BEYOND THE MOOR
FESTIVAL 2023
Artwork by Seth Tinsley
Saturday 14 October 2023. 1.30pm doors.
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Early Bird ticket £30.44 available until 31 August 2023​
Full price ticket £37.90 available from 1 September 2023
Students/u18s £21.91.
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Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
Personal portable/travel furniture or seating, except wheelchairs or mobility aids, is not permitted in the venue.
Seated and standing options available. Seated tickets are limited to maximise the safe capacity of the venue, so please only book if you need one.
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All prices inclusive of Eventbrite fees and charges.
Beyond the Moor Festival, Newcastle’s folk and roots music festival returns for it's second year! The day-long event takes place at Gosforth Civic Theatre on 14 October 2023 and will showcase the best in local and national artists playing contemporary, alternative and traditional folk and roots music.
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Line up
Lauren Housley & The Northern Cowboys
Siobhan Miller Trio
Benji Kirkpatrick
Jordan Aikin & Quercus
Dan Walsh
Frankie Archer
Teatime Tunes Fiddle Band
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Folklub Highlights Stage​
Shona Newey and David Newey
Amy Leach and Alasdair Paul
Stage Times:
1.30pm – Doors open
2pm – Theatre stage - Teatime Tunes Fiddle Band
2.50pm – Theatre stage - Frankie Archer
3.50pm – Theatre stage - Dan Walsh
4.35pm – Folklub highlights stage - Amy Leach and Alasdair Paul
5.10pm – Theatre stage - Jordan Aikin & Quercus
5.55pm – Folklub highlights stage - Shona Newey and David Newey
6.30pm – Theatre stage - Benji Kirkpatrick
8pm – Theatre stage - Siobhan Miller Trio
9.45pm – Theatre stage - Lauren Housley & The Northern Cowboys
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Why?
Newcastle and the North East’s folk scene is strong and vibrant and Beyond the Moor seeks to harness this by pairing it with genuine world class touring bands. Gosforth Civic Theatre’s folk club gigs have seen an increase in popularity and there’s a tangible thirst for more platforms for contemporary folk and roots music in the region.
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Kari Macleod and Bernard Wright, who co-produce Beyond the Moor, said: “We were conscious that there’s a highly regarded folk and traditional music degree in Newcastle but there is currently no festival of this kind happening in the city right now. We wanted to create an opportunity for people to see some of the best and most exciting artists, both regionally and nationally, under one roof as a celebration all forms of traditional and roots music; with the hope to inspire the next generation of musicians and audiences.”
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Lauren Housley & The Northern Cowboys
“A wonderful emerging Americana act, I really love her music” Bob Harris
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Lauren Housley is a singer and songwriter hailing from Yorkshire, UK. Her love of music started early, with a deep connection to great songs, the craft of storytelling and emotive vocal performance. “It was like magic to me, that music could have such an impact on the way I felt. It became my therapy.”
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“Being a deeply empathetic person led me to channel my emotions into poems and songs, with a hope that they would bring some comfort, joy and understanding to people.” Lauren independently released her debut album Sweet Surrender in 2015, quickly garnering acclaim from fans and fellow musicians. The album’s first single, ‘Ghost Town Blues’ hit the BBC Radio 2 playlist, whilst album track, The Waiting Game, became Robert Elms’ favourite track of the year on his BBC Radio London Show. The album picked up steam from there when several album tracks received regular play across various BBC Radio stations, which led to Lauren being contacted by Live Nation.
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Lauren was invited to perform at the 02 Arena in London as part of Bluesfest, alongside some of the artists that have inspired her, including Van Morrison & Tedeschi Trucks Band. As well as opening stages for Vintage Trouble, Jack Savoretti and Van Morrison, Lauren has performed with some of her favourite, inspiring female contemporaries including Yola and Klara Soderberg (First Aid Kit).
Siobhan Miller
★★★★★ - The Scotsman
‘One of the best Scottish traditional singers on the planet’ - fRoots
‘assured and precise… Siobhan Miller’s vocals are bright and unforced.’ - The Guardian
‘a writing talent that’s as impressive as her velvet voice’ - The Herald
A richly celebrated Scottish folk singer and songwriter, Siobhan Miller’s soulful and stirring renewal of traditional song has won her the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Track, and the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards’ Scots Singer of the Year an unprecedented four times, whilst all five of her solo releases – including 2022’s acclaimed Bloom – have been shortlisted for BBC Alba STMA Album of the Year.
After two years without the fun, energy and community of festivals and sessions, Siobhan set about recapturing that life-affirming feeling within an album. An out and out, freewheeling celebration of much-loved Scottish songs, Bloom well and truly shakes off the shackles and burst out of darker times like a flower in the desert. Joyous and cathartic, it adds to the wide-ranging accolades and radio-play enjoyed throughout Siobhan’s solo career, balancing a love of traditional song with modern, at times almost pop, influences – much to the delight of live audiences.
Benji Kirkpatrick
‘Multi instrumental virtuoso’ - BBC Radio 6 Music
‘Multiple talents as a master musician of all things stringed (bouzouki, mandolin and tenor banjo) and pure, heartfelt vocals.’ – Folk Radio
Benji Kirkpatrick is a singer, songwriter and musician and has performed solo for 25 years, and releasing 4 solo albums to date, In Phase will be his 5th. He regularly collaborates and tours with Seth Lakeman, was one-third of acclaimed folk band Faustus and is well-known as the rhythmic driver of multiple award-winning big band, Bellowhead.
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Benji’s forthcoming album, entitled ‘In Phase’ explores truth and the human psyche, and will be released in the early Autumn. Guesting on the album are Benji's Excess bandmates, Pete Thomas and newly recruited drummer Joelle Barker as well as Alex Hart, with whom Benji works in the Seth Lakeman Band. Recorded with producer Pete Brown who also features on slide guitar and pedal steel.
Jordan Aikin & Quercus
'It is compelling to experience music written with such honesty and so refreshingly easy to accept that these pieces of music are truly representative of the person behind them.' - Calum MacCrimmon (Breabach)
Jordan Aikin and Quercus are an exciting contemporary folk quintet based in Newcastle Upon Tyne. They have moved away from the acoustic realm towards electric guitars, bass and drum kit with a fiery frontline of bagpipes, accordion and whistle, bringing Aikin's distinct compositional style to the forefront of contemporary folk music. They seek to position the traditional music they grew up playing within their broader musical experiences, creating kaleidoscopic arrangements that run the gamut of influences, and redefine the folk music experience.
The band unites the talents of Jordan Aikin (Bagpipes, Whistle and Composer), Heather Ferrier (Accordion), Alasdair Paul (Guitar), Bevan Morris (Bass) and Adam Stapleford (Drums) to form a craic team of musicians. Together, they breathe life into Aikin's compositions inspired by his family and friends. The original material evokes stories of past times and is combined with a contemporary edge, full of fire and vitality.
Dan Walsh
“One of the most incredible musicians I’ve heard in years” Bruce McGregor, BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Folk Awards Best Musician nominee Dan Walsh combines ‘virtuoso playing and winning songwriting’ (MORNING STAR). Describing what Dan does is no easy task but at the heart of it is British, Irish and American folk music delivered with a healthy dose of funky grooves – all performed with his unique and dazzling take on clawhammer style banjo helping to challenge all preconceptions about the instrument. Add to all that poignant songs, astonishing musical departures and lively humour and the result is a truly memorable live show which has wowed audiences across the world from intimate seated rooms to huge dancing crowds in festival fields.
Walsh has recorded five albums to much critical acclaim and he is an in demand performer with a hectic touring schedule in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and throughout Europe. He has also released two banjo tablature books including the brand new book of clawhammer arrangements of Irish folk tunes. He is also an in demand session musician and has performed on stage or on record with the likes of Joss Stone, Ward Thomas, Imelda May, the Levellers and Seth Lakeman. Both solo and as a member of the award winning Urban Folk Quartet, this unique and eclectic musician has stunned audiences across the world.
Frankie
Archer
"A fascinating and intoxicating blend of the contemporary and the traditional"
Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
"Not many manage to sound so modern and traditional at once"
Adrian McNally, The Unthanks
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Frankie Archer composes and plays with heart and sensitive curiosity. She started out surrounded by Northumbrian folk music, and draws deeply on this in her own fiddle playing, singing and writing, described by Mark Radcliffe as "fascinating and intoxicating". Frankie has travelled, taught, learned and performed in many different places around the world, enriching her style and musical identity.
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Over the Border, Frankie's debut single, was accompanied by "a kind of awe", Jon Wilks of Tradfolk wrote. The song gained plays on local and national radio including the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Show and was selected by Fatea for their latest Showcase Session.
Tea Time Tunes
Fiddle Band
Tunes from Newcastle University Folk Degree Students.
Folklub Newcastle Highlights Stage
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We're delighted that Folklub Newcastle will be 'popping up' at Beyond the Moor Festival to present two phenomenal acts they want to bring to your attention, to highlight especially for you.
Folklub Newcastle is an artist led platform for the very best folk musicians to play. Hosting the best quality intimate live music experience with a community feel is at the forefront of what they do.
Their aim is to bring you the best National and International acts alongside the cream of the crop of regional up and coming talent. Great songs, great tunes, gender balanced programming, great craic.
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#Folklubnewcastle #APlaceForFolk
Amy Leach &
Alasdair Paul
At the heart of Amy Leach and Alasdair Paul's music is their shared love of traditional songs, particularly ballads, and a shared desire to present them simply and allow them to speak for themselves. After several years of sporadic collaboration, including as members of The Flyting with Sean O'Kane and Shona Mooney, the Scottish duo are now set to share their approach far and wide.
The arrangements presented by the duo are minimalist and deceptively simple, allowing the song and lyrics to dictate the pace of the music and showcasing the instinctive connection between singer and accompanist.
Shona Newey &
David Newey
Shona is a highly acclaimed accordionist from the North East. With a mother and father hailing from County Kerry and County Durham respectively, her repertoire combines traditional Irish tunes and songs along with her own self-composed material. In 2003 shona was awarded the BBC Fame Academy Bursary. She toured extensively as part of a duo Damien O’Kane with whom she was nominated for the Horizon award at the BBC Folk Awards. Her self-penned tunes have been recorded by bands such as Talisk and The Shee, and have found their way into the session repertoire of musicians across the UK. She is highly in demand as a session musician having performed with the Levellers, Jimmy Nail, and Tom McConville, amongst others.
David is a singer, songwriter and guitarist that Tom Robinson called ‘austere and original’. A trade unionist and campaigner, David is a unique songwriter whose songs blur the personal and political, creating love and hope from dark spaces – songs of 21st century protest. He has a deft, original style on the guitar – at times traditional, at others classical or country influenced. He has released three albums, toured across Europe and the USA and played with a myriad of artists as an accompanist. Maverick magazine described his latest album ‘Unfold’ as ‘An amazing songwriter matched with extraordinary guitar’.
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VISITING US
​YOUR JOURNEY & PARKING
Gosforth Civic Theatre is right next to (literally 2 minutes walk from) Regent Centre Metro Station and Bus Interchange, which means we're on a host of major transport links including Tyne & Wear Metro, Arriva, Stagecoach and Go North East bus services and via car from Great North Road. Please visit our YOUR VISIT section of our website to find directions and the best way to arrive at GCT.
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We have a small, free car park but this will be very busy and part reserved for artists and staff, so it's best to avoid planning on parking directly at the venue. Please keep this in mind if you're driving over; we detail alternative parking on our YOUR VISIT page so check it out!
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​ACCESSIBILITY
We are a fully accessible venue; all entrances are wheelchair accessible and automatic, there is an accessible toilet on the premises and each area of the building is on one level. Please let us know if you have any questions about access and find out how we can assist.
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Carer’s go free, limited to one carer’s ticket per booking – order directly from the venue.
Ticket buyers can inform Gosforth Civic Theatre of any access requirements in the checkout for tickets or by emailing info@gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk.
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