TheBowerHouse

Welcome to the Bowerhouse

2019

The Bowerhouse is an independently run art and performance space in Maidstone, Kent. We have regular concerts, folk club and life drawing, community choir and art exhibitions

Community Choir starts on the 9th of January and runs every Wednesday in term time, 7,30-9pm. All abilities welcome!

Leveret

9th MARCH | at the BOWERHOUSE | DOORS 7.30pm | £14 | Tickets

‘Leveret is a unique collaboration between three of England's finest folk musicians. Andy Cutting, Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron are each regarded as exceptional performers and masters of their instruments. Together their performances combine consummate musicianship, compelling delivery and captivating spontaneity. Leveret’s music is not arranged in the conventional sense and instead they rely on mutual trust, listening and responding. Their playing is relaxed and natural, drawing audiences in and inviting them to share in music making that is truly spontaneous and yet deeply timeless.

Fiddler Sam Sweeney was the 2015 BBC Folk Awards Musician of the Year, directs the National Youth Folk Ensemble and is known for his work in Bellowhead, Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band, The Full English and his own Made In The Great War project. Melodeon genius Andy Cutting, a three-time BBC Folk Awards Best Musician, is a compelling solo performer and currently works with Blowzabella, Topette, June Tabor, and Roger Daltry. Concertina wizard Rob Harbron leads the English Acoustic Collective summer school and is known for his work with The Full English (Best Group and Best Album BBC Folk Awards 2014), Emma Reid, Fay Hield, Jon Boden and others.
Leveret's music is firmly rooted in the English tradition but sounds fresh and new. With their albums New Anything and In The Round and over a long string of sell-out gigs, the trio have built a strong reputation as consummate musicians and captivating performers. Now they return with Inventions, a new album of original material that brings Leveret’s trademark groove, energy and intuitive playing to bear on a set of new tunes composed by the trio, three of today's finest tunesmiths in the folk field.

“Classy players … their intuitive way with tunes is glorious”— Mojo

“Leveret are a different proposition and a refreshing one at that - a band who really are doing what they want to do.”— Louder Than War

“Music of a rich, sinewy immersion, guided by a mutual sense of exploration, space and a very English kind of swing. It’s an intimate, contemporary reinvention of the source material”— The Guardian

“You won't find English folk music played better than this.”— R2

“In The Round rewards attentive listening. Leveret discover intricacies of theme, rhythm and line and it is akin to hearing classical chamber music... this is an alluring album, one to return to again and again. ”— Julian May, Songlines

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M G Boulter | Lucy Farrell

Topette!

27th April | at the BOWERHOUSE | DOORS 7.30pm | £14 | Tickets

Anglo-French acoustic five-piece, Topette!! return to the UK for a spring tour in April / May 2019. This band is a must see, for anyone interested in traditional European dance music, for folk fans, French dancers and discerning listeners alike. The band’s debut album, C’est le Pompon… was well received across the continent, and they have continued to thrill audiences, with their unique, energetic take on instrumental folk tunes. This tour will see the band firing on all cylinders, as they prepare to make their second album, Rhododendron, to be released later this year. Featuring the peerless diatonic button accordion maestro, (and multiple BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards winner), Andy Cutting, alongside the “enfant terrible” French bagpiper and banjo plucker, Julien Cartonnet, with James Delarre on violin, Tania Buisse on Bodhrán and Barnaby Stradling on acoustic bass guitar, these guys and gal are literally having a bal!

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