7pm-7.30pm: Lunatraktors (1st support)
7.50pm-8.30pm: John Kelly (2nd support)
8.45pm-10pm: O'Hooley & Tidow
Live Stream Tickets: £12
Manchester Folk Bundle*: £20
*Bundle grants access to Manchester Folk Festival concerts on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd October
O’Hooley & Tidow
Performing together for over 10 years, much loved Yorkshire folk duo Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow were propelled into newfound fame when their song ‘Gentleman Jack’ was chosen as the theme tune for Sally Wainwright’s hit BBC1/HBO drama of the same name.
Nominated four times for BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ‘Best Duo’, Belinda and Heidi’s boundless song writing has been described by The Guardian as ‘exceptional’ and The Independent as ‘defiant, robust, northern, poetical, political folk music for the times we live in.’ From an emotionally charged song about an elephant orphanage in Nairobi, to a joyous celebration of the Leeds cycling champion Beryl Burton, they explore, consider and connect subjects and stories in a distinctive, inventive and memorable way.
Having the originality and skill to invite comparison with the most celebrated harmony duos, from early Simon and Garfunkel to the iconic Kate and Anna McGarrigle, 6 Music’s Tom Robinson says ‘They sing together in the way families do. Normally, you only get that closeness in the voices with family bands like The Coppers or The Watersons.’
Lunatraktors (1st Support)
Lunatraktors are a collaboration between choreographer and percussionist Carli Jefferson and nonbinary vocalist and composer Clair Le Couteur. Starting with an apocalyptic question – What's left when we've lost everything? – the project strips folk song down to rhythm and voice. Their 'broken folk' sound combines harmonic singing with tuned percussion, harmonium and analogue synth, combining Le Couteur’s self-taught four octave range with the hybrid of tap dance, flamenco and body percussion Jefferson developed after touring with Stomp. The pair turned heads in 2019 when their DIY debut This Is Broken Folk – drums and vocals recorded live in a viaduct arch by Ramsgate harbour – made it onto MOJO Magazine's Top Ten Folk Albums.
Reimagining British folk music through a shared teenage absorption in jungle, drum’n’bass, triphop, art rock and post-punk, Lunatraktors have built up a passionate fanbase through performances at festivals, art galleries, museums, theatres and queer cabarets. Jefferson’s compulsion to dance while drumming prompted Lunatraktors to put together a tonal percussion kit, providing both rhythmic and melodic elements to their sound. A double act in the old fashioned sense, Le Couteur’s channeling voices of multiple tragi-comic characters matches Jefferson’s hyper-expressive performance style.
Since their debut performance in 2017, Lunatraktors have created over 200 shows, commissions and lectures for a huge range of arts spaces, music venues and festivals across the UK, Europe and America. These include the Aldeburgh Festival, the V&A Museum, the Turner Prize opening weekend, Ramsgate Festival of Sound, Margate Pride, Folkestone Museum, Goldsmiths, Royal College of Art, TEDx, JW3 Jewish Cultural Centre, Smugglers Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week and more. Recent commissions include contemporary folk songs commemorating Britain’s earliest female saint for Folkestone Museum, and exploring a Roman ‘Lar’ statuette for Guildhall Museum.
Following the Bonefires EP in 2020, Lunatraktors second album The Missing Star was released on the Summer Solstice, 2021.
John Kelly (2nd Support)
John Kelly is a warm, funny, passionate musician with over 30 years’ live experience.
His songwriting sits alongside that of his heroes and peers; containing all the compassion & conviction of Woody Guthrie, the fiery passion of Billy Bragg and the imaginative storytelling of Ian Dury.