Monthly Archives: February 2024

American singer and Grammy award-winning songwriter, Aoife O’Donovan operates in a thrilling musical world beyond genre. She is set to release her 4th solo album All My Friends this March, following three critically-acclaimed and boundary-blurring albums. Co-founder of the Grammy Award-winning female folk trio I’m With Her and co-founder and lead singer for the string band Crooked Still, she has become a go-to vocalist in the American contemporary folk, bluegrass, and progressive Americana scenes.

Western Scotland’s finest, Capercaillie have been credited with being the major force in bringing Celtic music to the world stage, reaching out for decades to the ears and hearts of people all over the world. The band’s astonishing musical dexterity and peerless voice of co-founder Karen Matheson – recognised as one of the finest Gaelic singers alive today – have ensured their unique fusion of Gaelic culture and contemporary sound has always stretched boundaries in their quest to keep the music evolving.

Emerging as a rising star on the Irish contemporary and alt folk scene, Dani Larkin is a singer-songwriter and folk musician from the Armagh-Monaghan border. Her sound is inspired by the Irish traditional melodies she was raised with and her songs reminiscent of Celtic folk tales. 

After an unforgettable and electrifying debut appearance at Cambridge in 2017, Blues artist Fantastic Negrito makes a welcome and much anticipated return. In the intervening years, his powerful performances and message have seen Negrito take home three consecutive Grammy’s for Best Contemporary Blues Album, launch his own Storefront Records label, perform at nearly every major festival on the map, and found the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at youth education and empowerment. Fantastic Negrito recently received his fourth Grammy nomination, Best American Roots Performance, for the song ‘Oh Betty’ from ‘White Jesus Black Problems’.

Always at the forefront of celebrating both fresh artistry and the legendary roots of folk, Cambridge is delighted to welcome Flamy Grant. Award-winning and Billboard-charting, this powerhouse vocalist, intrepid songwriter, and irreverent comedy queen is a ‘shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting’ drag queen from western North Carolina.

With a line-up featuring the extraordinary voice of BBC Folk Award-winning singer Ríoghnach Connolly – last heard at Cambridge in 2022 when she performed as part of duo, The Breath – Honeyfeet are an eclectic Manchester based troupe. Brass heavy sound spans the bountiful to the subtle, with everything from big-band swing to Alabama blues-tinged folk, all held together by the powerful vocals and flute from Ríoghnach. ‘Reminds me of the first time I heard Amy Winehouse with the Dap Kings’(Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music).

Fourteen-time Grammy winner, multi-talented Jerry Douglas is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player, and record producer. Described by The New York Times as, ‘dobro’s matchless contemporary master,’ Jerry Douglas is also is among the most innovative recording artists in music, both as a solo artist and member of numerous bands, such as Alison Krauss and Union Station and The Earls of Leicester. And, since 1998, has been a co-director of Transatlantic Sessions.

Katherine Priddy has quickly become one of the most exciting names on the British music scene and she makes a welcome return to Cambridge. Her haunting vocals and distinctive finger-picking guitar style have seen her sell out a headline tour, perform at prestigious festivals around the UK and abroad, including Glastonbury. She recently featured on a Double LP of Nick Drake covers released by Chrysalis Records and February 2024 sees the release of Priddy’s eagerly-awaited second album, ‘The Pendulum Swing’, exploring themes of home, family, love and memory.

For over 15 years now, the three members of The Langan Band have been carving out their own virtuosic path of sound. Initially brought together by a deep respect for traditional Scottish song and music, they discovered a mutual love of the regeneration of these pieces into provocative and fascinating new compositions. This sound and process went on to inform the band’s now mostly original repertoire, and has resulted in a musical experience quite unlike any other. Now signed with international agents in USA, Australia & New Zealand, and Scandinavia, The Langan Band are truly on their way to becoming a global paradigm of Scottish creativity and success.

Originally from Atlanta and currently living in Nashville, Rebecca & Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe are self-producers of an electrifying, critically acclaimed body of work. Grammy-nominated singers/songwriters and multi-instrumentalist, the sisters create their own brand of Roots Blues Rock: gritty, soulful, and flavoured by their southern heritage. Their latest album, ‘Blood Harmony’, affirms Larkin Poe as an essential force in shaping the identity of southern rock-and-roll.