with their enthralling live show.

Accomplished musicians in their own right, founding members Bella Gaffney (award winning singer-songwriter, guitarist and banjoist) and Holly Brandon (acclaimed fiddle player and tunesmith) perform alongside gifted singer-songwriter and guitarist Ellie Gowers. These talented young musicians work collaboratively to create their fresh brand of transatlantic folk and champion gender equality in the music industry, with a fervent thread of feminism running through their music.

In their live performances The Magpies have been exceptionally well-received. Their first year as a band in 2018 saw them perform at festivals such as Cambridge Folk Festival and on main stages at Wickham Festival, Towersey Festival and Deer Shed Festival. 2019 saw their first international shows, with showcases at Folk Alliance International in Montreal, a successful tour in Ireland and performances at Costa del Folk in Portugal. And the summer saw many more festival performances including Glastonbury, Larmer Tree, Warwick and Shambala.

Their debut album – Tidings – was released in June 2020 to critical acclaim. A rich and varied showcase of their live sound, the album draws on a range of influences and delivers a sound that can only be described as contemporary. A huge range of exquisite instrumentation on mandolin, guitar, fiddle, cello, bouzouki and banjo provide a thrilling canvas on which they paint their stories. The album is full of songs which explore uniquely female experiences in unpredictable and surprising ways. From the transformation and sorcery of the traditional ballad The Two Magicians, to lost love, murder and suicide in the original Run River Run, The Magpies bring a fresh voice to the current milieu. As well as drawing on their experiences as women, the material is also deeply rooted in the traditions of their native Yorkshire.

‘One of those effervescent albums you’d be happy to recommend to people who might not consider themselves folk fans’ – The Sunday Times

‘Folk with finesse’ – The Daily Mail

‘Check their album ‘Undertow’ out! Really good mix of songs and instrumentals’ – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio2

Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

Lulo Reinhardt & Yuliya Lonskaya

The onstage chemistry of these two guitarists, from Germany and Belarus respectively, has wowed audiences over the past 2 years.  At its core is Gypsy swing but add influences from North Africa, and India, then folk, jazz, bossa nova, baroque and romanticism – you have a fascinating evening of music !

Two wonderful world class guitarists well deserving of keen interest from a music loving public. This musical ‘pairing’ is definitely a cut above. Together, as the saying goes, they make beautiful music.

Lulo Reinhardt, is the grand nephew of Django Reinhardt and has toured in the UK several times in the past 10 or so years. While Lulo has a repertoire of gypsy swing as you might expect, he has extended and developed beyond that with music from North Africa and India influencing his playing and now with Yuliya he moves towards classical music.

Yuliya Lonskaya was born in 1980 in Belarus and began her guitar journey at the local music college. She gained a diploma at the Belarus Academy of Music in Minsk and continued her studies with Prof. Andreas von Wangenheim at the Karlsruhe Musik Hochschule. Finally she took masterclasses with Costas Cotsiolis, David Russell, Carlo Marchione and Abel Carlevaro.  Since then, Yuliya has won several international guitar competitions in Poland, England, America, Serbia and Montenegro.  In 2002, in a duo with Russian guitarist, Dimitrii Illarionov, she won the prestigious GFA guitar competition (Guitar Foundation of America).  In 2006, she made her debut in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow as soloist with the Symphonic Orchestra Novaya Rossiya.  With her eclectic repertoire of folk, jazz, bossa nova, baroque, classical and romantic music, Yuliya is a very welcome performer in many European and American concert halls, playing solo concerts and appearing with orchestras.

Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.

Veronica Sbergia & Max de Bernardi

Hip, cool, and highly entertaining, this duo enjoyed a hugely successful UK tour last year and are back for more!  Join us for country blues, ragtime, vaudeville, hokum, jug band, and rural music from the 1920s and 1930s.

“Good time blues is alive and well and residing in… Milan, Italy. A band with a mission” – Folk & Roots Magazine

Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi passionately play country blues and ragtime, hokum, jug band and rural music from the 20’s and 30’s.

They like to keep this precious musical heritage alive faithfully reproducing its original sound whilst playing it with a modern twist.

Using strictly acoustic instruments such ukulele, washboard, kazoo, resophonic guitars and doublebass their passion for this music is perfectly represented on their last CD “OLD STORIES FOR MODERN TIMES”, that also sees contributions by other leading musicians and friends, Sugar Blue (a legendary harmonica player in the past with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Dixon and Frank Zappa) and the world master of resophonic guitar, Bob Brozman.

The album is an overview of the American popular music from the early years of the last century with the Red Wine Serenaders reinterpreting great songs by artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, Jimmie Rodgers, Sidney Bechet, Lucille Bogan, Bo Carter, and the Delmore Brothers in their own unique style.

With their trio called ‘Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders’ they won the European Blues Challenge 2013, an important international contest held in Toulouse in March. Thanks to this result they performed at the prestigious Notodden Blues Festival in Norway and Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland.

Veronica & Max regularly perform in the USA, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway, Spain, England, Italy and Poland.

Veronica is also the first Italian artist ever invited to the Mustique Blues Festival (2012 and 2013), in the Caribbean.

Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery 🍻 as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks.  All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.

Tickets available now at Bookends and Harbour Records and online here

Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start

If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.

The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert.  You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.