Always wonderful evenings. The Magpies make a very welcome return to our atmospheric basement. Bella & Holly will be joined by Cathy Ife.

Bella Gaffney & Holly Brandon

Two accomplished musicians in their own right, guitarist, banjo player and singer Bella Gaffney and fiddle player Holly Brandon have come together for an exciting new duo project.

Celtic Connections' Danny Kyle Award winner Bella Gaffney hails from Bradford. She writes folk inspired songs which she performs along with her own original arrangements of traditional pieces. She has played many folk and music festivals over the last few years, including Celtic

Connections, HebCelt, and the Gate to Southwell, to name just a few. And in 2018 she was one of the first recipients of a Friends of Towersey Festival Award for music developmental support and opportunities. 2022 will see the release of Bella’s new album, inspired by connections made over the lockdown period.

Acclaimed fiddle-player Holly Brandon is an ‘ingenious tunesmith’ (Living Tradition), with roots in traditional English music, but with influences from Eastern Europe to Quebec, she creates a distinctly borderless and progressive sound. Alongside her brother, multi-instrumentalist George Brandon, she forms half of progressive folk duo, Painted Sky.

Bella and Holly both perform with sought-after transatlantic folk band The Magpies. The Magpies have been performing to rapt audiences at sold out shows and festivals around the UK, including Glastonbury, Cambridge, Larmer Tree and Shambala and have been described as ‘making waves wherever they play’ (Phil Beer, Show of Hands). 2019 saw the group’s first international performances, with a tour in Ireland, performances at Costa Del Folk in Portugal and showcases at Folk Alliance International in Montreal. The Magpies released their debut album, Tidings, in June 2020 to critical acclaim: ‘effervescent’ (The Sunday Times), ‘very accomplished’ (The Daily Express) ‘folk with finesse’ (The Daily Mail).

This summer sees the duo come together for the first time to perform at festivals around the UK.

Based on a deep musical friendship, Bella and Holly collaborate and arrange material led bystrong harmonies and glittering instrumentals, drawing on a wide-range of influences to create a contemporary transatlantic sound

Description supplied by the event organiser.