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Magpie Lane is an English folk group, based in Oxford, England.
The musicians of Magpie Lane first came together in the winter of 1992–93 to record The Oxford Ramble, a collection of songs and tunes from, or about, Oxfordshire. Originally conceived as a one-off recording project, [1] the success of The Oxford Ramble and early concerts and appearances in Oxford and further afield led to the release of a second CD, Speed the Plough, a year later.
Further recordings followed, celebrating seasonal folk customs of the British Isles: a collection of traditional Festive songs and tunes in Wassail: a Country Christmas; and Jack-in-the-Green, which celebrates customs around May Day and Midsummer. In 2000, the band were asked to record a companion album for A Taste of Ale, a book by the author and folksong scholar, Roy Palmer. [2] [3] This album was one of two to feature Benji Kirkpatrick on vocals and string instruments.
The band have continued to release albums and perform regularly in concerts, folk clubs and festivals in the UK. [4] [5] In 2018, they released their 10th studio album, The 25th, the title of which plays on its Christmastime theme as well as being in celebration of the band's 25th anniversary. It was released in December, to coincide with the band's 25th annual Christmas concert at the Holywell Music Room.
The band takes its name from Magpie Lane, a street in central Oxford, and the title of the tune that opens their first album, The Oxford Ramble.
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Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and were commercially successful in that period, with four Top 40 albums and two hit singles: "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat".
Wassail is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ensure a good harvest the following year.
John Michael Kirkpatrick is an English musician, playing free reed instruments such as the accordion and concertina and performing English folk songs and tunes.
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.
Andy Cutting is an English folk musician and composer. He plays melodeon and is best known for writing and performing traditional English folk and his own original compositions which combine English and French traditions with wider influences. He is three times winner of the Folk Musician of the Year award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and has appeared on around 50 albums, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. He was born in Harrow, London and is married with three children.
Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styles and influences. The band included percussion and a four-piece brass section. Bellowhead's bandmembers played more than 20 instruments among them, whilst all performers provided vocals.
Cool Yule is a first holiday album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released on October 10, 2006, through Columbia Records. The album features many standard Christmas tunes as well as a reworking edition of her Grammy-winning hit "From a Distance". In 2008, Cool Yule was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category.
Here We Come A-wassailing, also known as Here We Come A-Christmasing,Wassail Song and by many other names, is a traditional English Christmas carol and New Year song, typically sung whilst wassailing, or singing carols, wishing good health and exchanging gifts door to door. It is listed as number 209 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Gower Wassail and Gloucestershire Wassail are similar wassailing songs.
Rise Above is an album by British folk music group Oysterband, released in 2002.
Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man is an album by Waterson–Carthy.
Faustus are a folk music duo based in the UK. The all-male membership brings together multi-instrumentalist musicians active across many other leading bands in the UK folk scene: Benji Kirkpatrick, Saul Rose and formerly Paul Sartin. They have been described as “bloke-folk” and aiming to “rescue contemporary folk from the curse of feyness”. In 2007 they received a 75th anniversary award from the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and they were nominated as best group at the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Matachin is the second album by Bellowhead, released on 22 September 2008. Its title refers, to 'An old dance with swords, masks and bucklers; a sword dance' that may have influenced the Cotswold Morris dance. It has been described as "...a magnificently murky and rum-sodden collection of 11 traditional and original songs from the 11 piece band who defy easy categorisation".
Hedonism is the third album by Bellowhead, released on 4 October 2010. It was recorded in Abbey Road Studios and was produced by John Leckie. The band also developed a new ale named after the album. Some of the band members took part in the brewing process.
Live at Shepherds Bush Empire is a live DVD by folk band Bellowhead, recorded in 2007 on the Burlesque tour and released in 2009.
Hedonism Live is the second live DVD by folk band Bellowhead. It was recorded in May 2011 at the O2 Academy Bournemouth.
Broadside is the fourth full album by Bellowhead, released on 15 October 2012.
Revival is the fifth studio album by Bellowhead. It was announced at their 10th anniversary concerts in Manchester and London.
"All Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough" or The Ploughman's Song is an English folk song about the working life of horsemen on an English farm in the days before petrol-driven machinery. Variants have been collected from many traditional singers - Cecil Sharp observed that "almost every singer knows it: the bad singers often know but little else". It has been recorded by many singers influenced by the second British folk revival.
Benji Kirkpatrick is an English folk singer and musician, who plays guitar, bouzouki, mandolin and tenor banjo. A son of folk musicians John Kirkpatrick and Sue Harris, he was brought up in Shropshire. Previously a member of Bellowhead, Faustus and Steeleye Span, he now performs as a solo artist and also as a member of the Seth Lakeman band. He lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
The Gloucestershire Wassail, also known as "Wassail! Wassail! All Over the Town", "The Wassailing Bowl" and "Wassail Song" is an English Christmas carol from the county of Gloucestershire in England, dating back to at least the 18th century, but may be older.
