Nidd
Afternoon reception, Thursday 18 October
Nidd are a new trio of young musicians from Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire who met as members of EFDSS’s National Youth Folk Ensemble. Kerran Cotterall, Ellen McGovern and Owen Spafford bring rhythmic guitar, flute, Uilleann pipes and fiddle together to play a vibrant range of traditional tunes and songs from England, Ireland and beyond. They are picking up gigs around England, from Leeds in the North and to Sidmouth in the south.
Bryony Griffith
Morning performance, Friday 19 October
Bryony Griffith is an English fiddle player and singer with a rich repertoire of dance tunes and songs from her native Yorkshire. She has been performing on the folk scene for 25 years with Bedlam, The Witches of Elswick and the BBC Folk Award-winning Demon Barbers.
Bryony is currently EFDSS Musician in Residence at the National Coal Mining Museum for England, and is a tutor on the new Folk Music degree at Leeds College of Music. Bryony has recently released her second solo album, ‘Hover’, which is her first recording entirely of beautiful traditional English tunes.
Alden, Patterson and Dashwood
Morning performance, Friday19 October
Norwich-based folk trio Alden Patterson and Dashwood weave rich vocal harmonies, fiddle, dobro and guitar around beautifully written original songs and melodies. Their music takes influence from folk traditions from both sides of the Atlantic with uplifting instrumentals and self-penned songs depicting tales of young travellers, sleepy seas and their affection for home. Christina, Alex and Noel first performed together in 2016 and really started to make a name for themselves on the festival circuit last summer.
“As a founding and current partner of EFEx, EFDSS has the privilege of being able to provide additional performance platforms alongside the main EFEx and Manchester Folk Festival performances. We focus on new and emerging artists, and established artists who are developing a new band or forging a solo career, all working with the English folk idiom. English Folk Expo is a strand of EFDSS’ Artists’ Development Programme, and it is wonderful be able to give more artists the opportunity to showcase at this significant event.”
Katy Spicer, EFDSS Chief Executive and Artistic Director
Find out more about English Folk Expo