Show of Hands

THE first acts for this summer’s Folk by the Oak music festival in Hatfield have been confirmed.

Folk by the Oak - crowd and stage

Show of Hands will headline the event held in the grounds of Hatfield House on Sunday, July 22 – the day after the annual Battle Proms classical concert.

Having played an early evening set below Mercury Music Prize nominee Seth Lakeman last year, the acclaimed folk act will return to the leafy surrounds of the Queen Elizabeth Oak Field at Hatfield Park to top the 2012 bill.

Others confirmed for FBTO so far are Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo, Cara Dillon, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Breabach and Chris Wood.

After a busy 2010 touring major concert venues, churches and cathedrals, Show of Hands return to Folk by the Oak in July to show just why they have been showered with accolades.

Folk by the Oak stage

Singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer won both the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ best duo title and best original song – the latter for the topical title track off their acclaimed recent studio album Arrogance Ignorance and Greed.

Accompanied by striking double bass player/vocalist Miranda Sykes, England’s finest acoustic roots act will showcase tracks from AIG and delve into their rich back catalogue of original material.

Having sold out the Albert Hall three times, the band have built a huge following for their music which crosses from folk roots into blues, rock, country, trad and world.

It is played out on an array of instruments from slide guitar to fiddle, mandolin to South American cuatro.

Like Show of Hands, Hatfield House welcomes back Irish singer Cara Dillon.

She performed at the very first Folk by the Oak in 2008 and won the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award album of the year for Hill of Thieves.

Another award-winning folk artist confirmed for Hatfield is musician and composer Chris Wood.

The current BBC Folk Awards singer of the year skilfully combines the political with the personal, winning accolades for his song Hollow Point, a track about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in London in 2005.

One of the most established and respected duos on the folk scene, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan are winners of the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for best duo.

As well as Hatfield House in the summer, they will be performing at Hitchin Folk Club, at The Sun Hotel, on Sunday, February 19.

The dynamic, fun and talented Breabach – Calum MacCrimmon, Megan Henderson, Ewan Robertson, James Duncan Mackenzie and James Lindsay – are one of the most successful Scottish folk bands of recent times.

Melding the different aspects of Celtic folk, the band received nominations for best group at both the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and the Scots Trad Music Awards.

The captivating Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo were the first act to be confirmed for Folk by the Oak late last year.

The name might not be familiar to non folk fans, but viewers of Wallander will recognise their music, as track Nostalgia from the album Despite The Snow is also the theme song for the TV series.

For more information visit www.folkbytheoak.com