“Vin cuts through the bull, grasping those he meets firmly by the hand and shaking them up with a dose of laughter and tears. It’s a true gift to be able to make us laugh and squirm at the same time, but Vin does both. He should be prescribed on the National Health.” English Folk Dance & Song Society.

“Every budding singer-songwriter please take note: attending a Vin Garbutt concert is now mandatory before your first public performance. Garbutt is the undisputed master of communicating with an audience.” Penguin Eggs magazine. Canada

From rhythmic foot stomping tunes to powerful interpretations of songs and ballads, their playing always guarantees to engage and inspire those who hear.

They've spent the last few years playing at venues across the country, from top festivals and folk clubs to London's National Theatre and National Portrait Gallery.

Brian is a great all-rounder, on the one hand a highly-respected singer, and on the other a multi-instrumentalist acknowledged as one of England’s leading exponents of the anglo concertina and melodeon (button accordion) and a skilled guitarist as well. Described as “one of British folk music’s finest ambassadors”, Having honed his performing skills in the folk clubs of England, he’s taken his music to stages all over the world, touring regularly in America, Europe and Australia, but always retaining a deep commitment to the musical traditions of his native country.

Brian believes strongly in the power and relevance of the old songs, specializing particularly in the great ballads of the British Isles, rivetting stories in music: “Brian Peters plunges deep into the ancient songs, finds their power, mystery, evil, drollery and courage, and brings them to us fresh”, declared one American writer. His live presentation, Songs of Trial & Triumph, focusing on ballads from the Child collection, has won much acclaim. He has a particular skill in crafting song accompaniments on each of his instruments, giving a wide range of musical textures, and he’s not a traditional diehard, being happy to include modern songs of struggle or comedy.

On the instrumental side, Brian is a skilled player and researcher of old Northern English dance music, unearthing tunes from centuries-old manuscripts, at the same time composing many new tunes in traditional style, published in his book Rattle and Roll. He’s also known for daring forays into ragtime, blues and rock’n’roll on his squeezeboxes, making for a repertoire of sometimes startling variety. Brian presents his material with energy, informality and dry humour.

Brian is very experienced as a teacher and workshop leader, having tutored classes at North American summer schools and English folk festivals on ballads and singing style, and led workshop groups on concertina, melodeon and guitar at countless tutorial sessions. He’s taught at the ‘Hands-on Music’ concertina and melodeon weekends at Witney more often than any other tutor.

Brian has made many recordings, from the concertina-centred Anglophilia to the ballad-themed Songs of Trial and Triumph, all of which have received a warm reception from reviewers. He’s also the accordion player heard regularly on the TV cartoon Spongebob Squarepants!

Jeff Davis is one of those musicians who makes everything look easy. He plays superb old-time fiddle, is a master of clawhammer banjo and just as good on guitar, mandolin or mandocello, without ever striving too hard for showy licks or empty virtuosity. His singing, based on long immersion in the styles of the old singers is truly timeless, conjuring vividly the world of the cowboy or the Civil War soldier. “When Jeff Davis sings the repertoire of the Appalachian Mountains,” said the Chronicle Herald of Nova Scotia, “he cuts through decades and across borders, sitting us right down in the dirt in front of a weather-beaten shack, at the feet of a hillbilly singer - he combines authenticity and art in a rare way.” Jeff has an unusual and refreshing repertoire that includes songs and music from New England and the American West, as well as the more common Southern mountain material. His performances range from Appalachian ballads to Long Island fiddle tunes, songs of the civil war to African-American-style banjo-picking.

Jeff Davis worked for many years with Jeff Warner in a partnership described by the American magazine Dirty Linen in a review of their album Wilder Joy as “one of the best old-time duos to be found in this whole country”. Since striking out as a soloist, Davis has been busy with educational projects, while still finding time for regular tours of the UK. His solo CD, Some Fabulous Yonder, released in 2007, attracted very enthusiastic reviews.

Jeff has played major folk festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, including Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival in Nova Scotia (where he is virtually a fixture on the bill), and US events including Old Songs, NY, Summerfest, MA., Mystic Seaport, CT, and many others. In England he has appeared at The National Folk Festival, Towersey, Whitby, Fylde, Bromyard, Chippenham and Cleethorpes, and was special guest at the all-star “Songlinks” concert at Cecil Sharp House, London.

“One of the outstanding performers of the American folk revival.... Jeff has a lovely lived-in voice and he ranges widely through the many strands that make up the American tradition whilst providing exquisite accompaniments on banjo, mandocello, and guitar…. one of the finest old-time fiddle players”

Jim Bainbridge started playing the melodeon in 1964, after hearing the Irish in their London strongholds of Fulham, Holloway and Sutton, Surrey. The Rattlers played barn dances and folk clubs between Yorkshire and Fife, where he tuned in to the Scots tradition at Blairgowrie and Kinross (winning the melodeon competition at both), before becoming a judge. Festivals in Cambridge London and abroad followed, often in support of Bob Davenport. Bob introduced him to traditional southern musicians such as Scan Tester and Oscar Woods and singers like the Ling family of Suffolk and George Spicer from Sussex.

Members of the Rattlers went their separate ways in the early 70’s and after a short spell with the Trimdon Band from Durham, Jim drifted off the scene, preferring to play informally in the pubs of East Kent. At this stage Jim was a musician with a few songs, but moving to West Cork changed all that! In Schull and Ballydehob, the locals said “the music”s all very well, but could you sing a ...? No-one else was singing the old Irish songs, so he racked his brains and soon was singing all over West Cork in bars rather than clubs.

He began to tour again in 1991 and is now a regular visitor to clubs from Bodmin to Inverness, as well as being a guest at the National English Festival and the traditional Scottish festivals at Auchtermuchty and Kirriemuir. He has also become a regular reviewer and writer for Living Tradition magazine.

Tiring of the Irish weather(!) he moved south for some years to the Canary Islands where he played Irish music with a German guitarist, but has recently moved back to Glentrool in southwest Scotland and plays on many summer Saturdays at the “House o' Hill” in the Galloway Forest; where he launched his latest CD, Lights on the River.

Jim Bainbridge’s material is now more songs than music, often light and humorous, but sometimes thought provoking. He plays a Salterelle 2 row D/G melodeon, and his style is modelled on the older Irish and Scots tradition, but with much material, ancient and modern from his Tyneside roots. New material is by no means excluded — as the tradition continues and changes and Jim moves with it.

He always gives credit for the songs he sings and has many a story about them, including the tunes which come between the songs. His relaxed manner of performance and gentle good humour puts an audience immediately at it’s ease and has created many regular returns to pubs, clubs and festivals all over the UK.

John Kirkpatrick plays button accordion, concertina and melodeon and on thisalbum he has with him his wife Sally Kirkpatrick on vocals. They manage to produce a lovely choral sound on the traditional English folk carol The Holly & the Ivy. The Boar's Head Carol is another favourite and then there is the very useful song That Great Christmas Pud. This is John Kirkpatrick's family recipe of a Christmas pudding (being a foreigner I have never tried my hand at making a Christmas pudding but now I just might.) Carolling and Crumpets, the title song, is the Bethlehem story seen from the humourous point of view of the animals in the stable. This is partly why there is a picture of a cow with its curious questioning eyes on the cover but it also refers to John Kirkpatrick's home audience being the cows on the field next door. (I feel a fellow partner here as I've always sung to the cows next door too - the difference is they are still my only audience!)