Bands 2025

Warleggan Village Band

The Warleggan Village Band was first convened in 2014 to play for the dance sequences in BBC TV’s Poldark. They play English country-dance music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
RICHARD HEACOCK (violin, viola, cello): Richard produced Boldwood’s first CD Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now and The Warleggan Village Band’s Haste to the Dance. Besides work on Poldark, he plays French and Breton dance music with The Andro Sisters and with Paul Hutchinson. He also composed music for Tony Robinson’s The Worst Jobs in History (Channel 4) and the children’s theatre production The Snail and the Whale (Tall Stories) and has recorded strings for The Hollies and The Ting Tings.
MATTHEW COATSWORTH (violin, viola, English concertina): For a decade Matthew played in Boldwood, researching and producing three acclaimed Dancing Master books, as well as appearing on a number of recordings. In addition to his work with BBC’s Poldark and further Warleggan Village Band dance events, he has a duo with harpist Steph West and plays viola in Oxford Sinfonia.
CHRIS GREEN (fretted strings and keys): Born into a musical family in Coventry, Chris began playing guitar at the age of eight and piano from the age of nine, and plays most things with fretted strings or keys. Largely self-taught, he’s worked in a variety of musical genres including folk, theatre and early music and is a regular musician at Shakespeare’s Globe. He composes and records in a solo capacity in addition to touring as one half of GreenMatthews with his partner Sophie Matthews.

WillPower

WillPower is the exciting combination of Wills Allen and Chamberlain. Both members of Club Débris and the Brown Boots Boogie Band, here they get to be a two-man-multi-tradition-groove-machine!

Larry Unger and Elke Baker

A full-time musician since 1984, Larry Unger has travelled the world playing for traditional dances, at festivals and in concert. He is proficient at many instruments, and teaches guitar and banjo. He also gives workshops in tune composition, having written over 5000 melodies himself.
Larry has presented a diverse range of music at contra dances, Scottish and English country dances, waltz events, dance weekends, dance and music camps, festivals, coffee houses and concerts all across the United States. He has also toured in Canada, England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden, and has taught music in Afghanistan and performed in India.
Larry teaches guitar and old-time banjo at the Music Emporium in Lexington, Massachusetts. His tunes are widely played at contra dances everywhere. He has published three books of original tunes and has recorded two entire CDs of original waltzes (with Ginny Snowe). His compositions and recordings have been featured in four different Ken Burns television documentaries.

Elke Baker, 1995 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, combines lyrical melodies with driving dance rhythms in her energetic fiddling. Elke plays Scottish, Celtic, and American fiddle music for concerts, festivals, dances, and parties across America and abroad in places as far-flung as Japan, West Africa, and Scotland, as well at The Birchmere (with Ken Kolodner) and the Kennedy Center in her hometown of Washington, D.C. Elke is a faculty member at the Washington Conservatory of Music, where she teaches history and performance of Celtic music. She brings a scholar's depth of knowledge and an extremely engaging manner to her performances, as well as an intimate knowledge of just what makes people want to dance. Elke’s new CD, Caledonian Muse (with her Scottish band Terpsichore) features favourite dances married to beautifully crafted medleys to create a feast for the ears as well as the feet. Elke has released two concert recordings to an enthusiastic reception.

3D – Chris, Julie and Nick Dewhurst

Chris, Julie and Nick have always enjoyed playing for a variety of dance styles, many of which are on offer at Lichfield Folk Festival once again. 3D’s trademarks include their infectious enthusiasm, drive and ‘lift’ , and they always strive to fit the music to the dance perfectly, often adding a little spontaneous creativity to their musical arrangements in response to the dancers. Expect to hear a little more of Nick’s guitar this year, especially in the workshops, as well as the band’s usual combination of accordions, percussion and brass. They look forward to meeting friends old and new throughout the weekend.

Jovial Crew

Brian (Accordion) and Mike (Mandolin and Octave Mandolin) have both played with several
Midlands country dance bands, performing at festivals and dance holidays in the UK and
abroad; for dance clubs in the Midlands and further afield; and for country dance display
teams.