Bellowhead

Since their formation Bellowhead have occupied a unique place in Britain’s musical landscape: a blistering 11-piece band fusing folk, funk, rock, world, jazz, music hall and classical music. They are a delirious amalgam of schooled musicianship and anarchic abandon. A “bunch of mates” who came together initially to play the 2004 Oxford Festival, their impact was immediate. Fiddler Paul Sartin said recently that “our starting point is that we’re a live band, there’s an indefinable energy and dynamic when we all play in a big room.” Few who have witnessed them in action could argue: the Independent described Bellowhead as “surely the best live act in the country”, while they have been voted ‘Best Live Group’ at the BBC Folk Awards an unparalleled five times, in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Bellowhead are:

Jon Boden : Vocals / Fiddle / Tambourine
John Spiers : Melodeon / Concertina
Benji Kirkpatrick : Guitar / Bouzouki / Mandolin / Banjo
Rachael McShane : Cello / Fiddle
Paul Sartin : Fiddle / Oboe
Sam Sweeney : Fiddle / Bagpipes
Pete Flood : Percussion
Ed Neuhauser : Sousaphone
Justin Thurgur : Trombone
Brendan Kelly : Saxophones / Bass Clarinet
Andy Mellon : Trumpet

http://www.bellowhead.co.uk