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I hope you enjoyed all the Mayday events on offer earlier this month which Unicorn Folk almost totally failed to highlight or preview mainly because domestic events have overshadowed the last month or so and this blog is long overdue but at least in time for the late May bank holiday!

I missed seeing Bob Fox at Royston Live at the end of April owing to those domestic events but it is nice to hear that the club has secured a place in Club Corner at Cambridge Folk Festival on Sunday 2^nd August. An excellent line-up has been curated for the occasion consisting of Causton, Walker & Broady; Clark & Johnson; Ellie Walker; Jeremy Harmer; Pat Crilly & Peter Crossley and Wickenwood and their club slot runs from 14.30 to 17.30.

I did manage to get to the Honey and the Bear concert at Cambridge Junction on 22^nd April and they were excellent as you will see from my review of that concert elsewhere on the Unicorn Folk website and I have also completed the review of their latest CD A wish and a tide HERE and both can be found under the ‘Music’ tab on the top menu on Unicorn Folk.

There is a new updated version of the Unicorn Diary available amongst the Listings on the top menu and that includes more details about the programmes for the Four Rivers Folk Club and Watford Folk Club which were not previously available. It’s also good to see St Andrew’s Church in Hertford running folk events again after the sad passing of organiser Chris Seward last year and they have Gryphon in concert on Thursday 4^th June. To pick out another upcoming top class gig from the Unicorn Diary you can see John Kirkpatrick on Friday 29^th May at the Everyman Folk Club in Saxmundham and I’m looking forward to seeing The Waite Collective for the first time at Royston Live the previous night.

There are links to the websites and gig lists at all the clubs featured in the Unicorn Diary and if your folk club is missing it’s programme can be included free of charge on request using the email address info@unicornfolk.uk.

If you are going to Chester or Cheltenham Folk Festivals then you are probably already there but there are more in the Festival Finder in the Listings at the end of the month and, more locally, in 2 weeks time that includes Edlefest in Buckinghamshire and St Alban’s Folk Festival.

If you are in the vicinity of Thaxted at the end of May you may wish to visit the 99th Thaxted Weekend of Dance which I remember as being great fun for performers and spectators alike and that is after an interval of 49 years as I danced for Bath City Morris at the 50^th Thaxted Weekend of Dance. The massed Winster Processional on the Saturday with all the Morris sides taking part actually featured on the front page of the Sunday Times that year (1977) and I remember being mildly disappointed because Bath City Morris missed out on the photo by about 50 yards!

Speaking of Morris matters I have finally put together a Dance Diary in my immediate region for the coming summer which you can find with the other ‘Listings’ on the top menu or sidebar on Unicorn Folk. I would have included Thaxted Morris but as they only have an image of their programme on their website it is a lot of work to input all the details. However, they and any other side are welcome to send in a list of their event dates for 2026 ideally in a similar format to the Dance Diary in either a Word or Excel file. I will also include EFDSS sides and any other folk oriented dance societies that care to send in their event lists to info@unicornfolk.uk.

Finally, Filby’s Folk is back with Show 117 featuring a host of new music from Honey and the Bear, Jim Moray, Emily Portman, Lady Maisery (with Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith) plus more new album releases from lesser known but interesting and accomplished individual artists and bands.

Enjoy your bank holiday weekend!

Unicorn Ceilidhs are celebrating their 25^th Anniversary this year having started life way back in 2001 when they were based in Hitchin and yes, I think there is a connection between Unicorn Folk and Unicorn Ceilidhs going back to the founding fathers of Unicorn Magazine some of whom, Alan Creamer for one, were involved with setting up the ceilidh programme.

I think Hitchin Town Hall was the original venue though it’s a few years since I attended but I remember it being great fun. They are also clearly very well organised with a planned programme stretching out to their famous New Year’s Eve Ceilidh. Now based in St Mary’s Church Hall in Baldock with a Real Ale Bar, they offer very good value for money at just £13 for adults and the ceilidhs feature some of the best bands and callers, the latter being important for newcomers who need no previous experience. As you may have seen in the ‘Featured Events’ section on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website, the next Ceilidh on Friday 8^th May features the Cock & Bull Band with the renowned Barry Goodman as caller and Letchworth Morris providing entertainment in the interval spot.

On the local scene, Royston Live on Thursday 30^th April will feature the legendary Bob Fox who has been a mainstay of the folk scene for as long as I can remember, though I have just discovered that he is actually a year younger than me and co-incidentally, also from the North-East and born in County Durham! However, I don’t hold either of those facts against him and am looking forward to hearing him play, as I have somehow contrived to avoid doing so until now. It’s usually my experience that I am pleasantly surprised when I don’t know much about the music of a particular performer who has been around for a long time though in this case Bob’s reputation precedes him. Don’t miss it! Check the front page on Unicorn Folk for ticket links.

There are lots of other good things going on before the next Royston Live including, for budding songwriters, a songwriting course by Stu Hanna of Megson on Thursday 16^th April at Cambridge Junction. At the same venue a couple of days later, on the 19^th, the impressive Katherine Priddy is appearing with Seamus Fogarty in support and on the following day, speaking of legendary (older) folkies, Martin Simpson is due to appear, followed just two days later by Honey and the Bear promoting their new album- A Wish & A Tide which I am about to review for Unicorn Folk but in the meantime you can read two previous album reviews HERE.

Whilst it may seem that Cambridge Junction have many of the best acts appearing there in April, the Unicorn Diary (under Listings on the top menu of the Unicorn Folk website) has just been updated to the end of June and contains links to around 139 events. So, you can now plan ahead and navigate all the other musical treats coming to the area soon, an area which has been expanded by the addition of a few additional venues both to the east and to the west of our region north of London.

Similarly, Unicorn Folk’s Festival Finder (also under Listings on the top menu) has been comprehensively updated and now contains something in the region of 130 folk or folk-related festivals for 2026. The good news is that only a handful of those have already happened so there are a lot left to look forward to in the coming year.

Another edition of Filby’s Folk is in the pipeline and I have a lot of new music to showcase including that new album from Honey and the Bear, plus those from Jim Moray, Lady Maisery and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith, Hannah James & Toby Kuhn, and Emily Portman. Watch out for another podcast early this week!

Such sad news to hear of the passing of Dave Shepherd, violin player with Blowzabella for over 40 years since 1983, especially so since the band had announced that they would stop touring in 2028 on the 50^th anniversary of their formation.

I can’t claim to have known Dave on a personal basis nor to know very much about him, but it’s clear from some of the tributes that he was a much loved husband, father and grandad and a very well respected musician who was an integral part of Blowzabella. I have been a fan of the band since 1986, not long after he joined, so his violin playing has always been a part of the sound that I love and I am so pleased that I managed to see Blowzabella in October last year at Cecil Sharp House after a long interval between concerts. Not only was he a fine violinist but also a fine teacher of dance and dance tunes and a composer of many, and an important part of the European Balfolk movement. I would therefore like to register my thanks and appreciation for all the fine music I have enjoyed for over half my lifetime thanks to Dave and Blowzabella as well as offer sincere condolences to his family, friends and musical colleagues.

Looking ahead to what’s going on over the next few days the first thing to say is that the Ceilidh planned as a fundraiser for Ely Folk Festival this coming Saturday 28^th March has now been cancelled, which is why the poster for the event has disappeared from the Featured Events section on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website.

Tonight, Thursday 26^th, I’m looking forward to seeing Owl Light for the first time at Royston Live but if that is too soon for you there are plenty of other gigs in the next week or two which can be found in the Unicorn Diary covering March to May in the Listings on the main Unicorn Folk website. Amongst those is the Fairport Convention concert at the Union Chapel in London this coming Saturday 28^th and if you need persuading you can find a review of their recent concert at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds HERE or amongst the other concert reviews under the ‘Music’ tab on the main Unicorn Folk website where you can also find the ‘Gigs & Tours’Listing which includes details of the rest of their Spring Tour amongst those for many other folk artists. Be quick if you want to see Fairportas many of the dates are selling out fast!

Also on Saturday 28^th the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust are hosting one of their informative and instructional events at the Copeman Centre in Briston, this time involving a celebration of Norfolk traditional music, song and dance. A link to that event can either be found in the Unicorn Diary or in the Featured Eventson on the front page of the main Unicorn Folk website.

The Stables, Milton Keynes hosts the Phil Beer Trio tomorrow evening, Friday 27^th and looking further ahead, I can thoroughly recommend the Gigspanner Big Band at the same venue on Thursday 9^th April – see last year’s concert review on Unicorn Folk.

Dunton Folk in the person of Simon Bailes are holding a series of Sea Shanty Workshops over the coming months and the next one is at Letchworth Settlement on 2^nd April. Simon has been a friend to the Unicorn Magazine in the past and you can find details of all the workshops here on the Dunton Folk website with a link in the Unicorn Diary. Later, on Tuesday 7^th April there is an interesting FREE concert at The Harrison in London staged by The Woolverstones and you can listen to their music first on Bandcamp before booking tickets HERE.

Filby’s Folk Show 115 came out on March 12^th and is worth a listen especially if you are interested in new folk music as it contains lots of new stuff from both new and established artists. There is plenty more to come in the same vein so do keep an eye out for Show 116 which should be out within the next week. In the meantime I hope you have a folking good weekend!