Events

Folk Club: Sugarwell Hill String Band

Sugarwell Hill String Band play Old Time American and English songs and tunes on guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin.

The trio of Simon Robinson, Michael Russell and Evan Davies could not come from more diverse musical backgrounds.

Simon was at Huddersfield University singing and playing Irish folk songs learned from his parents’ record collection when a renegade music lecturer introduced him to Old Time American banjo tunes. After a tour of America with sixties guitar icon Duane Eddy, he returned to Leeds having met up with fiddle player Michael Russell.

Originally from Lancashire, Michael Russell was first violin in the Colne Consort, playing medieval & baroque dance music. American radio stations featuring Old Time music got him hooked on this old mountain music which enhanced his understanding of his baroque playing.

Meanwhile Evan, also living in Leeds, was playing bass guitar in punk band Spit & Sawdust. John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin's bass player and an accomplished mandolin player, inspired Evan to take up the mandolin too, learning several tunes from him.

From these diverse beginnings the three converts to string band music and song now host regular Sunday sessions in Leeds and post recordings on YouTube and Facebook. More recently they have included many traditional English folk songs and ballads played with skill, energy and enjoyment. Highly recommended.

Hollins Mill, Hollins Mill Lane,
Sowerby Bridge HX62QG

7 – 10pm

Admission: £9 (cash only)