Sunday, 27th September, 2009
7 :30pm (doors open 7:00pm)

Billy Mitchell and Bob Fox first met in the Royal Hotel at Hexham in Northumberland more than 30 years ago. Since that time they have followed parallel careers but their eventual musical partnership was long overdue. What was planned as a one-off album and tour in 2006 has become semi-permanent.

Billy Mitchell has done most things as a performer and songwriter, the seminal Jack the Lad, the latter years

of Lindisfarne and many solo ventures. Billy turns the life of himself and his wider family into songs.

Bob Fox is not a composer but a great collector of songs, mainly traditional, he's the guardian and archivist of that great genre exemplified by Joe Wilson the great Tyneside Music Hall artist. He has the clearest, most effortless voice of any folksinger now performing and his vocal and musical phrasing are subtle.

Utilising their towering vocals and accompanying themselves with astonishing skill on a variety of stringed instruments (guitars, bouzouki and mandolin) they could hold a master class in the art of ‘live’ entertainment. It is not so much a show as a meeting of mutual friends for some songs and music and a few laughs. With a collection of high profile gigs under their belts including Cropredy and Mouth of the Tyne Festivals, Billy and Bob have discovered an irresistible formula and are going from strength to strength. Expect a North-east influenced repertoire, a healthy dollop of brash northern humour and sing-along choruses to gladden the heart.

Tickets £10.00 - on sale from 6th July

Ceilidh
dancing to:
Union Street

Saturday, 17th October, 2009
8:00pm (doors open 7:30pm)

After the success of last year's charity ceilidh which raised £500 for WATER AID, the Union Street band, the Community Centre management and several volunteer staff have again pledged their time and effort to contribute to the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people. Let's have a similar rip-roaring time for this laudible cause. This year's caller will be the Southport Cockney, Roger Downing.

Click here to see a review of last year's event.

Tickets £10.00 - on sale from 6th July

Friday, 30th October, 2009
8:00pm (doors open 7:30pm)

Mabon is the music of accordionist Jamie Smith augmented by an energetic band featuring some of the best musicians on the folk scene today. They were barely registering on the folk radar in 2005 when Sham first booked them for Mellor Brook Community Centre on the strength of their 2004 debut CD, Ridiculous Thinkers which dropped unsolicited onto his doorstep. A year later Mabon were taking the folk scene by storm with high profile performances at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and Cambridge Folk Festival. After undergoing personnel changes, they last year toured Mexico and will be coming to the Ribble Valley via tours in Poland and Italy.

Led by Jamie – ‘scarily talented’ (Rock‘n’Reel Magazine), 'accordion master' (fRoots) – Mabon’s six-piece line-up marries stunning accordion, fiddle and flute melodies with a tight, tasteful and downright groovy rhythm section of guitar, bass and drums.
Inevitably branded Celtic, it is apparent how the music reflects the huge diversity of Celtic peoples and their styles. From the home countries (Mabon has Welsh, Scottish and English members) to further afield, Mabon display a diversity of European leanings as evidenced in the pieces "A Hungarian in Brittany" and the closing track of their lauded CD, OK Pewter, the moody "Gower Flotsam in Bordeaux"

Tickets £10.00 - on sale from 6th July

Tickets £12.50

John Spiers & Jon Boden Website

Darwen Library Theatre Website

Saturday, 5th December, 2009
8:00pm (doors open 7:30pm)

Ailie Robertson is a 24 year-old harpist who hails from Edinburgh. She studied in Limerick at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance where she gained a 1st-class MA in Irish Music Performance. A member of the acclaimed 5-piece Celtic band The Outside Track who will have toured Germany and Canada by the time Ailie Brings her own band to the Ribble Valley. In 2008, she released her debut solo album, First Things First. Produced by Scottish musician and broadcaster, Mary Ann Kennedy, it demonstrates the versatility of her instrument, the clasarch. As well as playing solo, Ailie leads band arrangements of traditional and contemporary material. Forget misty images of lovelorn maidens at lattice windows. Instead, step into a world where Robertson's harp jousts (Irish Times).

She brings with her a percussionist and a guitarist.

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Sunday, 13th December, 2009
7 :30pm (doors open 7:00pm)

Winter Almanac
Jez Lowe has been a stalwart of the folk scene for 2 decades. He has taken his North East stories to all corners of the world and the thousands of music lovers who have seen and heard him will testify to the charm and wit of his song writing. Always in demand, he recently contributed to BBC Radio 2's 'Radio Ballads' documentary series broadcast - a remake of an original series produced in the 50's and 60's by Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker. Earlier this year, he was one of the 8 composers invited to write material for the 'Darwin Song Project,' a live show and record release to commemorate the bi-centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

The Winter Almanac show is a Geordie take on Christmas and will feature Jez and a supporting 6-piece band.

Tickets £10.00 - on sale from 6th July

The Swing Commanders

Sunday, 27th December, 2009
8:00pm (doors open 7:30pm)

Peter, Gaynor, Kath, Naomi, Simon and Mark bring their infectious rhythms back to Whalley Road for a jumpin' jivin' foot-tappin' stomp of a night.

Last year, they took their brand of Western Swing back to whence it came, and did 8 venues in Texas. The Andrew Sisters, Louis Jordan and Bob Wills will infuse this high-energy performance bound to make even the comatose twitch.

There will be no support act - Swing Commanders will perform from 8pm till 11 with a 30-minute interval

Tickets £12.00 - on sale from 6th July