TheBowerHouse

Welcome to the Bowerhouse

2018

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

Coming up...

Tim Dalling and Rhona Dalling
Support from Lucy Farrell

16th MAR 18 | at the BOWERHOUSE | DOORS 7.30pm | £7/£5

'often funny, occasionally heart-breakingly beautiful but always genuine and deeply affecting'

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We are thrilled to have a last minute addition to our spring program 'Life-affirming, moving and impossible to resist, Dalling is a world class songwriter and performer.' Tim Dalling, who you may know from New Rope String Band, is joined by his daughter Rhona '...Unassuming old-time simplicity underpins some deeply poignant wordsmithery... devastatingly effective"
With Support from Lucy Farrell.

"Tim Dalling is that most remarkable of humans, a person prepared to bare his soul to a room full of strangers. That soul is often funny, occasionally heart-breakingly beautiful but always genuine and deeply affecting. His performance at Lau-Land stands out, in a weekend of incredible gigs as one of the best shows I've seen anywhere ever. Life-affirming, moving and impossible to resist, Dalling is a world class songwriter and performer. Carrying the baton from Michael Marra and Ivor Cutler on one side and all the pinpoint emotional control of Paul Simon or John Martin on the other, he is not to be missed. Tim is actually the best, and I've done my research."
Martin Green, Lau

Topette!

22nd APR 17 | at the BOWERHOUSE | DOORS 7.30pm | £10

Driven by the rhythmic boiler-room of Stradling’s gnarly bass, Buisse’s intuitive bodhrán playing and Cutting’s warm bottom end, the melodies burst out of the seams of this bedrock. With great big anthemic walls of sound, the vibe is ‘Party!’: Cartonnet’s glowing French piping and visceral tenor banjo, Delarre’s bright, bushy-tailed fiddle lines and Cutting’s dynamic accordion style. They are, quite literally, having a bal!

C'est le Pompon... is the first full-length album from the Anglo-French acoustic dance band Topette!! A collective of uninhibited musical adventurers playing self-penned and traditional music from anywhere, with a winning mix of bonhomie and grit.
Self-released through Bandcamp, and available now on CD or as high-quality downloads, featuring top-class playing from...
Andy Cutting (diatonic button accordion)
James Delarre (violin)
Julien Cartonnet (bagpipes, banjo)
Tania Buisse (bodhrán)
Barnaby Stradling (acoustic bass guitar)

Born out of friendship, the five-piece play naturally social music – for filling dancefloors, for listening, for drinking with friends – but don’t expect it to merge into the background. This is raunchy, up-all-night, joyously jugular-grabbing dance music.

Driven by the rhythmic boiler-room of Stradling’s gnarly bass, Buisse’s intuitive bodhrán playing and Cutting’s warm bottom end, the melodies burst out of the seams of this bedrock. With great big anthemic walls of sound, the vibe is ‘Party!’: Cartonnet’s glowing French piping and visceral tenor banjo, Delarre’s bright, bushy-tailed fiddle lines and Cutting’s dynamic accordion style. They are, quite literally, having a bal!

Join in the party! Topette!!

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Sheesham Lotus and son

1st MAY 18 | at the BOWERHOUSE | DOORS 7.30pm | £12

“The auditorium was packed, and there was so much applause at the end of the first set, it was like the crowd wanted an encore at the intermission – amazing!”
– Rudie Humphrey, AmericanaUK

“A delicious brew and all in all a lovely, inspiring and slightly manic treat” –fRoots
“Catch them if you can” – Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6
“The first Americana band in a long time that’s really made me sit up and pay attention”– Mary Ann Kennedy, BBC Radio 3
“A dynamism and energy that injects veteran tunes like KC Moan and Mississippi River Blues with a fresh vitality. The more subtle tunes – Chinquipin and Up The Wooden Hills – are even better” - Songlines “Lovely sepia-tinted music – I absolutely love it!” – Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2
“Incredibly authentic – hugely entertaining!” – American Roots UK
“Riotous fun – if you’re a festival agent book them!”- Americana UK
“It’s brilliant – I just love this!” – Genevieve Tudor, BBC Radio Shropshire
“Riotous dusty string-band epics” – Acoustic magazine

Famously referred to as “Mississippi Sheiks meet Doctor Seuss as curated by HG Wells” Sheesham and Lotus & Son have created a sonic and visual presentation of old time high stepping music which is completely unique. Fiddle, Banjo and Sousaphone make up the core of this outfit, complimented by Contrabass-Harmoniphonium, Harmonicas, and Jaw Harps, Bones and BuckDance, with great sibling harmonies.
The show has its roots in the Vaudeville and Juke Joints of the American South, where Mississippi Riverfolk meet the Appalachian Highlanders; the blues meet he fiddle tunes with a rollicking and full flamed conviviality one might consider outrageous!
Sheesham and Lotus & ‘Son have established themselves as an act that has it all, combining astounding musicianship and fearless grooves with a show that is dynamic and entertaining.
At the invitation of Lorna Fulton and the Lathe Revival Project, Sheesham and Lotus and ‘Son arrived in Skegness on the 29th of June 2015. They spent the next seven days recording songs and tunes on a 1937 Presto 78 rpm recording lathe disccutter, the same machine used by the Lomax family. Each session was followed by a performance in a different town in rural Lincolnshire. The rigorous itinerary kept the band at peak performance ensuring the grooves were cut well and deep. This encounter has culminated in their latest CD release, 78rpm!

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The Rheingans Sisters

10st MAY 18 | at the BOWERHOUSE | DOORS 7.30pm | £10

Winners of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Track, The Rheingans Sisters make playful, powerful and richly connecting music that is wholly contemporary while deeply anchored in folk traditions. Drawing on their pan-European musical scholarship (having studied extensively in France, Sweden and Norway) and their spirited mission to make connections between the music of different geographical roots, they have developed a rich artistic approach to the deconstruction and reimagining of traditional music alongside their own beguiling compositions.

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Since the release of their award-winning album Already Home (2015) audiences across the UK, Europe and Australia have been captivated by their live performances; as full-hearted performers and on-stage improvisors - via the adventurous use of fiddles, voices, banjo, bansitar, tambourin à cordes, poetry and percussion - The Rheingans Sisters are a unique and unmissable act on the folk and world music stage today. Their hotly anticipated third album 'Bright Field' is released in March 2018.

"Superb" - The Independent

“Magnificent… music you wish to return to again and again” ★★★★★ - Songlines

“The Rheingans Sisters enchanted one and all with their reverie on stage” - The Canberra Times

“Quite simply extraordinary”- fRoots