A rare chance to catch Seventies experimental folk artists back where it all began 

The 2012 Bristol Folk Festival will conjure up “ghosts” from the city’s Seventies cult music scene when it returns next May Bank Holiday.
Pioneering artists who recorded on Bristol’s collectable independent alt-folk label, Village Thing Records, will reunite for a rare concert at Colston Hall on Sunday, May 6 -along with younger artists who have drawn inspiration from the Village Thing era.

Described by The Guardian as “the mavericks from the first British folk movement” the collective comprises Wizz Jones, Tucker Zimmerman, Ben Mandelson and Ian A. Anderson - exponents of what would later be called “psych-folk”- along with Nancy Wallace, Jason Steel and Pamela Wyn-Shannon.

Singer-guitarist Ian Anderson (now editor of Bristol-based fRoots Magazine) says: “In the early Seventies the contemporary folk scene in Bristol was the liveliest and most creative outside London.”

The “scene” centred on the Bristol Troubadour Club in the student quarter of Clifton.Anderson (billing himself as Ian A. Anderson to avoid confusion with the rock artist of the same name!) founded Village Thing Records with the Troubadour’s manager John Turner and Gef Lucena of local indy label Saydisc.

Working out of offices in Park Lane, Village Thing Records released more than 20 albums and several singles between 1970-74 including their biggest seller, Fred Wedlock’s “The Folker” which shifted 20,000 copies.

The label prospered with its unique mix of established names and newcomers, UK singer songwriters and visiting Americans. Difficulties with their distributor eventually saw the doors close on Village Thing Records in 1974.

In 2010 the label organised a 40th year celebration with a performance at London’s Cecil Sharp House and released the “Ghosts from the Basement” CD featuring what it called “lost songs, dreams and folkadelia from the vaults of the Village Thing” featuring many previously unheard recordings. *For a taste of the talent-packed show coming to Bristol watch the video HERE

Anderson, who together with Ben Mandelson performs as The False Beards, says: “Over the years, Village Thing’s releases have gained an increasing cult status amongst collectors of contemporary folk – and have been changing hands at high prices. Now the Bristol Folk Festival offers a rare chance to catch these experimental folk scene artists back where it all began.”

Confirming its place on the UK festival calendar, the festival will be buzzing in Bristol over the early May Bank Holiday (May 5-7)-a guaranteed “rain free” event as it returns to one of the city’s flagship venues, the Colston Hall. Says patron Seth Lakeman: 
“After last year’s hugely successful return to the UK’s live music calendar, I am delighted to be patron once again for Bristol Folk Festival 2012. With an eclectic line-up of multi-award winning, and up-and-coming folk and acoustic acts there is something for everyone.” 

Headliners will be the West Country’s Albert Hall-bound Show of Hands (May 5), Irish songstress Cara Dillon (left) on May 6 and the awesome Afro Celt Sound System on Bank Holiday Monday (May 7). Also confirmed are acts including Scotland’s fiery fiddler Rua Macmillan, Cornwall’s 3 Daft Monkeys, Hartlepool’s The Young ‘Uns, Miranda Sykes and Rex Preston, Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin, and 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominees Lady Maisery and Will Pound of the blistering banjo/harmonica duo Walsh and Pound.

Top value 3-day holiday weekend tickets are now available price £80 (concessions £70) whilst family tickets are £250 (2 adults and two children aged 5-15).Under 5s go free. Tickets HERE

As well as up to 40 top acts, the festival will feature Morris dancers, mummers and maypoles, ceilidhs, workshops, singalong sessions, a market and “posh loos”!