Please to See the King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A major personnel change following their previous effort, Hark! The Village Wait, brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lack of drums and the replacement of one female vocalist with a male vocalist. The band even reprised a song from their debut, "The Blacksmith", with a strikingly different arrangement making extensive use of syncopation. Re-recording songs would be a minor theme in Steeleye's output over the years, with the band eventually releasing an entire album of reprises, Present – The Very Best of Steeleye Span.
Phil Beer is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and one half of English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands.
Beat About the Bush is the fourth studio album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. Originally released by Twah! Records in 1994, it was their debut studio album to be released on CD, following the discontinued cassette albums that are Show of Hands from 1987, Tall Ships from 1990 and Out of the Count from 1991. It was their only studio album on Twah! Records, and was subsequently re-released in 1999 on the duo's own label, Hands on Music.
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, is a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
William Boazman, known as Sonny Black, is an acoustic guitarist based in the UK, who plays blues, rags and original compositions usually fingerstyle or slide. "Sonny Black" is a pseudonym adopted when he began the first Sonny Black's Blues Band. He previously became well known as Bill Boazman on the folk club circuit and at college gigs during the 1970s as a singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist. He has been credited with accompanying J. J. Cale, but this is a fallacy arising from a typographic error involving an American musician with a similar name, Bob Brozman.
Chris Wood is an English songwriter and composer who plays fiddle, viola and guitar, and sings. He is a practitioner of traditional English dance music, including Morris and other rituals and ceremonies, but his repertoire also includes much French folk music and traditional Québécois material. He worked for many years in a duo with button accordion/melodeon player Andy Cutting: Wood & Cutting were one of the most influential acts on the English folk music scene. Q Magazine gave their "Live at Sidmouth" album four stars and put the duo "at the forefront of the latest wave of British music acts". One of his first recordings was playing bass and percussion on "Jack's Alive" (1980) the first album by the Oysterband.
Witness is the twelfth studio album by British folk duo Show of Hands. The album was recorded in January 2006 at Presshouse Studio, Colyton, Devon, and was produced by Simon Emmerson and Simon ‘Mass’ Massey from the Afro Celts, who helped to incorporate elements of traditional African, ambient and electronic dance music with the duo's characteristic folk style. It was the band's first album in twelve years to use a rhythm section. Lyrically, the album addresses communal and heritage values, and was described by the duo's lead singer Steve Knightley as a "cinematic style journey of the West Country." The album features unofficial third member Miranda Sykes on ten of its twelve tracks.
Decameron were an English folk rock and progressive rock band, existing from 1968 to 1976.
Ship to Shore is the first album by Nigel Mazlyn Jones, guitarist, singer and songwriter. The guitar style and sound, involving use of harmonics and extensive electronic treatments, is already fully formed. The album was recorded in March 1976 in Birmingham at Nest Studios, produced by Nigel Mazlyn Jones and engineered by Jake Commander and Kim Holmes. It features contributions by then-members of Decameron, Madrigal and Steve Ashley's band.
Trevor "Fozz" Foster is an English drummer, who started his musical career with Birmingham band Good News, then moving on as drummer for Bright Eyes. Trev then joined Birmingham based heavy rock band Flying Hatband in the mid 1970s. He then joined folk rocksters The Albion Band in the early 1980s. 2004 he worked with Little Johnny England for a short spell, going on to drum with friends Pipe Factory before retiring for good.
Roll On Dreamer is a folk/rock album by Johnny Coppin released in 1978, his debut solo album following his time with Decameron. Like the subsequent Coppin solo albums, it includes cover versions as well as Coppin originals and settings of Gloucestershire poetry.
No Going Back is a folk/rock album by Johnny Coppin released in 1979, his second solo album.
Noah and the Whale were a British indie rock and folk band from Twickenham, formed in 2006 and dissolved in 2015. The band's last line-up consisted of Charlie Fink, Tom Hobden (violin/keyboards), Matt "Urby Whale" Owens, Fred Abbott (guitar/keys) and Michael Petulla (drums). Doug Fink (drums), the brother of lead singer Charlie, and Laura Marling were also past members of the band.
Dik Cadbury is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer, principally known as a bass guitarist and as former member of Decameron and the backing band of former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett.
Arrogance Ignorance and Greed is the fourteenth studio album by English folk duo Show of Hands. Released in 2009 on the band's label Hands on Music, the album was produced by Stu Hanna of the English folk duo Megson, with additional production by Mark Tucker. The album followed an emotionally painful period for Steve Knightley where members of his family battled serious illnesses. This led to the album becoming particularly personal and darker than previous Show of Hands albums, aided by Hanna's direct and sharp production. The album also discusses several social and political concerns, and contains several collaborations with other musicians and vocalists.
Under the Driftwood Tree are a Cardiff-based band founded in Wales by Kitt Stoodley in 2008. Their music is described as 'surfer folk' and is based on vocal harmonies and unusual instruments, including ukulele, didgeridoo, djembe, cajon and accordion as well as acoustic guitars and bass.
Steve Frank Ashley is an English singer-songwriter, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, writer and graphic designer. Ashley is best known as a songwriter and first gained public recognition for his work with his debut solo album, Stroll On. Taking his inspiration from English traditional songs, Ashley has developed a songwriting style which is contemporary in content while reflecting traditional influences in his melodies, poetry and vocal delivery.
The Black Feathers are a husband and wife roots music duo based in Gloucestershire, UK who play a blend of Folk and Americana. Their debut EP was listed in The Telegraph as one of the best Folk albums of 2014.
The Leylines are a folk rock band formed in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset in 2013. The band's violin and guitar driven sound has seen them headline multiple tours across the UK, as well as performing at world renowned festivals, such as Glastonbury Festival, Farmer Phil's Festival, Boomtown Fair and Bearded Theory. To date, The Leylines have released two full studio albums and one EP. In 2019 the band achieved a career highlight of playing to thousands of fans on the Big Top stage at Beautiful Days.
"Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" is a song written by American folk singer-songwriter Ed McCurdy in 1950. Due to McCurdy's connection with fellow musicians, it was common in repertoires within the folk music community. The song had its first album release when Pete Seeger recorded it as "Strangest Dream" for his 1956 album Love Songs For Friends & Foes. Seeger would later re-visit the song for his 1967 album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and other Love Songs. The strong anti-war theme of the song led it to be recorded by multiple other artists, including The Weavers (1960), Joan Baez (1962), The Kingston Trio (1963), Simon & Garfunkel (1964), and Johnny Cash who released two versions of the song during the 2000s.
